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Kitchen lighting ideas: how to light a kitchen for style and function
Good kitchen lighting is so important because kitchens are one of the most used rooms in our homes. With the popularity of open-plan living, they often share space with dining rooms and snugs, and are the hub of family activity. With all the changes the last year or so has brought, many of us have added working from home to the list of activities that we perform in this room.
So the kitchen-dining room has never needed to be as flexible as it does today and lighting is the single most important tool that can transform how we interact, perceive and function within that space. It is at the heart of how we feel about our environment. With so many lighting options and the often conflicting information out there, creating a beautifully lit home can become quite a minefield. Think of a lighting scheme as a recipe or painting: it requires different ingredients and layers. Badly lit spaces are often the result of either trying to use a single type of light to do everything, or using the wrong light source for the desired task. I have some rules of thumb to help avoid these pitfalls.
What type of lighting is best for kitchens?
I prefer to use directional downlights (ones that tilt and swivel), which can be angled towards work surfaces or onto cabinet doors. Unlike fixed downlights, these give you the flexibility to fine tune where the light goes and keep it out of your eyes. A room with a high ceiling requires fewer downlights than one with a low ceiling. This is because the beam of light expands as it travels further from the source, giving the opportunity for more coverage.
There are different views on whether recessed downlights should be arranged in a grid formation. The human eye likes symmetry, so it can be appealing to do this. However, it’s better to determine where you want the light to be than worry about the pattern in the ceiling. I usually decide that, if something is not going to be symmetrical, it needs to be obviously ‘off ’ – rather than ever so slightly. It should look deliberate rather than haphazard.
I started working in the Nineties, when tastes began to move away from track lighting. It was the revolution of recessed downlights – cleaning up the look of the ceiling. However, I think these are a bit overused these days and can be boring, while there is a cool, Sixties feel to track lighting and it can also make quite an architectural feature. The new LED versions are incredibly small and smart. While I prefer to keep track lights simple so they blend with the interior, there are times when you might want them to make a visual statement. An interior designer I worked with used to describe them, delightfully, as ‘pigeons in the ceiling’.
Under-cabinet lights are nice to have on when you switch the ceiling lights off and want to hide the mess, but still be able to see what you’re looking for if you pop into the kitchen when serving pudding etc. Make sure you choose a strip that provides a warm, even glow – preferably with an opal diffuser, so you don’t see any of the individual LED points (either directly when sitting down to dinner, or as reflections in a polished countertop).
As for the position of these lights, you have options to consider. Fitting them at the front of the cabinet underside is great when you have equipment below, like a coffee machine. In some cases, you can recess these lights, but where you cannot, a concealing lip or trim can be added, which can blend with the cabinet door. Locating the strip in the middle of the cabinet is good for light-ing the entire worktop below, while positioning it nearer the wall is great when you want to highlight a fabulous splashback finish.
Kitchen island lighting
A kitchen island is a useful task area that can be used for many things from food prep and chopping, to cooking (if your stove is placed there) and of course socialising. As such, it needs lighting for all these tasks. The best option is to have one large or three normal size pendant lights hanging over it that light the whole space. Around these, consider having spotlights that make sure every corner is lit for those times you use if for chopping and such tasks. Kitchen island lighting should be customisable, so make sure the pendant lights are on a dimmer switch and can therefore be turned down to something more ambient when you are socialising around the island before a dinner party.
Unless your kitchen-dining space is very big or segmented, use a large decorative light for either your dining table or island, but not both, as they can clash. I still like to place a few directional downlights on either side of a pendant, so the surface below is lit. The pendant can be dimmed to create the illusion that it is lighting the table below without being overly bright for your eyes.
One lighting challenge is a skylight over a table. By day, you are flooded with natural light, but at night it can become a dark recess. I like to position a few surface spots within the skylight to cross-light onto the surface below and/or small indicator lights, for a soft glow within the skylight. Be careful of reflections within the glazing.
