New kitchen lighting can take the existing space and impart an entirely different feel to it. Regardless of the style of the house, kitchen light fixtures are available in modern recessed lights, track lighting, hand-painted glass pendant lights and more. Shopping for kitchen lighting can leave you reeling from the choices, so plan ahead, and know what you are willing to spend.
Functional Lighting
One of the main reasons for installing new kitchen lights is to improve the illumination in one or more areas of the space. In this area of the home more than any other, the light needs to be bright, and bright where it is needed most.
An area that is often overlooked for proper lighting, especially in older homes, is a kitchen island. Kitchen island lighting is essential as it may serve as the homework counter or the dinner table, the cooking preparation space and/or the stove top. This space is ideal for track lighting with adjustable spots. The focused lights illuminate the area without glaring into other areas of the kitchen.
For a kitchen island without a stove top, low hanging pendant lighting works very well, especially for a more traditional home. Kitchen pendant lighting can create an attractive focal point over the island, or a low profile line of lights that blend into the surrounding theme.
A cooking and prep area needs to have illumination from overhead lights, such as recessed ceiling lights, as well as under cabinet lighting. Kitchen cabinet lights are the perfect addition for homeowners who will be doing a lot of prepping and cooking. The low lighting source spreads out over the workspace, and can be left on without making the kitchen too bright.
Lights that focus on a working area of the kitchen without spilling over is important, but these smaller lights can often be adjusted or given a brighter or dimmer bulb if the effect is uncomfortable. Kitchen ceiling lights should be chosen with more consideration, since they will serve as the main illumination for the room.
When shopping for kitchen light fixtures, a good rule of thumb is to buy according to the height of the room. For every foot, allow for 2.5-3″ of lighting fixture. Therefore, a 12′high ceiling would demand roughly 30-36″ of light fixture. If you are not buying a chandelier though, consider the total watts produced by the fixture. For an average-sized kitchen, 200 watts of light should be enough, and up to 400watts for larger spaces.
