Creative lighting can dramatically enhance your kitchen design.

Creative lighting places the focus in all the right places.

Different levels of brightness can make small kitchens feel larger as well as altering the ambience of larger rooms. And, of course, your lighting design must work with the functionality of your kitchen.

Illuminate each task

The most important function that takes place in the kitchen is cooking. For this, you need to have sufficient lighting around the oven area to ensure safe preparation of food.

As well as the main overhead lighting, you may want to include additional lights in the cooker hood and under cabinets to illuminate work surfaces. Under-cabinet strip or spotlights can be fitted above sinks and worktops to ensure lighting is focused on work zones.

If you’re positioning slim fluorescent or LED lights under cupboards, they should be fitted at the front underside of the cabinet, not the back. The height of the lights depends on your height and the height of the ceiling.

Overhead pendant lighting

While you need strong, shadow-free lighting for your food preparation zones, you won’t necessarily want such bright lights in the dining area.

Pendant lights work well where softer lighting is required. A single or series of pendant lights will look great over a dining table. The style of light can either be traditional or modern, depending on your kitchen design.

Versatile pendant lights can hang low over the table or kitchen island to create intimacy or set high for informality. Combined with a dimmer switch, pendants are highly flexible as they can be bright when you’re working or low-level when you’re relaxing.

If you have a large kitchen, you can make a bold statement by installing extra-large pendant lights made of steel to give the impression of a professional kitchen.

Uplights and strip lighting

If your kitchen has a high ceiling, uplighters can be positioned on top of kitchen cabinets. These hidden lights will give extra atmospheric light and reduce the number of downlights you need.

You can also place strip lighting underneath cabinets, at the foot of floor-based cabinets, and inside glass-fronted cabinets. These unseen sources of light will bring an additional, mood-enhancing glow to the kitchen.

This type of hidden lighting is great for illuminating smaller kitchens as it cuts down on the need for big overhead lights.

Exposed wire lighting

A current trend is for industrial-style design. Having exposed wires fits in with this theme and is simple to accomplish.

Light bulbs are attached to cords which are then wrapped around a pole that’s fitted to the ceiling. This is a nifty idea if you’re on a budget and it can easily be changed later on.

Spotlights and track lights

Spotlights and track lights are popular in kitchens as they’re practical. They’re a good long-term lighting solution – they’re so simple, they don’t fall out of fashion.

Individual spotlights can be mounted into ceilings or walls and angled to focus on your food preparation zones. Another option is to install a track light fitted with multiple spotlights along a central track. How many spotlights you include on the track is up to you. This then creates a central light feature that still has the flexibility of being able to direct individual lights to different areas.

Looking for creative ideas for your new kitchen?

We can design the kitchen you want, one that’s perfectly suited to your lifestyle and home.

Why not book a FREE kitchen design consultation and let us show you how we can transform your kitchen?

Call us on 01525 851830 or email: sales@kinteriorskitchens.co.uk