What bulbs to buy for kitchen lighting
Colour temperature is a really important issue with LED lighting. It is supposed to be a scientifically determined reference point – standardised like a Pantone chart. The light from a 2700k (warm white) lamp should look the same wherever you buy it, but this is not always the case, and it can look awful having different versions of the same light from various fittings. It’s to do with the stringency of selection during manufacture, so stick to one source or supplier.
How not to overcomplicate it
Lighting can also become too glitzy quite easily, especially with LED lights. When low-level lighting integrated into skirting plinths is in every DIY kitchen store, it is time to think of another trick. There is a fine line between great lighting ideas and looking like a lighting showroom. If in doubt… leave it out.
Think about the way that you might light a traditional kitchen versus one in a more modern style. Traditional cabinet fronts with panelling best suit arcs of light from recessed downlights. Contemporary units can take something a bit cleaner, such as recessed lines of striplight that make a more up-to-date statement.
When it comes to controls, whether you favour switches, rotary dimmers or a smart system, keep it simple, at least at the front end. I use what I call the ‘grandma standard’ – if you think your grandmother would struggle to use it, it’s too complicated.
Lastly, I always tell my designers to think as much about what is not lit as what is lit. Shadow creates contrast and interest within a space. A white kitchen will reflect more light than a dark one, so will require a different lighting approach.
Christopher Horwood1/11Keeping all the lights in the same style works well in a sleek, contemporary kitchen like this one in a French country house by John Tanner. Porcelain lights from DeVol hang above cabinetry in a bespoke tinted oak, teamed with Perla Venata quartzite worktops and Brutalist bar stools from Caroline de Marco.
2/11Having a decorative pendant over a dining table is a good way to demarcate the area, and it can also provide softer, glowing lighting to eat by, as opposed to the stronger task lighting elsewhere in a kitchen. Emma Burns, the designer behind this Wimbledon flat, says 'I wanted this space to read as a dining room rather than a kitchen.'
Mark Anthony Fox3/11In the tiny kitchen of designer Christian Bense's Battersea flat, he has used an elegant swing-arm wall light as task lighting over the sink – a clever solution that is just as decorative as it is functional.
Paul Massey4/11We rather like the smart brass spotlights that provide task lighting in the kitchen of this Georgian-style house in rural Berkshire designed by Nicola Harding. Combined with the prettier pendant lighting over the sink, they make for a functional and decorative scheme.
Yuki Sugiura5/11The designer Matilda Goad has spent the last two years turning a typical London house in to an imaginative, stylish home packed with clever and unexpected ideas. Gong's 'Peggy' wall lights (£285) allow for softer lighting over the workspaces.
Owen Gale6/11Interior designer Angelica Squire's Victorian terraced house in London is a youthful, exuberant space that combines smart artworks and fabrics with clever vintage finds and joyful colours. Two striking Pooky glass pendant lights illuminate the island.
Christopher Horwood7/11As an alternative to recessed downlights, we're rather taken with these lovely downlights with bare bulbs in the small kitchen of this Hackney coach house designed by Evelina Mamedovaite. They fit in well with the stylish utilitarian aesthetic of the rest of the house.
Paul Massey8/11This Arts & Crafts house was given a new lease of life by Ben Pentreath, who has hung a striking brass pendant light over the central island.
Paul Massey9/11In the kitchen of his restored Tudor house in Hastings, Alistair Hendy has used swing arm wall lights over the workspace, ensuring versatile lighting when needed.
Paul Massey10/11The kitchen of this minimal Manhattan house designed by Rita Konig has small, subtle spotlights in addition to the more decorative pendant lights over the island.
Paul Massey11/11Frilly glass pendant lights provide gentle lighting and retro charm in the kitchen-come-dining room of Rita Konig's farmhouse. These French pendants can often be sourced from Etsy (try here) or Ebay.
