Kitchen Lighting Design

Providing adequate functional lighting is a key element in making a kitchen one of the focal points in a home. Beyond providing adequate lighting a proper balance of functional lighting and decorative lighting can bring fun, colorful elements to a lackluster kitchen, and enrich the depth and colors of existing fixtures.

Adequate functional lighting is most normally achieved today by recessed halogen lighting in kitchen ceilings. By reviewing the photo metrics of different light bulbs installed at a particular ceiling height, one can evaluate both the distance that recessed lighting should be placed and the amount of lighting that would be obtained at the countertop level and floor level. A level of 75 lumens on a counter top is generally regarded as adequate, functional lighting in a kitchen. By reviewing the photometrics of a particular light bulb, one can derive how far recessed should be spaced from one another and the lumens that would be achieved at different feet from the light bulb. As a point of reference for example a PAR 30 flood 75 watt halogen light on an eight foot ceiling would produce approximately 75 lumens and it spread would be approximately 4 feet when it reached the floor. This bulb would adequately illuminate a kitchen when spaced 4 feet apart.

Under the Cabinet Lighting

Under the cabinet lighting can bring warmth and depth to counter tops and eliminate possible shadows created by recessed lighting. Under the cabinet lighting is achieved today primarily with two types of light bulbs. Fluorescents which have been commonly used in the past are remaking their presence because of their energy efficiency have been long used in illuminating countertops. More recently xenon lighting has been to achieve the same task. Low voltage xenon lighting produces a warm more natural light than fluorescent and burns much cooler than other halogen forms. This feature works well from a food preservation standpoint considering that many cabinets in kitchen may contain food items that will spoil with excess heat.

Decorative Pendants or Chandeliers

Today most people expect their kitchens to function more as an area of congregation and where they socialize as opposed to an eating area. From island lights to hand blown colorful glass pendants and chandeliers, decorative lighting can turn an ordinary kitchen into a spectacular kitchen. Today’s kitchens are designed to make a statement of their own in home. Decorative kitchen lighting is an integral part of that design.