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HOW TO SELECT THE RIGHT LIGHTING FOR YOUR KITCHEN AND CABINETS
Kitchen lighting is one of the most complex lighting features in your home. It's also one of the hardest to get right.
Filled with ledges, cupboards and appliances, numerous nooks and crannies and other specialized spaces like islands, kitchens can present more lighting challenges than any other room in your house.
Kitchen lighting primarily consists of providing ambient light and task-focused light, rather than cosmetic.
Start with task lighting
Fluorescent and halogen lighting is especially well suited for illuminating your work areas.
You want maximum light concentrated on the spots you work the most, so lighting must be carefully positioned for these spots. In kitchens, this would include your sinks, counters and work tables.
Ambient lighting
Ambient light is the general, total light that fills in shadows, reduces lights vertical surfaces, and provides a light feel to your kitchen space.
Fluorescent tubes are well-suited to supplying surrounding light with a minimum of fixtures. Incandescent lights also give a dazzling white light but require more fixtures to prevent shadows in a kitchen.
These kinds of lights work well to supply lighting that is bright for general purpose light and work surfaces in the kitchen space. Rope light and recessed lights are other options that can add some sizzle and not break your budget.
To control your lighting and offer a dramatic touch, use kitchen occupancy (proximity) sensors in places where you otherwise might have used higher-priced 3way switches.
Cupboard lighting
Exquisite cupboard lighting can make a kitchen more attractive, there's no doubt about it.
For cupboards, you'll want modest, warm lighting. Cupboard lights are sometimes mounted in the cabinet over the door header to give glare-free lighting on the cabinet contents.
There are a variety of under-cupboard and in-cupboard lighting systems available to make this feature pop in your home. Halogen lights are most often used for cupboard lighting.
You'll want to install your cupboard lighting towards the front of the cupboard, with the light facing inwards. Otherwise, the direct light will leak into the rest of the kitchen and interfere with the overall effect.
Filled with ledges, cupboards and appliances, numerous nooks and crannies and other specialized spaces like islands, kitchens can present more lighting challenges than any other room in your house.
Kitchen lighting primarily consists of providing ambient light and task-focused light, rather than cosmetic.
Start with task lighting
Fluorescent and halogen lighting is especially well suited for illuminating your work areas.
You want maximum light concentrated on the spots you work the most, so lighting must be carefully positioned for these spots. In kitchens, this would include your sinks, counters and work tables.
Ambient lighting
Ambient light is the general, total light that fills in shadows, reduces lights vertical surfaces, and provides a light feel to your kitchen space.
Fluorescent tubes are well-suited to supplying surrounding light with a minimum of fixtures. Incandescent lights also give a dazzling white light but require more fixtures to prevent shadows in a kitchen.
These kinds of lights work well to supply lighting that is bright for general purpose light and work surfaces in the kitchen space. Rope light and recessed lights are other options that can add some sizzle and not break your budget.
To control your lighting and offer a dramatic touch, use kitchen occupancy (proximity) sensors in places where you otherwise might have used higher-priced 3way switches.
Cupboard lighting
Exquisite cupboard lighting can make a kitchen more attractive, there's no doubt about it.
For cupboards, you'll want modest, warm lighting. Cupboard lights are sometimes mounted in the cabinet over the door header to give glare-free lighting on the cabinet contents.
There are a variety of under-cupboard and in-cupboard lighting systems available to make this feature pop in your home. Halogen lights are most often used for cupboard lighting.
You'll want to install your cupboard lighting towards the front of the cupboard, with the light facing inwards. Otherwise, the direct light will leak into the rest of the kitchen and interfere with the overall effect.