For many families, the kitchen isn’t just about meals. For example, if your kids hang out with you and do homework at your island, the lighting will need to be good enough for them to see well. If you have friends over for coffee or drinks, you may need an addition station that will require appropriate lighting as well. Or if your house has an open floor plan, your kitchen lighting should be cohesive with the rest of the area.
Hotwire Electric is a team of professional electrical contractors. We are specialized in installing, maintaining and repairing residential lighting fixtures, and are ready to take on any lighting project you have planned for your home.
We have collected a variety of kitchen lighting ideas to help inspire you for your next kitchen upgrade.
Before jumping into the kitchen lighting inspirations, let’s first understand the 3 main types of lighting and the function of each type when used in the kitchen.
Ambient Lighting
Ambient lighting creates an overall base layer of illumination. This comes from ceiling lights, or supplemented by natural light through windows during the day. This is essential for every kitchen.
Think of it like layering up in the winter. Before you put on your winter coat, hat and gloves, you need to put on your regular everyday clothes.
Your ambient light needs to be bright enough to see all aspects of your kitchen, even into cabinets. We can achieve this with a mixture of hanging fixtures and recessed potlights.
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This sounds pretty comprehensive but we can’t stop there. Ambient lighting is great for getting an even light all over (with the right placement and installation). However, there are a couple things ambient lighting cannot cover:
- It won’t add any depth to your kitchen: it’ll look one-dimensional.
- It won’t be strong enough to light the variety of activities you do in your kitchen.
This is why you need to start adding those other layers.
Task Lighting
Task lighting is light that illuminates areas where you really need to see well to do things. It’s essential for things like meal prep and cooking, and can help avoid injuries while chopping or preparing food.
Our team of professional electrical contractors can help you install task lighting based on where you’ll be doing most of your work. Prime locations generally include:
- Countertops – lights can be installed under cabinets to illuminate this particular workspace
- Kitchen islands – where you and your family usually gather around
- Cooking appliances – like the stove or the oven
- Pantries – where you need to be able to see and find things quickly
Depending on your kitchen design and preferences, there are a variety of ways to incorporate task lighting, including recessed lights, track lighting, and LED under-cabinet strips.
With properly installed task lighting, you won’t strain your eyes, you’ll have focused, helpful lighting, and you’ll be able to incorporate it into your design for a cohesive, stylish new kitchen.
Accent Lighting
When you want to draw attention to something, you highlight it. That’s exactly what accent lighting does in your kitchen.
What you want to accent is entirely up to you and your creative vision. For example, you can use accent lights to highlight:
- A unique design feature
- Decorative pieces on top of cabinets
- Floating shelves
- Dark corners where the ambient light isn’t quite enough
Now that we’ve covered the most basic knowledge about kitchen lighting, let’s move on to the inspirations you can apply to yours:
Ceiling lights
One of the most popular types of lights for the kitchen area is ceiling lights. Ceiling lights are light fixtures that are hanging right to the ceiling. The cost of a ceiling light will all depend on which style you choose, but, in a lot of cases, you will find that ceiling lights are the most budget-friendly of all cooking area lights.
In addition to ceiling fans, hanging kitchen lights are rather popular. Hanging kitchen lights comes in 2 primary designs, chandeliers or pendants.
Kitchen Pendant Lights
This simple lighting arrangement will work in any type of kitchen. For example, a bold, black set of pendant lights work perfectly in a farmhouse kitchen, but they would also look great in a modern or traditional kitchen. With three pendants, it’s important to hire a professional residential electrical contractor to install your ceiling lights. After all, you want to make sure the kitchen lights are spaced evenly and hung at the same height.
Kitchen Chandelier Lights
- Shabby Chic Chandelier
- Edison Bulb Chandelier
- Brass Chandeliers
- Silver Chandeliers
- Gold Chandeliers
- Glam Kitchen Chandeliers
- Capiz Chandelier
Light over the Kitchen Sink
While you may think that a window will provide enough light for your dish washing, you’ll likely find yourself needing a bit more brightness. For this reason, it’s smart to install a ceiling light over your sink. A kitchen can feature traditional ceiling lights, with two large lights over the island and a smaller one over the sink. It’s smart to keep the design of the lights in your kitchen the same in order to ensure cohesion throughout the room.
Under Cabinet Kitchen Lighting
When you’re in your kitchen late at night, you probably don’t want to turn on a ceiling light or downlights. That’s why under cabinet lighting exists. A professional can install strips of lights under your cabinets to help you see your worktop. This isn’t just helpful during the night, though. Worktop lights can add functionality to your cutting and cooking at any time of the day.
Bright Country Kitchen Lighting
The kitchen is lit with a series of downlights around the perimeter of the room. Since the kitchen is relatively small, the downlights do a great job at lighting the entire room. If the kitchen were a bit bigger, it would be smart to add a ceiling light or alternative light source to the kitchen.
Lighting Under Kitchen Worktop
Do you struggle to find what you’re looking for in your cabinets? If you do, why not install lighting underneath your worktops? Having extra light will help you sort through the drawers and cabinets in order to find your missing spatula. To make sure you don’t stop your drawers or cabinets from opening, it’s smart to hire a professional to install these lights in your kitchen.
At Hotwire Electric, we offer Toronto and Florida clients a huge range of residential electrical services ranging from kitchen lighting services to home automation. Whether you’re in need of a quick repair, a new room or feature in your home, or a complete electrical renovation, we have the skills and experience that few electrical contractors in the GTA , Toronto and Florida area can match.
Our team of highly capable and friendly electricians have years of experience dealing with residential electrical systems. All of us are committed to helping you quickly get the job done with minimal interruption of your daily routine. Our prices are highly competitive and we go out of our way to ensure our clients are happy with our work.
If you are still contemplating on what kitchen lighting solution or any other residential electrical project to take on, please don’t hesitate to reach Hotwire Electric at 416-553-5533. We’ll be happy to help you work out the best options for your home and assist you on your next project.
If your bathroom has overhead lights, consider replacing them with wall-mounted lights to add warmth and value to your bathroom, recommends hgtv.com. To avoid side shadows, keep in mind that even and subtle lighting is the way to go. A quick tip: high wattage bulbs make small spaces feel larger and soft lighting brings warmth to empty spaces.
