Lighting Ideas for a Kitchen

Suspended Lighting

• Lights that hang from the ceiling, such as chandeliers and pendants, add elegance and style to the kitchen while lighting specific areas of the room more efficiently. A chandelier makes a statement over a dining table, while pendants illuminate an island or breakfast bar. This style of lighting is particularly useful in homes with high or vaulted ceilings, where a regular ceiling fixture would be too high to light the space effectively. Most suspended lighting fixtures are adjustable in length. Pendants and chandeliers vary widely in design to fit the needs of the homeowner, providing elegant ambiance or direct task lighting.

Recessed Lighting

• Recessed lights, sometimes called down lights or canister lights, provide illumination while maintaining a low profile. Recessed into the ceiling, these fixtures become almost invisible in the kitchen design. The trim on recessed lights affects the type of light they produce -- some are designed to reduce glare, while others provide strong illumination. Adjustable recessed lights can be angled to highlight a kitchen feature or provide task lighting. Recessed lights are best installed during the building process, but some types can be retrofitted into an existing kitchen.

Under-Cabinet Lighting

• Upper cabinets often keep overhead lighting from reaching the counters below, making it difficult to complete some kitchen tasks. Under-cabinet lights provide extra illumination for dark corners and shadowed counter areas. Common types of task lighting include disc, track and strip lights. Disc lights provide soft pools of light for attractive ambiance but often are not bright enough for task lighting. Track lights contain miniature bulbs that can be moved along the track to where they're needed. Strip lights, the most common under-cabinet fixtures, feature long, tube-shaped bulbs that provide strong, even light.

Natural Light

• Never underestimate the benefit of natural sunlight in the kitchen. A large window can brighten the room during daylight hours without costly equipment and electricity. In a kitchen with small windows or no windows at all, skylights can bring sunshine into the home. If you are remodeling or building a new kitchen, consider the sun exposure on that side of the house. A north-facing window provides indirect light, whereas a south- or west-facing window allows strong, direct afternoon sun into the room. A kitchen with plenty of natural light requires less artificial lighting during the day.