Kitchen lighting and fixtures

One of the most useful rooms in any house or building is the kitchen. People naturally tend to congregate around food, whether it is being freshly prepared or merely a quick snack. The kitchen quickly becomes the most social room in the house and for good reason, plenty of amenities, foods and drinks. Kitchen designs have evolved to accommodate more people as well as having new high tech appliances and one area that should never be skimped on is kitchen lighting.

A warm, bright kitchen is inviting and cozy. There are many ways to achieve bright lighting in any kitchen. Natural light is always beautiful if it can be captured correctly. Overhead skylights and high windows add excellent ambient lighting during the day and can make a kitchen incredibly luminous. This is great for breakfast and lunch, but many families eat dinner after the sun has set so those bright windows become dark masses that are fairly useless at night. They are also bad at lighting work areas underneath cabinets, necessitating the use of electrical lighting.

There are many ways to light a kitchen, and many lights to accomplish it, many with high tech and unique light bulbs. LED lighting is becoming increasing popular because it is very energy efficient and it looks good. Natural light hues can be achieved by using multiple differently colored LED lights, but generally the pure white light that an LED emits is very desirable for most people. They generate low heat and are almost always fitted with dimmers to control the lighting levels. Since they are so small they can be fitted into almost any configuration, even existing light fixtures. This makes them very suited for task lighting which can be easily recessed into the bottom of cabinets or into accent lights.

No matter what type of bulb is used, halogen is still very popular because of its bright white light, but they are expensive and hot, there are plenty of lighting designs that can be implemented in the kitchen. Pendant lighting is great for illuminating large surfaces, such as tables and islands, even a bar or countertop. Track lighting is especially well suited to lighting specific areas or arrangements. It can also be used as cabinet lighting highlighting fine craftsmanship, or the contents inside and below.

The amount of lights, different bulbs, and kitchen designs is quite staggering. There are an infinite number of different combinations for lights, appliances, working surfaces, cabinets, stoves and sinks. The best way to start is to choose a theme, such as rustic, modern, or retro. Rustic lighting could consist of bare-bones fixtures, possibly just a old looking cord and chain attached to a rusted socket with a large clear bulb and brightly exposed filament that burns brightly inside the globe. Add an old copper washbasin and some roughly worked cabinets to add to the effect. Many metal appliances come in tarnished or old looking finishes that will stand up to modern abuses and cleaning agents.

Whatever lighting design you choose for your kitchen, make sure there is plenty of lights, a bright kitchen is much more desirable than a dimly lit one.

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