4 Darkest Kitchen Lighting Mistakes to Avoid

Is there anything more important in a home than the kitchen? And is there anything more crucial in a room than the lighting? Honestly, probably not. What is the point of having your dream (or close enough to dream) kitchen if you are unable to see where the pan cupboard is? Or if you can’t make out the face of your partner at the opposite end of the breakfast table?

You get the point.

However, kitchens are one of the most challenging spaces to light adequately because they are usually multi-functional. This is the room where the household gathers to cook, to eat, to talk, to spend time together. It is why the kitchen is so essential to the wellness of a home. So you want your kitchen lighting to be functional, comforting and (potentially) luxurious.

What you don’t want is kitchen lighting that makes your space look smaller than it is, that makes it unappealing to enter, that makes it challenging to exist in.

There are enough challenges in life; eating a lovely meal in your kitchen with appropriate lighting shouldn’t be one of them.

To help you out of the dark hole your kitchen may be in, here are four darkest kitchen lighting mistakes to avoid.

1. Not purchasing the right style or type of light fixtures for the kitchen

Within your kitchen, you want to have both general lighting and task lighting. General lighting is what it sounds like, while task lighting is there to ensure that you can clearly see whatever you are doing. In the case of the kitchen, that task is going to be cooking, eating, drinking, or socializing (also known as all the good things in life).

Usually, when it comes to lighting options, homeowners use recessed fixtures, surface fixtures, or pendant fixtures in the kitchen. Recessed lights help to provide a feeling of openness in the room, surface lights tend to illuminate a wide area, and pendant fixtures are used for task lighting as they are superior at producing the light nearer to the areas where you require excellent visibility.

Some people don’t like pendant fixtures as they hang down from the ceiling; however, with so many designs and options on the market, there is no reason for you to live in the dark because you couldn’t find a task light that works with your decor vibe.

2. Not having enough control over your kitchen lighting

Every single kitchen should have dimmer switches on the lighting, to ensure that you have full control over the brightness of the space. If you have a large kitchen, you should opt for more than one switch so that you are able to only turn on some of the lights.

In your kitchen, you want to have all-over ambient light. But, you also want to be able to set the right vibe for your lighting depending on the mood. If you are cooking or highlighting recipes, you certainly want bright lights. However, if you are sitting down with your partner to eat a special meal, you are most likely going to want slightly more intimate lighting.

Having dimmer switches at your service is the best way to make this happen.

3. You forget about island lighting

If your kitchen has an island, it is essential that you contemplate how you are going to light up this area in a manner that flows with the rest of the lighting in the kitchen. This is the perfect place for one or more pendant fixtures.

Generally, island lighting is placed about 66 inches off the floor to the bottom of the fixture. However, the primary concern should be that those in the kitchen are able to see each other and that the island lighting isn’t ever blocking the view.

4. Your bulbs aren’t bright enough

If you have chosen the appropriate light fixtures and spaced them suitably around your kitchen, and still are having a hard time seeing where the fridge is, then it is time to reassess the lightbulbs that you are using.

LED bulbs are the future, and if you haven’t already switched on to them, it is about time you did. Over the past several years, there have been massive technological advancements in the LED bulb world, making them more accessible, more environmentally friendly, cheaper, and more powerful than ever before.

With a life-span of 20+ years, LED bulbs are how you get the best light for your buck.

When shopping for your new LED bulbs, keep in mind that the brightness of LEDs is determined differently from incandescent bulbs. For LED bulbs, lumens (lm) measures brightness and is the number you should concentrate on when selecting your LED bulbs. Before going to buy your LED bulbs, figure out what brightness (in lumens) your kitchen requires and keep all talk of watts out of your mind.

Are you happy with the brightness in your kitchen? What do you do to ensure that you can see your vegetables on the chopping board and your chopsticks on the table? Let us know your lighting tips and tricks in the comments below!

AUTHOR BIO

Ajay Awtaney is co-founder of Nakashi General Trading LLC, an electrical lighting company in Dubai catering to the needs of clients and projects requiring quality lighting products and solutions. Nakashi General Trading LLC today is an approved vendor of reputable organisations (Jumeirah, Engineering Office, Meraas, Musanadah and Thumbay, to name a few) for supplying lighting products.