AD | The kitchen is often called the heart of the home, and with good reason. We cook in here, entertain our friends, feed our pets, help our kids with their homework, and more. This one room fulfils a plethora of functions and lighting up your kitchen is a great way to create zones for all these activities, with plenty of popular options to go for too. Are you thinking of adding lighting to your kitchen? Here are some popular lighting ideas to consider.
Lighting Up Your Kitchen – 6 Popular Lighting Ideas
Getting the Right Pendant Lighting
A pendant light is a single light fixture hung from the ceiling. Generally, various pendant lights are installed together as a means of lighting up the space. They’ll often be fitted in the middle of the room, working as general lighting. However, you may want to be more specific about where you fit them, depending on what works best for your kitchen.
You can also get a range hood from worldcoppersmith that complements the metal used in the lights you choose, tying everything together in a stylish, sleek way.
It’s important to go for the right lighting in the correct location and, as for any lighting installation, you’ll need to hire a professional electrician to carry out the work due to the safety risks involved (e.g. electrocution).
Consider Certain Task Lighting
Kitchen task lighting illuminates certain areas in a kitchen where you need plenty of light. Such as over over the cooker or worktop area where food is prepared. By pointing down directly, kitchen task lighting can light up the area without creating shadows.
Common types of kitchen task lighting include counter and cabinet lighting, spotlights, and recessed downlights.
Opt for Spotlights
Spotlights can be a smart and modern way of lighting up your kitchen. While they can form task lighting, spotlights could also be used as general lighting, such as in the form of a ceiling grid, recessed spotlights, or flush-mounted spotlights.
There are many types of spotlights on the market, some suited to general lighting, others used for different purposes. Popular types include four light spotlight bars, three light spotlight plates, and six light ceiling plates.
Look into Cabinet Lights
In addition to the kitchen ideas already mentioned, and you may be interested in having lights added above your cabinets or installed at the bottom, to act as a form of floor lighting. And of course there are plenty of other types of cabinet lights you may want to consider too. Such as under cabinet lighting to illuminate your worktops, or in cabinet lighting to show off your glassware.
Consider Kitchen Chandeliers
One of the more popular lighting ideas, and a glamorous one too, is to have chandeliers installed, to create a striking impression for your friends and family. A contractor could install a kitchen chandelier above the breakfast island or the middle of the kitchen, for example.
Contemplate Kitchen Wall Lights
Having suitable lights added to the right places along the walls in your kitchen can help create a feature wall of shining light as well as adding a cosy feel and look to the space. Some of the most notable types of kitchen wall lights are plug-in wall lights, twist metal wall lights, glass wall lights, and round glass wall lights.
Again, as with any type of lighting, it’s a good idea to talk with an electrician or a supplier to get an idea of what kitchen wall lights might work for you and your kitchen.
Hiring a Contractor
If you’re looking to hire a professional electrician to install your kitchen lighting, on average, electricians charge around £50 to £60 per hour. It’s worth noting that labour prices can vary throughout the UK (they’re generally relatively low in northern England and Scotland but above the UK average in the south east of England). Do bear in mind the total cost of installation, which will include not only the electrician’s labour rate but also the supply cost of the lights and light bulbs.
When seeking a contractor to light up your kitchen, it’s best to secure quotes from three or more electricians before making a decision. That way, you can compare several professionals based on criteria such as their pricing, levels of experience, and their online reviews/ratings.
*This is a collaborative post – please see my Disclaimer.
These are fantastic ideas for kitchen lighting! Our kitchen is L-shaped, and we currently have under-cabinet lighting. However, in the early mornings and evenings, it can get dark above the kitchen table, so I was thinking of hanging a pendant there.
That’s a really good idea, Karalee, we put pendants in recently and it’s made a world of difference, so cosy now!
Great idea about lighting up the kitchen. My wife and I always looking to make our kitchen looking best. The kitchen wall lighting is my favourite option. Thanks for sharing the contractor rates. It really helps us to choose the best lighting in budget. Thanks for sharing valuable information!
Thank you, I’m glad the article was useful – happy kitchen renovating 🙂
I really liked your ideas to add cabinet lights and a chandelier. A chandelier can be added using existing electrical, while cabinet lighting can be achieved without any wiring at all if battery lights are used.
Thank you, Heidi, and yes, I agree about battery lights for under cupboard lighting – especially useful during a power cut!