They say the kitchen is the heart of your home.
Whether you feel that’s true or not, the fact is the kitchen is one of the busiest rooms in the house. From meal prep and cooking to doing homework while eating an afternoon snack, your kitchen gets a lot of use.
As such, having the right lighting to accomplish all your tasks is vital. In this short guide, we’ll walk you through the essentials of kitchen lighting, so you can start to think through how to create a beautiful and functional kitchen you can be proud of.
The Different Types Of Lighting For Your Kitchen
One of the most helpful ways that lighting designers break down their lighting strategies is to think in terms of the three different types of lighting: ambient (or general), task, and accent. If your lighting design meets the needs of these three lighting types, you should be good to go.
Task Lighting For Your Kitchen
While most lighting strategies begin with ambient lighting, kitchens are a bit different. Because this room is uniquely task focused, we’re going to start with having the right lighting for tasks. Below you’ll find two of the most important task lighting areas.
Island Table Lighting
Island tables are great for prepping or laying out food, as well as pulling up a stool and eating a snack. One of our favorite ways to light island tables is with a series of mini pendants above the island. Each pendant should be at least 32 inches apart and hang around 30 to 36 inches above the island.
Undercabinet Lighting
Ceiling lights are great for general lighting, but they also tend to cast shadows under cabinets, making it difficult to concentrate due to a lack of sufficient lighting. One of the ways you can counteract that is by installing undercabinet lighting. Some of the most common types of undercabinet lights are strip and puck-style lights.
Ambient Lighting For Your Kitchen
When it comes to ambient lighting in your kitchen, you simply can’t go wrong with recessed ceiling lighting. This is almost a non-negotiable when it comes to modern kitchen lighting. The higher and brighter your lighting, the better it does to fill any gaps your task lighting leaves.
Make sure you focus on getting even lighting throughout your kitchen while focusing on areas that see frequent use. If you’re afraid of using too much lighting, simply install dimmer switches for greater control.
Accent Lighting For Your Kitchen
Accent lighting is great for highlighting interesting elements of your kitchen. Here are some of the different accent lights you can use just to create that extra design flair and wow factor.
Toe Kick Lights
Toe kick lights are a great way to illuminate your kitchen at night and create a modern look and feel that simply can’t be beat. Most lighting design experts recommend installing toe kick lights around islands and cabinets.
Overcabinet Lights
Overcabinet lights are placed on your cabinets and give accent lighting to architectural features on the ceiling or even pieces of artwork. When used properly, they create a beautiful, dramatic appearance.
Franklin Lighting Meets All Your Kitchen Lighting Needs
Whatever your budget or aesthetic sense, our Sarasota lighting store has an inventory that’s stocked full of the industries top lighting products. From island lighting to recessed lighting and wall sconces, we have everything you need to light up your kitchen.
More than that, we’ve brought on some of the region’s top lighting designers to ensure you have everything at your disposal to create the kitchen lighting of your dreams.
Contact Franklin Lighting To Schedule Your Appointment Today
While Franklin Lighting has made it easy for you to browse wall lights on our online catalog, we highly recommend visiting our lighting store in Sarasota. Even if you consider yourself a lighting expert, our consultants can help you navigate our massive inventory quickly and effectively, so you can get started on designing straight away. Schedule your appointment by filling out our online contact form. We look forward to serving you!
