Our friends at Home Lighting Center in Idaho Falls have provided these insights to lighting your kitchen.
Work Spaces
When lighting your kitchen, whether you are building, remodeling, or purchasing a new home, it is important to note where the work spaces are. Where will you be chopping, cleaning, cooking food? Where will you plate the food? Where are you cleaning dishes?
Once you know where your work spaces are, then you know where the light needs to be focused.
The following are the most common kitchen workspaces and suggestions on how to light them.
The Stove
No matter where your stove is located, you will want some lighting directly above it, but not in a location where it will be shadowed by you. Many homes have microwaves above the stove, and have a light installed under the microwave.
Stove lighting is essential for food preparation. You want to be able to tell when your food is done. Take chicken for example, if you can’t tell that the inside is still a little pink, and you serve it to your family, you risk them getting sick from it.
Another option for lighting the stove area is to place spotlights or hanging lights in the ceiling to either side of the stove.
Counters
Counters are going to be your main workspace when preparing food, chopping, mixing, plating, etc. If you have an island counter, that might be where you do most of your preparatory work. In that case, you might want to consider a chandelier or spotlights in the ceiling above the island. A chandelier is great to add beautiful design elements for a focal point in your kitchen.
For counters that border the kitchen, you may want to consider adding spotlights above them. Another option to prevent you from shadowing your workspace is to add lights in under the cupboards if they are placed over the counter.
If you have the space for it and you don’t have the option to build in more lighting, consider a standing lamp.
The Sink
Where the kitchen is the heart of the home, the sink might just be the heart of the kitchen. All produce is cleaned here, dishes are washed here so you can use them again. Hands are washed here. And because this workspace is so critical, so it its lighting!
In many homes, sinks are placed near a window for the purpose of adding natural light during the day. Most sinks also have a spotlight place above them. If you’re sinking isn’t near a window, that’s okay. Spotlight can be place above them, or if the sink is on your island counter, that is where the chandelier comes in.
Another option for sinks that are along a wall is to add wall-mounted lights on either side of it. This will keep you from shadowing the sink and provide a decorative aspect to compliment the design of the kitchen.
No matter where you live or how your kitchen is laid out, you can always ensure that your lighting is done right.
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