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Creating a well-lit kitchen requires creativity and careful design. There are many different shaped surfaces and pieces of furniture in a kitchen which cast shadows and create unique dead spaces. The amount of natural light available varies widely depending on the home. So experts agree that layering different types of light is the best approach to kitchen lighting design.
We’ll break down how to light a kitchen with light layering and spell out some kitchen lighting design rules of thumb. Plus, we’ve included some top lighting manufacturers to meet each requirement of a well-lit kitchen!
The 3 Primary Types of Lighting in a Kitchen
All three types of light work together to create a bright and functional kitchen. Each layer of lighting – ambient, task, and accent – works together to create a kitchen with maximum functional and aesthetic appeal.
Compare this photo, with all layers of light, to the photos with only one illuminated section of lights. It makes a huge difference!A special thanks to Take 3 Lighting in Indiana for the photos illustrating how layered lighting looks in a kitchen. Read their take on the same topic here.
Ambient light, or general light, is the most important type for your kitchen. This is the largest and most dispersed source of light, encompassing natural light sources and large ceiling lights that illuminate the greatest amount of space.
Below are some of the best types of fixtures to serve as ambient lighting.
Ambient Kitchen Light
Recessed Lighting
Featured Brand
Aculux
Conyers, Georgia
Watch out for ceiling joists! Make sure you know the structure of your ceilings before you start planning your lighting. Many light fixtures extend up into the ceiling cavity (they’re taller than the thickness of your sheetrock or ceiling covering), so ceiling joists could be in the way.
Ambient Kitchen Light
Flush Mount Lighting
Lights mounted flush or semi-flush against the ceiling can be large, offering a wide spread of light, while also creating a concentrated area of illumination. There are many beautiful designs for flush mounts, so if you want something simple, but more decorative than recessed lighting, this is a great choice.
Featured Brand
Highlight USA LLC
Sheridan, Wyoming
Ambient Kitchen Light
Linear Lighting
Linear lights are a sort of cross between pendants and chandeliers. Multiple bulbs are attached to a supporting rod, which is hung from the ceiling. The multiple bulbs (sometimes as many as 7!) provide a flood of light from a striking design.
Capital Lighting Fixture Company
Flowery Branch, Georgia
Ambient Kitchen Light
Suspension Lighting
Popular in luxury homes, hotels, and commercial buildings, suspension lights are large lighting fixtures, often square or round, that are hung from the ceiling rather than affixed to them. Great for tall ceilings and a dramatic statement, suspending the light brings it closer to your work space, while still filling the entire kitchen.
Featured Brand
Meyda Lighting
Yorkville, New York
Ambient Kitchen Light
Chandeliers
Currey and Company
Atlanta Georgia
Task lights serve to illuminate high use spaces that may not be adequately lit by overhead lighting alone. Such locations include cabinets, kitchen islands, the sink, entryways and other work spaces.
To follow are some of the best types of lights to use as task lighting.
Task Kitchen Light
Strip or Puck Lights
Strip and puck lights fit wonderfully underneath cabinet cupboards to keep your countertops visible day and night. Many are designed to change in brightness or color temperature to suit the time of day.
Pro Tip
Don’t forget the controls – what kind of switches do you want and do you want to be able to dim your lights and adjust their color temperature?
Inspired LED
Tempe, Arizona
Irvin’s Tinware
Mount Pleasant Hills, Pennsylvania
Task Kitchen Light
Pendant Lights
Pendants and kitchen islands are a match made in heaven. Stringing 3-5 pendants in the air above your work space creates a focal point in your kitchen to reinforces your home’s visual style, while fulfilling the function of keeping your greatest amount of counter space well lit.
Task Kitchen Light
Individual Recessed Lights
Recessed lights are often installed in lines along the center of a ceiling, but they work well as individual task lights too. Consider placing one above your sink or at one of your kitchen’s entryways.
Accent lights fill in the rest, adding a bit of extra flair in special areas like the interiors or top of cabinets, art pieces, or architectural features. These lights are often more decorative or more subtle, serving to highlight the kitchen’s lines and focal points.
Try the following kinds of fixtures to accentuate your kitchen.
Accent Kitchen Light
Wall Lights (Sconces)
Since cupboards often take up the majority of wall space in a kitchen, it’s easy to forget about the rest. But sconces are a striking additional to any wall, casting light upwards instead of downwards, to round out your space.
Accent Kitchen Light
Picture Lights
If you’ve hung artwork, shallow shelving, or decorative dishes along your walls, a picture light is a great way to illuminate your decor around the edges or from beneath.
Accent Kitchen Light
Pendants
Single pendants work wonderfully as accent lights as well, especially if they are unique in design. Just remember that your main goal is to create an additional blossom of light.
Accent Kitchen Light
LEDs
Attach LED strips within or above cabinets, or at foot level under cupboards (toe-lights) to outline your space and eliminate tripping hazards.
Source: Sconce lighting from Elegant Furniture & Lighting
Additional Ideas
Did you know there are imitation skylights? Designed to look like a translucent window, imitation skylights use LEDs to imitate the sun, filling a space with faux sunlight! Learn more about simulated skylights and Lightglass Lighting, a manufacturer of simulated lighting fixtures, in this Built for Home Bathroom Light Fixture article.
Incorporate shiny and reflective elements to bounce your light. Mirrors, copper light fixtures, and glass details can go a long way towards brightening your overall space.
Place ceiling lights at least a foot back from the doors of appliances and cabinets to properly illuminate them (and avoid potential collisions).
An even distribution of lights isn’t necessarily the best plan. If you have a lot of dark colored cupboards in one corner of your kitchen, you may need extra lights there.