Tips for Good Kitchen Lighting

Nowadays, the kitchen is much more than just a utility room. It has become a living space where lighting is essential to create a warm and functional atmosphere.

To properly light your kitchen, it is crucial to consider its layout. In an open kitchen, several pendant lights aligned above the worktop or the central island add an elegant decorative touch. For a closed kitchen, a central pendant light is more suitable. In both cases, it is important to prioritize lighting the key areas where main activities take place, such as the sink, cooking area, and storage, by using ceiling spotlights, under-cabinet lighting, or LED strips under the furniture.

To achieve the best lighting in your kitchen, avoid these 10 common mistakes.

Neglecting functional kitchen lighting

It is crucial to specifically light key areas of your kitchen, such as the cooking range, the washing area, and the worktop, to ensure both visual comfort and safety. Opt for functional and strong localized lighting directed precisely at these areas. This helps meet the needs of the three main activities in the kitchen: preparing, washing, and cooking. Under upper cabinets, uniform light is preferable to avoid distorting the color of food. You have several options at your disposal, such as light strips, extra-flat LED spotlights, or LED bars. Localized lighting can also be integrated under furniture, in the form of LEDs, offering practical use, especially in large storage spaces. To highlight furniture, you can install stem spotlights above upper cabinets, illuminating their fronts. By using several levels of light with extra-flat spotlights, you enhance the contents of the cabinets. If you have display cabinets, spot lighting can be an interesting option for creating ambiance.

Forgetting decorative lighting

If you think a simple ceiling light can create the perfect ambiance in your kitchen, think again! To achieve a warm and unique atmosphere, it is essential to diversify light sources by using different types of fixtures:

• Wall sconces can produce soft lighting,
• A decorative pendant light or a modern chandelier can liven up the dining area,
• Lighting integrated into glass elements allows for creating plays of light,
• An elegant table lamp placed on a shelf can add a touch of style,
• LED bars are ideal for lighting a wall niche, highlighting the backsplash, or warming up the worktop.

In terms of decoration, lighting options are practically unlimited, so let your imagination run wild!

Avoiding light overload in the kitchen

It is important to light the various kitchen spaces correctly, but excessive brightness can cause unpleasant glare, thus losing the chic and comfortable character of the room. On average, a brightness of 300 lux is recommended for general kitchen lighting, while for work areas, it is advisable to reach 500 lux for adequate illumination. The essence of kitchen lighting lies in combining different lighting solutions adapted to each situation, using various types of fixtures. These solutions can be classified into four categories:

• Direct Lighting: Light spreads throughout the room.
• Indirect Lighting: Light is diffused toward the ceiling or walls.
• Radial Lighting: Light is diffused equally in all directions.
• Focal Lighting: Light is directed toward a specific point.

For example, an elegant and modern pendant light can provide focal lighting, ideal for highlighting a table, a central island, or a bar, in addition to general lighting.

Avoiding excessive under-lighting

As mentioned previously, it is recommended to avoid an overabundance of light in the kitchen to prevent glare and eye fatigue. With this in mind, it is better not to settle for a single source of bleak neon light. General lighting then plays a crucial role by uniformly illuminating the kitchen without leaving dark areas. Opt, for example, for a decorative ceiling light equipped with several spotlights adjustable to your preferences. A pendant light, a globe, or LED spotlights recessed in a false ceiling can also diffuse uniform light throughout the room. Whatever your choice, ensure you use powerful but non-glaring light.

Another lighting option consists of an indirect light source, such as a spotlight rail, which diffuses warm light, even if the ceiling is dark-colored. In the case of a long and narrow kitchen, a row of spotlights fixed to a cable tensioned along the axis of the room can be considered.

However, it is important to note that general lighting does not replace functional light sources. For an open kitchen, it is advisable to combine general lighting with a dimmer to adjust brightness according to your needs.

Common error: poor placement of fixtures

Making mistakes in the installation of fixtures can have negative consequences for kitchen lighting. In this room considered "technical," lighting must create a pleasant atmosphere while providing adequate brightness without leaving shadows on the worktops.

It is crucial to properly plan the electrical system according to your kitchen layout in order to position the light points in the right place! For example, consider under-cabinet lighting or fixtures above activity zones.

Opting for inappropriate fixtures

The kitchen offers the possibility of using various fixtures to increase light sources. The choice of fixtures depends on personal preferences in terms of style, but it is essential to consider that paper or fabric fixtures are not suitable for the kitchen, due to the accumulation of grease. It is better to choose fixtures made with easy-to-clean and resistant materials, such as glass or metal.

A Few Tips for Lighting Your Kitchen:

• Install sconces above cupboards to highlight the furniture, which is particularly effective in a contemporary kitchen that prioritizes comfort and aesthetics. These sconces provide useful and decorative accent lighting.
• Use LED bars under or inside furniture to create dimmed lighting effects while saving energy.
• Opt for a lighted backsplash that is both aesthetic and practical, ideal for short-term activities like preparing a hot drink.
• Arrange recessed spotlights under furniture to illuminate the worktop, where the main culinary activities take place, while adding a decorative touch to the room.
• Use light strips for drawers or cupboards, thus facilitating storage and access to utensils.
• Create several light points above the central island to provide a workspace and a social area, the true heart of an open-concept kitchen. Pendant lights or spotlights installed along the worktop allow you to cook, eat lunch, read, and do dishes in optimal lighting conditions.

Error in choosing lighting color temperature

Color temperature refers to the hue of a light source, measured in Kelvin degrees, and represents the amount of red, yellow, blue, and pure white emitted by the lamp. This characteristic is often described by the terms "warm white" or "cool white."

Favor warm white light, around 3000 Kelvin, for general lighting and ambiance. For functional lighting, opt for neutral white light, located between 4000 and 4500 Kelvin.

Select the temperature according to the desired atmosphere. For a warm and friendly ambiance, prefer yellow light (3000 to 3500 Kelvin). For a modern and clean ambiance, favor white light (4000 to 4200 Kelvin).

Be careful not to improperly mix different light sources. For example, yellow light in the range hood or in a pendant light, combined with whiter light above the worktop, can create an unpleasant visual effect.

Using compact fluorescent lamps with instant start

Although perfect for general kitchen lighting and their low energy consumption, compact fluorescent lamps have a slightly long start-up delay to reach their full brightness. Instead, favor instant-start lighting or quick-start compact fluorescent lamps.

Choosing bulbs with a poor color rendering index

In a kitchen, the color rendering index (CRI) is crucial to avoid eye fatigue, especially on worktops. Opt for bulbs with a CRI close to 100 for optimal light quality: they diffuse a uniform white light, ideal for the kitchen.

Opting for adjustable spotlights

If you have chosen to install ceiling spotlights, ensure you have other light sources in your kitchen. Favor adjustable spotlights to be able to accentuate certain areas to be lit, which will provide more comfort and additional decorative lighting. To create a softer ambiance, consider installing spotlights on a wall or clip-on spotlights on a shelf. Ensure they harmonize with the style of your furniture, your pendant light, or your ceiling light for a successful decoration.