Kitchen Lighting
Achieve the perfect balance between task and ambient illumination with these essential lighting ideas that will bring your kitchen out of the shadows
Hanging out
1 When installing lights over an island, getting the right height is vital. ‘For standard ceilings, pendants should hang around 30 to 36 inches above the worksurface, while the total width of the pendants should be about two-thirds to three-quarters of the island’s width,’ says Mara Rypacek Miller, managing director, Industville. Its Brooklyn pendant in brass costs £89.
Plug and play
2 Wiring is often one of the earliest steps in a renovation, but it is impossible to foresee every scenario. ‘Kitchens are everevolving, so we designed the Petite Giselle plug-in pendant, £94, to let you install a light wherever its needed – just sling over a hook or rail,’ says David Lam, Lam Lighting founder.
In the spotlight
3 Spotlights reduce visual clutter while still offering ample illumination. This makes them especially well suited to small kitchens. ‘Just ensure you don’t layer too many spots together as this can leave the room feeling cold,’ advises Sara Ripamonti, co-founder of Aflux Designs, who created this space.
Soft touch
4 If your kitchen is also home to your dining table, then consider a softer treatment in this area. While fabric shades are inadvisable in the working parts of the kitchen they can add welcome texture and pattern to dining areas, as seen in this space designed by All & Nxthing Interiors. Pair with a dimmer switch to set the tone for an evening meal.
On the up
5 Rise and fall lights really come into their own in the kitchen. Offering adjustable illumination, they can be pulled down to focus light on intricate tasks or lifted to provide wider ambient lighting. The glass shade of Original BTC’s conical prismatic rise and fall design, £325, also further maximises light throw.
Light relief
6 Not just practical, lighting should also draw the eye, adding depth and highlighting decorative elements in the room. Here, an adjustable wall light – Jim Lawrence’s Howard design in antiqued brass, £140 – illuminates the unit, emphasising the colours and textures that it brings to the wider scheme.
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