Best Kitchen Lights

The kitchen area isn’t a space that gets a lot of love when it comes to interior design. Sure, homeowners put a lot of thought into the appliances and maybe the style of countertops and cabinets, but there’s more to the kitchen than just these elements. For example, the lighting.

A good lighting scheme is essential for a number of reasons. First of all, poor lighting makes it more difficult to use the kitchen. Have you ever tried chopping an onion in your own shadow? It’s not only much more difficult to do without proper lighting, it can be less safe as well.

And then there’s the aesthetic of the kitchen. Poor lighting isn’t going to help make your kitchen look like anything other than ordinary. So let’s go over what types of lighting can help improve the kitchen, both in terms of functionality and visual design.

Best Kitchen Lights Improve Kitchen Aesthetics

There are two things you’ll want to consider when designing the lighting scheme to improve your kitchen’s visual look:

• Ambient lighting – Ambient lighting is the general lighting used to light up the entire space. Keep in mind the natural lighting coming into the kitchen from your windows – you don’t want too much light as this could result in your kitchen feeling like an over lit convenient store. Recessed lighting is a good option since you can set it up in a way that you can control or dim different sections to fit your current lighting needs. If you want to go with something a little more elegant, consider hanging a chandelier – or even two smaller chandeliers – over your kitchen island.
• Accent lighting – Accent lighting is used to highlight certain features and to help provide visual depth to the kitchen space. For example, wall scones or track lighting can be used to highlight pieces of art hung on your walls or the valuable china that you have on display.

Best Kitchen Lights to Improve Functionality

In order to ensure that your kitchen can be effectively used, you’ll want to make sure that there is plenty of task lighting. Just like it sounds, homeowners often install this type of lighting to help them perform a certain task.

Pendant lights or chandeliers can be used to provide light to your kitchen island, while track lighting is effective because you can aim the fixtures where you need them. To light up your counter space, under-cabinet LED lighting can be particularly effective as it eliminates any shadows you may create when standing in front of the counter.

Whatever you decide to install, some of the areas that need good task lighting include the stove top, the sink, and any food prep areas.

Professional Kitchen Lighting Design In MD, DC & Northern VA

When designing your kitchen space, be sure to plan out the kitchen’s lighting scheme. The lighting in your kitchen is vital to ensuring that the area not only looks good and feels comfortable, but to ensure that it is functional as well.

For more information about installing kitchen lighting, or to get a free lighting design estimate, call Jaffe Electric at 301.253.3778.