Pendants, uplights, downlights, LEDs… are you confused by all the options out there in kitchen lighting? Not to mention how to create a scheme that delivers the illumination you need to prep, cook and dine? We’ve asked lighting expert Ben Mills, executive general manager at Crompton Lighting, to explain the different lighting types and the main things you need to consider when planning an effective lighting scheme.

Crompton Lighting

Why is kitchen lighting so important?
For most of us, the kitchen is the workhorse of the home and a busy spot from morning ’til night. Good lighting is essential as it allows you to perform tasks such as prepping food and washing up safely. Plus, it adds character to a space and can change the mood from functional to cosy and intimate (perfect for an eat-in kitchen) in a flash.

How to light your food prep zone

Mcmahon and Nerlich

Plan lighting as early as possible
Moving light fittings after a kitchen has been installed can be expensive; repainting, re-patching ceilings and organising additional cabling can see costs mount up. For that reason, it’s best to plan kitchen lighting during the design stage.

Premier Kitchens

What is a layered lighting scheme?
Light layering is about creating different shades of light, playing with shadows and using colours to highlight a kitchen’s best features. It generally incorporates task lighting for food prep and cooking, ambient lighting for general illumination and character, and accent lighting to highlight specific features in a kitchen – such as a gorgeous splashback or a work of art.

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GJ Gardner Homes Sydney North

Consider safety first
The first priority of a kitchen lighting scheme is to provide sufficient illumination for prepping meals, cooking and washing up safely and efficiently. This is achieved with task lighting – think LED strip lights under an overhead cabinet (these create a lovely, even light with no shadows or heat), or a track-lighting system over the island benchtop.

Make sure there are no shadows in your prep zones – the best way to do is this to install task lighting in front of or above you, rather than behind you.

Cloth + Stone Designs

Add in ambient lighting for character
Soft, ambient lighting will wash your kitchen with light and create a warm, welcoming mood. It could be in the form of a pendant light above a benchtop or dining table, downlights around the perimeter of the room, or a central ceiling light.

Breathe Architecture

Highlight your best features with accent light
Use accent lighting to draw attention to special features in your kitchen such as a show-stopping tiled splashback or a dramatic island bench facade. Installing strip lighting under wall cabinets or benchtops is a great way to achieve this. You could also add accent lighting to glass cabinets or open shelving to highlight your displays.

Learn how to choose and hang a pendant light

Luigi Rosselli Architects

Choose the right style
When it comes to choosing kitchen lights, take your cues from your home’s architecture and the lighting styles used in the rest of your home. Choosing similar lighting styles (or at the very least, having a unifying theme such as shape or finish running between the ones in your kitchen and living spaces) will create a sense of flow between the different areas. This is particularly important in an open-plan kitchen that flows directly onto a living or dining space, as you’ll want a sense of cohesion between the different zones.

When it comes to decorative lighting trends, the Scandi look is still popular, as well as simple styles in natural timber, black, white and industrial metallics.

Crompton Lighting

Get the proportions right
If buying pendant lights or other decorative styles, you should also be aware of proportion – a style that’s too large will overwhelm a small kitchen, while one that’s too small for a large kitchen may get lost.

It’s also important that you hang your pendant at an appropriate height – one that reduces the risk of people bumping their heads, while ensuring that the light fitting retains its visual presence in the space. As a rule of thumb, hang it about 80 centimetres above the surface of the table or benchtop.

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Christopher Peters Kitchens and Interiors

Take control
Lighting control systems are a smart investment as they’ll allow you to alter the lighting levels and personalise the mood in your kitchen. With dimmers, for example, you can go from bright lighting for precision cooking to a warm glow for dining. Having lights on separate switch plates will allow you to control the lighting in different areas of your kitchen separately.

And don’t be tempted to do the job yourself – always hire a professional to do any electrical work in your home. It’s not a huge job and, depending on the number of lights in your kitchen, should only take a licensed electrician an hour or two.

Hancock Architects

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pennycollins

Re the flickering dimmable lights we had under counter lights installed and they had to be a certain run length, 14 feet in order not to flicker. It may not be the bulb causing the flicker but another configuration.

Like 24 October 2019 at 12:10am