You spend a good amount of time at home in the kitchen, so finding the correct lighting is important. From fixtures to color temperatures, read along for our best kitchen lighting ideas.
Whether you consider yourself a gourmet chef or you can barely boil water, lighting your kitchen properly is one of the best ways to improve your home. You don’t need to carry out a full HGTV-worthy remodel to add extra light and style to your kitchen, so read our ideas for better kitchen lighting and get ready to get cooking.
The kitchen is the heart of the home, and even if you don’t do much cooking, you probably spend a good deal of time eating or just hanging out in your kitchen. The kitchen also seems to attract guests when you have them over, so you want to be able to provide a stylish, comfortable, and overall, functional space to cook, eat and spend time in.
The first aspect of kitchen lighting to consider is whether or not your space has a good source of allover, general lighting. The best way to add this is with recessed can lighting, as these fixtures ensure that your kitchen isn’t left with any unsightly dark corners or poorly lit counter space. Can lights are perfect for the kitchen as they don’t have any unattractive wires or plugs getting in the way of your culinary genius.
These lights are also commonly put on dimmer switches so you can customize your own light output to suit the time of day or your mood.
After you’ve achieved even, all-over light, you should think about adding some stylish accents to your kitchen. Pendant lights are a perfect way to add some flair to your working or eating space while still being entirely functional. Three to five pendants hung over an island or counter space makes a statement without taking away from the functionality of your new kitchen lighting design.
Choose contrasting colors or designs that accent your paint colors and countertops for extra style. Under cabinet fixtures are becoming more popular each year, and they’re an excellent way to accent a cool backsplash, highlight any artwork you may have displayed above countertops, or add additional task lighting in food prep areas.
In a room that sees so much traffic each day, it’s definitely a good idea to install energy-efficient lighting, such as LEDs or CFLs, to cut down on energy bills and replacement costs. An LED bulb can last up to 25 years compared to an incandescent bulb’s one year, and LED bulbs pay for themselves after only about one year. LED and CFL bulbs come in all color temperatures and most can be used with dimmer switches, so there’s no reason not to upgrade to energy-efficient bulbs while improving the rest of your kitchen’s lighting design.
Once you have your fixtures and bulbs picked out, you need to choose the right color temperature for your new bulbs. Selecting the wrong color temperature can throw the whole feel of your kitchen off entirely, so it’s imperative that you make the right choice according to your preferences and needs.
We recommend choosing bulbs in the Cool White family, or 5000K and 4100K on the color temperature scale. This temperature is basically a mixture between Daylight and Warm White, and provides an invigorating, comfortable and inviting light that you and your guests will enjoy.
Even if you’re not looking to sell your home any time soon, improving your kitchen’s lighting is one of the easiest ways to add value to your home. It can be as simple as changing your light bulbs!
