Kitchen Lighting Trends

If there’s an area of your home that needs good lighting, it’s your kitchen. You need to be able to see well when you’re cooking, so your food is made properly and no one loses a finger. But what’s the right choice for your kitchen? There are lots of options available, and choosing the right fixtures can be overwhelming.

To get you started, I’ve put together a list of some of the most common types of kitchen lighting. This can help you determine the best fit for your home.

Pendant Lighting

Pendant lighting is a great choice for your kitchen because it serves a dual purpose. First and foremost, pendant lighting provides illumination to your task-oriented areas. Placing pendants over your stove top or prep area ensures you’ll have enough light to get your work done.

Secondly, pendant lighting is a great way to add a stylish touch to your kitchen. These stylish pendants that we used on a recent kitchen remodel are useful and attractive. We used fixtures of three different lengths to keep things interesting. There are literally hundreds of different options and styles of pendant lighting, so no matter your taste, we can help you find something you love.

Chandeliers

When you think of chandeliers, you might think of large, gaudy fixtures with lots of crystals dripping from them. Those are chandeliers, but a chandelier is actually any chain-hung fixture attached to the ceiling that has arms with upward or downward facing lights.

Chandeliers can be simple, like the one pictured above, or more ornate. Chandeliers are a great source of general light, and look best placed over a dining area.

Under Cabinet Lighting

Under cabinet lighting adds an ambient glow to your kitchen, and can also provide additional task lighting without casting a shadow. This under cabinet lighting in a recent remodel adds light to the cook top and also gives the kitchen a warm and homey feel.

Track Lighting

Track lighting is just that: lighting attached to a track that can be positioned to illuminate different areas of your kitchen. There are many different ways you use track lighting; you can use a curved or straight track of any length, and you can mount a variety of different types of light to the track. Track lighting can be used for task, accent, or general lighting.

Recessed Lighting

Recessed lighting is lighting that is located within the ceiling. It’s a great way to light your kitchen in an unobtrusive manner, and is a great choice for smaller kitchens because you don’t have a large fixture taking up space. Recessed lighting is also great if you’ve chosen some decorative fixtures for your kitchen, but you still need more light. In the recent remodel shown above, we paired recessed lighting with pendant lighting. The recessed lights provided needed light to the kitchen, but the stylish pendants are still the focal point.

If you’re planning a kitchen remodel this fall, I’d love to help you with every facet of the decision making process, including the lighting. I can help you find fixtures that are fit your functional needs, your design taste, and your budget.

Contact us today to start your project, or attend one of our kitchen redesign seminars to learn more – we’ve got one coming up November 20^th, and I’d love to see you there!