Whether cooking a special meal or relaxing with family, kitchen lighting can dramatically impact how you experience your space. Sufficient lighting is, of course, essential when it comes to making sure you can see what you’re doing. However, the ideal kitchen lighting scheme should take your design to the next level, establishing a versatile solution that’s both practical and stylish. Planning your kitchen lighting before renovation work begins is vital, as repositioning your lights once your kitchen is installed can be messy and inconvenient. While your dedicated kitchen designer should support you in planning a brilliant lighting scheme, some understanding of the options available can be useful. Our handy kitchen lighting guide should cover everything you need to know, as well as give you some great inspiration for your project.
Types Of Kitchen Lighting
Kitchen lighting is often divided into three categories based on the role each type plays in your design. Though the categories sometimes overlap, the most successful lighting schemes tend to include a variety of all three different types.
Ambient– Ambient lighting illuminates the whole room, providing a general level of brightness that allows you to use the space. The most common forms of ambient light are recessed downlights, track lights and natural light.
Task– Task lights brighten up the areas you need to see clearly for practical reasons, such as your hob, worktop and sink. Undercabinet lights and pendant lights can provide task lighting. However, their attractive appearance can make them difficult to differentiate from accent lighting.
Accent– Accent lighting needn’t fulfil a practical purpose, it is simply intended to enhance your design, either by highlighting a specific feature, looking stylish or creating a beautiful warm glow.
How To Position Your Kitchen Lighting
The two key things to consider when deciding where to position your kitchen lighting are; practical visibility and design features. You should utilise task lighting to ensure you can see clearly to prepare food and use your work surfaces. Once you have addressed your practical needs, you may turn your attention to enhancing your design. A great way to elevate your interior is to highlight key features, for example, a kitchen island, a stunning surface finish or even a statement AGA or range cooker. There are a number of different lighting styles you can use to do this. You will find some great examples in the next section or, alternatively, you can click here to browse our kitchen portfolio.
Kitchen Lighting Ideas
Whether you’re envisaging a pristine and minimal contemporary design or a cosy and charming traditional interior, there are plenty of opportunities to transform your space with a stunning and unique lighting scheme. Below are some of our favourite kitchen lighting designs.
Transform A Traditional Kitchen With Chic Lighting
A trio of black pendant lights makes a bold contrast to the radiant neutral colour scheme. Their standout design beautifully accentuates the kitchen island, adding a chic contemporary touch to the otherwise classic, subtly styled space. Undercabinet task lights give excellent visibility to the hob and sink areas. If you’re considering including pendant lights in your kitchen, you may find it useful to note that odd numbers tend to look better than even numbers.
Stylish Lighting For A Contemporary Kitchen
The sleek minimal lighting scheme in the kitchen below perfectly complements this streamlined modern design. Plinth lights give the illusion that the cabinets are elegantly floating, while cleverly positioned downlights bring a sophisticated glow to the front of the units. The overall effect feels luxurious and futuristic.
Emphasise A Dining Area
Multiple pendant lights aren’t the only option if you’re looking to highlight a specific area of your kitchen. This stunning modern ceiling light beautifully mirrors the round breakfast bar, creating a wonderful design feature. There are hundreds of eye-catching ceiling light styles to choose from, ideal for making a cool design statement.
Add A Pop Of Colour
As well as drawing attention to a feature like a dining area, island or peninsula, the style of light you choose can make a real difference to your design. Simply by adding a pop of colour, these quirky Scandinavian-inspired pendant lights put a playful twist on this pristine, modern kitchen.
Bring A Touch Of Luxury To Your Cupboards
Not all kitchen lighting has to be on show to be enjoyed. Introducing lighting to a pantry cupboard or larder is a great way to enhance your experience when using your kitchen, combining practicality and luxury in equal measure.
Embrace Natural Light
When it comes to creating an inviting, airy and spacious feeling kitchen, there’s simply no substitute for great natural light. If your space isn’t as bright as it could be, you may want to consider investing in larger windows, wide patio doors, or a skylight. Many homeowners find that going open-plan or knocking through a wall to create a kitchen diner can also help bring more natural light into a space.
Though often overlooked or left to the last minute, lighting can make a big difference to the style and practicality of your kitchen. And if you’re going to get the most from your exciting upcoming project, planning your lighting scheme to ensure it complements your kitchen design is essential. Hopefully, exploring some of these wonderful interiors has helped you appreciate the possibilities and find inspiration for your own space. However, if you would like to know more, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can call our expert team on 01502 711210.
