Cool Kitchen Lighting Ideas

For most people the kitchen is the heart of the home and this is borne out by the amount of money typically spent on fitting out a kitchen. The kitchen is also a space that is used extensively both by day and at night so it's especially important to get the lighting right. by VirginiaMonot For most people the kitchen is the heart of the home and this is borne out by the amount of money typically spent on fitting out a kitchen. The kitchen is also a space that is used extensively both by day and at night so it's especially important to get the lighting right. Modern kitchen lighting is a world away from the harsh fluorescent strip lights once so prevalent in kitchens. These days you can select from low-voltage, recessed spots and track lighting, dimmer controlled wall sconces, elegant pendants and LED's in every guise imaginable. The problem now is deciding from the bewildering choice available what works best for your situation. The best kitchen lighting designs pay attention to the multipurpose nature of kitchens and aim to also work on different levels by blending different kinds of lighting. These are commonly assigned to specific lighting groups: task, ambient and mood lighting. This latter category (mood lighting) encompasses aspects of what lighting designers often term as accent, feature and/or decorative lighting. Anyway, the essential trick is to put each of the main groups onto separate circuits and preferably with dimmer switches so as to be able to modify the relative balance. Ambient lighting is most effective when it is most unobtrusive. Its purpose is to establish a soft background platform for the other, more noticeable lighting elements. Recessed low voltage halogen, and increasingly LED, spotlights are excellent at providing the right kind of soft overall illumination required. Sooner or later of course you will want to actually prepare food in your kitchen and this is where task lighting can make or break things. No matter how good your ambient light is, the layout of working areas in a kitchen almost always result in shadows and dark spots. An effective means of providing good task lighting is fitting low voltage, or these days LED, lights below wall units to maximize light on the work surface and prevent unnecessary glare. The purpose of mood lighting is to create atmosphere, for example chic pendants set above a dining area or up-lighters above cabinet tops or spots that emphasize certain items in the kitchen. Low voltage or LED lights installed inside glass fronted cabinets or set into a plinth are other examples. The subject of LED lights and their application to contemporary kitchen lighting is a whole other story. LED lights give off virtually no heat, are over ten times cheaper to run, and are lightweight, tough, long lasting and remarkably versatile. They can be applied to ambient, task and mood lighting and will always lend a certain elegant sparkle to any kitchen. About the Author: To find out more, check out also this article that looks at kitchen lighting ideas. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites