You’re no doubt familiar with the principles of interior lighting layouts, namely that lights are grouped into one of four broad categories: ambient, task, decorative and accent lighting. But how are these four categories most commonly and effectively applied to achieve a pleasing result in a typical kitchen?
The first and arguably most important, yet least noticed, type of lighting you need in any kitchen is ambient light. This gives a soft background level of illumination that in effect provides a lighting platform for everything else. It is usual for kitchen lighting designs these days to deliver this through a grid of recessed spotlights in the ceiling, preferably controlled by a dimmer switch to adjust the level for different effects and moods.
With the background lighting sorted out attention turns to supporting the primary purpose of a kitchen: preparing food. This demands task lighting and far and away the best solution in a kitchen is concealed under cabinet lighting that brightly illuminates the countertops and thus the area where your hands are, but without shining in your eyes or being distracting. Hob lights perform a similar function for that one specific area.
Decorative and accent lighting are somewhat optional and depend on your particular kitchen layout and the way you use it. However, if you have a table, breakfast bar or kitchen island then there is a really obvious and highly effective way to enhance it. Modern pendant lighting for kitchens offers a huge choice of different styles and colors from which to add personal decorative touches to the lighting scheme.
Accent lighting in kitchens is typically done using wall wash effects (LEDs are superb for this), picking out certain features with discreet spotlights and tracing lines around plinths and covings etc. In the latter case, again some really cool contemporary effects are easily achievable using LED strip lights. Another cool effect if you have glass shelving is to set a bright light at the back of the shelf in line with the plane of the glass so that it shines through the edge – the color depends to a degree on the light and glass composition, but is generally a very striking green.