Illuminating advice on kitchen lighting
Lighting can make or break your kitchen design. The four different types of lighting that you need in a kitchen are natural light, ambient light, task lighting and accent lighting.
Natural light will come from the kitchen windows, and may also flow through from adjacent rooms. Depending on the size and position of the windows, you might need to supplement the available daylight with ambient lighting, from ceiling or wall lights, as well as providing sufficient lighting for the evening. If your kitchen is anything other than very small, it’s wise to avoid a single central light, instead spacing a number of lights across the ceiling to reduce shadows and spread the light level through the room, helping to create a feeling of space.
You need task lighting to illuminate your work surfaces. Cooking rapidly becomes tiring when your activity is obscured by your own shadow. Think about lights under your wall cupboards, and a spotlight or decorative hanging light over an island.
Accent lights provide atmosphere and style. Twinkling ropes of tiny lights run along shelving, sparkly lighting nets on a wall, halogen lights inside a cabinet to set off your glassware… This is where you can get creative.