The kitchen is the foundation of your home; it’s the gathering place. Like the glow of a calming fire, the right lighting draws people into the kitchen. It is also often the last thing considered in the design and the first thing cut from the budget. The days of having one fixture centered in the ceiling are gone! The best type of lighting requires light layering where accent, ambient and task lighting are successfully combined together. And the right lighting can be done inexpensively.
Take inventory of your lighting needs by location based on the activities that take place, whether it is homework, food preparation or entertaining. A smart kitchen has flexible and well planned lighting that adapts to your lifestyle.
Accent Lighting
Accent lighting is used to highlight design features in your kitchen and to create a mood. You can install lighting inside a glass door cabinet to showcase its contents. Accent lighting is perfect to highlight any visuals on your kitchen walls. Recessed, adjustable, low (or high) voltage fixtures can be used to illuminate the art. Strip lights in open soffit areas draw the eye upward to help make the ceiling appear higher.
Ambient Lighting
Ambient light is the all-purpose lighting that generally fills a room. During the day, ambient light may come from windows, but in the evening, ceiling fixtures are the most common choice for kitchens. Ambient lighting is often neglected, but keep in mind that indirect lighting softens the shadows on faces and makes people feel instantly welcome.
Task Lighting
Anywhere you do close-up work, you’ll want task lighting: above the counters where you slice vegetables, over the sink, stove, desk area or kitchen island. Recessed and track lighting are popular choices for direct lighting over kitchen task areas. There are a great variety of linear task lights and puck lights that are available for installation beneath upper cabinets to provide adequate illumination of countertop work areas.
Tags: accent lighting, ambient lighting, Kitchen Design, light layering, merillat, merillat cabinets, task lighting