How to Plan Kitchen Lighting Design

Planning kitchen lighting is as important to designing and remodeling a kitchen as picking out cabinets and appliances, but it's one undertaking that has many people confused. Mounting one central light in the center of the kitchen may seem like the easy route to take, but it will leave the whole kitchen décor in the shadows... literally. Learning how to plan kitchen lighting will guarantee the kitchen remains the heart of the home.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Map out the lighting plan on graph paper. Mark off the kitchen layout of cabinets and appliances. Laying out the kitchen on paper will help pinpoint the areas needing lighting and help determine the types of lighting necessary. The best kitchen lighting will include multiple types of lighting.

2. Utilize ambient lighting to provide general illumination for the entire room. This can include ceiling mounted lights, tracking lighting, chandeliers, and recessed lighting. Keep in mind, this type of overall lighting can create shadow areas, so don't rely on ambient lighting alone.

3. Install task lighting over work areas to provide just enough light where and when it's needed. Areas benefiting from tasking lighting include sinks, cooking areas, food prep and the breakfast bar/island.

4. Add accent lighting to on create a special mood or highlight an area or piece of art. Think about wall scones, lamps, in-cabinet lighting or mini-spots for those areas needing to highlight.

5. Use dimmers switches to control lighting. This could include enhancing a mood, like lowering the lights over a dining table or to reduce the overall power usage by dimming lights.

6. Use multiple switches for each of the type lighting for better control. Don't put all lighting on one switch.

Resources

• Kitchen Lighting Design Tips
• How to Design a Kitchen Layout
• Developing a Kitchen Lighting Plan

[harrisdy]

on 9/20/2009 great tips... 5*