A brand-new kitchen is one of the most popular remodels for homeowners—and no renovation of a kitchen is complete without effective lighting. Well-chosen illumination draws attention to all the stylish features you are adding, and it helps make every inch of your kitchen—from counters to cabinets and more—a pleasure to use.

So, how do you achieve the ideal blend of light fixtures to brighten your kitchen? These guiding tips provide a start.

What Makes the Right Kitchen Lighting So Essential?

For many homeowners, kitchens are central to so many daily activities, and the appropriate illumination makes it easier to cook, entertain, and work in the space. Consult with your design team to ensure that your kitchen design has an appropriate balance of these three elements:

• Ambient lighting creates the overall brightness of the room, which makes every area within it more convenient to use.
• Task lighting enhances activities in specific work areas, like countertops and your breakfast bar.
• Accent lighting offers style and draws attention to certain design features, such as decorations as well as items you would like to highlight within your cabinets.

Here is a closer look at how combining different fixtures in all the right places help to make your kitchen a delightful room within your house. 

Enhance the Usability of Every Area in Your Kitchen

Good lighting creates an inviting environment within which to chop vegetables, read recipes, clean dishes, and more. Consider installing lights within cabinets to add visual interest and functionality all at once. Add under-cabinet lights to accentuate countertops and tile choices. Consider installing lights within cabinets with glass doors or open shelves.

Achieve a More Spacious Feel

Older-style houses often lack sufficient illumination, and dim spaces tend to feel crowded. One effective way to achieve an open, inviting atmosphere is to install multiple light fixtures to brighten dark corners of your counters and cabinets. Brighter overhead lighting also helps bring an airy, expansive feel to your kitchen. Strategically install recessed fixtures that brighten dark corners, discretely creating a more welcoming area.

Showcase Design Features

Lighting is a key element in giving your kitchen its overall visual appeal. Spotlights and ornamental sconces can draw the eye to any unique décor you have, such as an attractive piece of art on the wall, a striking copper or brass range hood, or decorative open shelves lined with vintage porcelain pieces.

What to Consider as You Select Your Kitchen Lighting

The style and ideal amount of your kitchen’s illumination involves a balance of visual appeal and practical function. Keep the following rules of design in mind as you choose different types of light fixtures to install and where to place them:

Think About the Function You Want to Emphasize

As you plan your kitchen lighting, evaluate how you tend to move about the room. Do you have a butcher block or counter where you do detailed cooking prep? Task lights that brighten your countertops can be handy. For islands where guests will sit, a stylish chandelier might be a nice conversation piece that also brightens your island’s counter. Let the use of your space influence your lighting choices.

Envision the Room’s Style and Mood

Lighting fixtures can emphasize the entire feel of your entire house. It is helpful to select colors, designs, and even lightbulb types to enhance the overall character of your kitchen. In addition to the fixtures, light bulbs can make a significant difference in the feel of your kitchen. Warm-colored lightbulbs add to a cozy feel, while cool hues and neutrals tend to feel contemporary and minimalistic. Your choice of lightbulb also can change the color of cabinets and paint colors.

Remember to Include Efficient, Modern Choices

Your kitchen’s lighting can be both ecofriendly and contemporary in technical advances. Many people enjoy LED lighting for its energy-efficient, bright, long-lasting performance. Smart home technology can allow you to turn lights on and off automatically.

Five Popular Types of Kitchen Lighting for Counters, Cabinets, and More

The benefits of the right lighting become easier to achieve with a careful mix of different types of light fixtures. Here are five favorite lighting styles homeowners in the Twin Cities area prefer for their kitchen remodels:

1. Hanging Lights

Lovely and practical all at once, pendant lights are often suspended above an island to provide an extra bright environment for cooking and entertaining. Pendant lights come in many shapes, styles, colors, and materials, and they add an element of beauty that many homeowners appreciate. You can hang several in a row for an attractive aesthetic that also gives you ample illumination. You might want to avoid linen or cloth shades on pendants/fixtures in the kitchen – grease, grim and stains build up on hard to clean material. 

2. Recessed Lighting

Useful for both ambient and task lighting, recessed fixtures (also called canned lights) are set into your ceiling and above spaces such as butcher-block islands. They often feature dimmer switches so you can conveniently achieve the right ambiance at different times of day.

Canned lighting can require a large space for installation and screw-in bulbs. When remodeling, sometimes joists or rafters are in the way when you create a lighting layout symmetrically. One solution is to opt for wafer LED lights which are thin and can be mounted below framing.

3. Under-Cabinet Lighting

Under-cabinet lights are also quite handy for brightening the room. Installed on the bottom side of upper cabinets, these fixtures light up countertops to enhance the performance of daily activities such as cooking and cleaning. They can be discreetly set in place so that they do not interfere with your space’s overall look.

4. Toekick Lighting

As you plan out your kitchen’s overall ambiance, consider installing toekick lighting. These strip lights are set beneath lower cabinets near your flooring to ensure that it is safe and simple to walk around the room even when other lights are not turned on.

5. LED Lights

LED light fixtures are popular, functional, and attractive. LED bulbs can be combined with other types of lights to give you nuanced, layered lighting. A layered look can really soften the room and amplify design decisions. 

Achieve Your Dream Kitchen with the Right Lighting Designed and Installed by Beissel Renovation

Thoughtful lighting choices can give you a kitchen that is as functional as it is appealing. Our team of experts at Beissel Renovation would be happy to suggest different options and discuss with you how to achieve your goals for a bright space that showcases your countertops, cabinets, and more.

Discover how our experienced, attentive craftspeople can transform your house with beautiful, well-planned kitchen remodeling that leaves you delighted.