There is a lot to consider when renovating a kitchen. Stylish design is surely the top of everyone’s list, but there are factors that can make or break the ambiance of the finished kitchen… and the most important of these is the lighting. Sometimes you don’t even need to renovate the kitchen in order to transform it; when done correctly, the lighting alone can transform it. Those on a tighter budget might want to consider this as an option.
If you have never used lighting to transform the entire atmosphere of a room before now, this might not have been obvious. When strategically placing the right kind of lights around the kitchen, the results may be nothing short of miraculous, and if you are going for a full renovation, the proper lighting elements will complement your renovations in a big way.
Sometimes it is hard to know where to start. That’s why we have put together the below guide to the basic lighting types that can be used in your kitchen renovations:
Natural Lighting
Anyone who has bought a home before knows that one of the major selling points of a house is how much natural light it gets; therefore, a light and bright kitchen will always be a plus point. Whether your kitchen is bathed in natural light is down to various factors, but if it isn’t getting much, it’s not the end of the world. There are several things you can do.
During your renovations, you might be in a position to install large windows or a skylight, but this is probably not going to be cheap. If you are unable to factor this aspect into your renovation, you can use other forms of interior lighting to make the room bright and give it the appearance of being spacious. This can be done with task lighting or ambiance lighting, which we’ll cover below.
Accent Lighting
Accent lighting is all about enhancing the mood of your kitchen. Accent lighting is all about highlighting focal points in your kitchen – any of the room’s attractive features or fixtures. If you have a particularly nice ornamental piece of artwork, directing some light onto that can create a lovely atmosphere in the kitchen.
A few examples of accent lighting are wall sconces, recessed lights, torchère lamps, floodlights, track lighting, and even LEDs. The idea is to brightly illuminate your chosen objects to direct the attention of onlookers. Accent lighting is generally affordable and can make a big difference to your kitchen renovation.
Task Lighting
Task lighting refers to the kind of lights that enable you to perform tasks optimally. For example, in a bathroom, task lighting would be around the mirrors so that shaving and makeup application is easy. In your kitchen you probably won’t want to cook in a dimly lit area where you can’t clearly see your food on the hob; nor would you want to wash the dishes in the dark. Kitchen task lighting could include pendant lights, singular puck halogen lights installed in and underneath cabinets, and halogen downlights over the sink or work surfaces.
General (Ambiance) Lighting
General lighting is also referred to as ambiance lighting, and this refers to the basic lighting in the room. It is also known as “fill light”, as its job is to flood the space with enough light to create a bright and pleasant atmosphere overall. In contrast with the accent or task lighting, general lighting doesn’t focus on any particular part of the kitchen; it simply provides general illumination.
General lighting might consist of evenly placed downlights on the ceiling or strategically placed wall sconces. In any kitchen renovation, it is important to make sure you have sufficient general lighting as the task lighting and accent lighting alone won’t provide enough light; their role is to complement the general lighting. Note that fluorescent strip lighting may provide plenty of fill light, but it doesn’t really create the same kind of ambiance that other types of light fittings are capable of.
Don’t forget that adding dimmer switches to your light fittings gives you greater control over the mood of your kitchen so you can change it at any moment. As you can see, it doesn’t take a lot to change the look and feel of your kitchen, however in-depth your renovations. The right types of lighting can go a very long way!
Author Bio: Lisa Wetherell runs the blog Lighting House – where she writes about her knowledge gained from 10 years of industry experience in the lighting and interior design field. To learn more about how lighting can improve your space, you can follow her blog.