Kitchen Lighting
When it comes to home lighting, there’s perhaps no reason where it’s more important to get your lighting just right than the kitchen. After all, it’s the heart of your home. And as the heart of your home, it’s where you spend a lot of time, and it’s also where a lot of your work is done.
The kitchen is a dynamic space with a lot of activities going on all at once. One child’s doing an art project, another is getting a snack from the refrigerator, all while you’re trying to prepare dinner. It may sound like chaos to the outsider, but hey, it’s home.
However, with so much happening in just this one room, you’ll want a full-orbed lighting strategy that takes into account all that’s going on. For example, prepping for certain kitchen tasks may take different types of lighting than other tasks. Or, you might want another type of lighting that will give your child the ideal work environment to do their homework after school.
At Butler Lighting, our expert lighting design consultants are here to help you create a relaxing, warm, and welcoming environment in your kitchen. All the while making sure you have the right amount of light to do the daily tasks that need to get done.
Since 1948, we’ve offered top-quality lighting products to our neighbors in North Carolina. Since then, we’ve built two lighting showrooms in High Point and Greensboro in order to better serve our community.
With thousands of options in stock, we’re certain we can find the kitchen light fixtures that meet all your illumination needs — while also being eye-catchingly beautiful.
The Mindset Of Kitchen Lighting
The strategy of kitchen lighting is actually unlike the lighting strategy of other types of rooms. Most rooms you’ll want to ensure your ambient (general) lighting is handled before moving to task and accent lighting.
When it comes to kitchen lighting however, you’ll want to start with task lighting, then move to accent lighting, and finally you’ll fill the rest in with ambient lighting. The reason for this is because the kitchen is a uniquely task-oriented room. Each part of the cooking process can benefit from specific light fixtures that are designed to make that particular task easier.
Once you get that down — as well as some accent features that will highlight interesting design features or artwork — getting the rest of the room lit should fall nicely into place.
And if you’d like to add in a further degree of customization, you can always compliment your lighting setup with dimmers to help set the mood and ensure bright lights can be taken down a notch if need be.
Kitchen Lighting From Floor To Ceiling
Now that you’ve learned the right frame of mind to create the best possible kitchen lighting, we’ll go into choosing individual fixtures for each major type of lighting you’ll find in the kitchen. We’ll start from the floor and make our way up to the ceiling.
Toe Kick Lights
Toe kick lights are often placed under low cabinets and islands and provide a warm welcoming feel that permeates your kitchen. They are also a great way to make your way around the kitchen when it gets dark.
If you have high-gloss floors, LED light strips can reflect the individual bulbs. A helpful way to counter this reflection is to use diffused lenses or simply mounting those strips on their sides.
Under Cabinet Lights
One of the best ways to make use of the space underneath your hanging cabinets is by installing under cabinet lighting. These types of lights are a relatively recent development in kitchen lighting trends, but they make up a powerful portion of modern kitchen lighting design strategy.
Not only do they create a warm glow, but they also cut down on the shadows that cabinets cast. These stylish lights are a great way to increase usable counter space by getting the task lighting you need in a place that wouldn’t have it otherwise.
Toe Kick Lights
Toe kick lights are often placed under low cabinets and islands and provide a warm welcoming feel that permeates your kitchen. They are also a great way to make your way around the kitchen when it gets dark.
If you have high-gloss floors, LED light strips can reflect the individual bulbs. A helpful way to counter this reflection is to use diffused lenses or simply mounting those strips on their sides.
Recessed Lights
Recessed lights are best used as the ambient lighting source in your kitchen. In order to get the best distribution of light, you’ll want to install these throughout your kitchen evenly. This will make sure you have a balanced amount of lighting in each part of your kitchen. The places where you need extra lighting for specific tasks are better done by other types of light fixtures.
Remember to take into account the natural lighting of your kitchen, and design your lighting strategy so it works best both when the sun is out and when it’s down. Remember that you always have the option of installing dimmers to ensure you have the perfect amount of lighting whenever you need it.
Sconces And Other Wall Lights
Wall lighting is a key part of providing supplemental lighting in your kitchen. You can use sconces and other types of wall lights to shine a bit of extra light over cooking areas. They are also a great aesthetic addition, especially if you match their design to your hanging light fixtures.
Kitchen Drawers
Having light up kitchen drawers are like the icing on the cake. Soft LED lights are a great way to make your silverware sparkle in your drawer. Make sure you use a motion sensor to ensure the lights automatically turn on and off as you need them.
Visit Butler Lighting’s High Point Or Thomasville Showroom
For top-quality lighting products and expert design, there’s no better lighting store in North Carolina to turn to than Butler Lighting.
With over 70 years of industry experience, we have the product knowledge and design expertise to help you create the perfect kitchen lighting strategy. But just because we’ve been around for a while doesn’t mean we’re stuck in the past. Our expert lighting consultants keep up with the latest design trends to ensure we offer the best possible service and results.
So what are you waiting for? Visit Butler Lighting in High Point or Thomasville or schedule an appointment online. We look forward to helping you create the kitchen of your dreams.
