Home Decor: Check out the latest trends for kitchen lighting
Some of the top kitchen lighting trends for 2023 include under-cabinet lighting, wall sconces and large hanging fixtures. Vandana Gujrati offers design-driven tips to consider when creating your list of kitchen lighting ideas.
FollowThe right lighting design can truly tie a room together as it properly balances adequate brightness with overall aesthetic appeal. Most kitchens use one or more of the following types of lighting to achieve functional, stylish, and consistent layers of illumination:
Task Lighting: Task lighting is used to provide extra illumination in a more focused and concentrated way over a specific area including pendant lights, track lights, puck lights, sconces and downlights (e.g. recessed, gimbal, etc.). Under-cabinet light fixtures can help brighten the space between the bottom of the cabinet and the countertop for safe food preparation and cleaning. Sconces can be a stylish kitchen lighting idea.
Accent Lighting: Accent lighting is often applied to strategically highlight a unique design feature or piece of art including in-cabinet lighting and cove lighting. Larger kitchens find accent lighting useful to highlight specific appliances or an architectural focal point. Small kitchens use accent lighting within cabinetry to highlight items on display. Well-placed accent lighting can make a room feel larger.
Ambient lighting: The ambient light is provided from a central ceiling around the perimeter of the room a preferred option for general lighting. Dimming the recessed lights can change the kitchen’s ambience. Track lighting or linear suspension lighting is often used over a bar or long counter to make sure that additional light can be cast evenly over the entire area.
Mood Lighting: Mood lighting is all about setting the right tone. The atmosphere of a kitchen can be easily altered with the right lighting style and the proper amount of light. The simplest way to create mood lighting in a kitchen is by adding dimmable lights and dimmer switches. Using softer light bulbs or darkening lampshades will create a more relaxed mood.
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Each of these lighting types offers a unique function and has a noticeable effect on the kitchen’s overall atmosphere. Choosing the best option is based on three key considerations: practical needs, stylistic preferences and design limitations. Multiple types of lighting are required to achieve the desired functionality, which we call 'layered lighting'.
There are some objective, design-driven tips to consider when creating your list of kitchen lighting ideas.
1. Ceiling Height: The height of your kitchen ceiling, whether varied or uniform, could automatically rule out options like chandeliers and lengthy pendant lighting. The bottom of a hanging light fixture is at least seven feet from the floor in areas with foot traffic.
2. Kitchen Size: Make sure you’ve considered how many types of lighting can realistically be used and effectively layered within the available space.
3. Natural Light: Some kitchens have ample windows or skylights that provide abundant natural light. The size of these windows, their placement, and which direction they face (e.g. East, West, etc.) will all affect where the lighting should be used and how it can be layered for the desired brightness and variability.
4. Kitchen Aesthetic: Dark kitchen cabinets and flooring might require extra lighting to properly brighten the room. Illuminating a dark kitchen without adding too much light requires tactful and tasteful decisions about the types of lighting that will work best.
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