Kitchen Lighting – What Would You Do Differently?

[ThisMellowReader]

We’re looking at different kitchen lighting ideas and I’m curious what people would change if they were planning their kitchen again.

Would you prioritise good lighting over the worktops, softer lighting for evenings, or separate switches so you can use different combinations? Are there any choices you made that turned out to be less useful than expected?

I’d love to hear what has worked well in real kitchens, especially anything you wish you’d planned from the start.

Yes to zones. Yes to proper light with no shadows in cooking areas.

Cool-toned bulbs look much better with white units. Yellow-toned bulbs make the units look discoloured.

I have just done our kitchen and chose loads of different zones with seperate switches. A strip LED light over the sink. 2 pendant lights over the island. Spots for kitchen a a whole. Extra lights in the extractor fan over the hob on the island. Plus automatic lights in the breakfast bar cupboard and the appliance cupboard.
We are completely open plan downstairs so I can adjust the lighting accordingly.

BTW, we have green cupboards and used warm white lights

We recently renovated and moved from a tiny flat to a large house.
Previously, our tiny kitchen had 1, 3way light in the centre of the room. It meant that the work tops and sink were in a shadow when using them.

Our new house has loads of down lights which are sectioned- 1 over the sink, 1 over the counter areas and cook top. We can have all lights on, some, a strip etc and they are also, also dimmable. Plus its two way switches so can be turned on from either ends of the room.

There is a more decorative light along the island. We had plinth lights put in at the bottom. I thought it was excessive TBH, but its actually handy if you are up at night and don't want it too bright. We also have LED's under the wall cabinets to also give light to the counter tops underneath. There is nothing I feel we missed out on or should have included.

I wouldn't bother with plinth lights or at least make sure they're on a separate switch as they're blinding and unnecessary.

We inherited a kitchen with badly positioned spotlights. We had these replaced with 3 really bright LED flush ceiling fixtures, above main working areas, and some down lights under wall cupboards on a separate switch for when dim lighting is wanted. Then the dining and lounge area (all open plan) each have a big Hue ceiling light that can be dimmed or warmed.

The difference in having clean, bright light to work in the kitchen is beyond words.

We have plastered in spotlights with interchangeable bezels, their app controlled and you can change the colour rendering which is great, bright light when you need it and soft lights at night

Basically, you don't have to have the ceiling peppered with little spotlights. There are many better lights to choose from.

I think you basically need 1. Really bright lighting scene for when you need to see what you are doing and 2. Some fill in lights which both add to the above but can also be used on their own for evenings/when you are just walking through.

Under cabinet LED strip light were a game changer for us, they light up the worktops as any lights behind you cast a shadow. We have zoned lighting with over head spot lights for the two ends of the kitchen depending what you are in there for. Also a motion sensor strip light on top of the upper cabinets so it lights up when you walk into the room. Great if your hands are full. Our kitchen is just a kitchen, no dining so no soft lighting needed for later on.

Green with lots of natural oak here and same - warm white lights. Gorgeous.

At our previous 400 year old house that had much larger kitchen with island and sofa, we put in 15 (iirc, might have been more) recessed spots plus two big pendant lights. We had no under cabinet lights as we had just two wall cupboards, one of which was a plate rack.

I absolutely hated the spot lights (even though it wasn't the first house we'd picked them for 🙄) and felt they were out of place in a period house, so was determined not to have them here.

This is a much smaller Georgian cottage with kitchen semi open plan to the dining room. The whole space is quite moody/atmospheric due to the colours we've chosen - burgundy and earthy pink with black range and fridge freezer - so too many really bright lights would look awful.

So, in the kitchen we have three brass pendant lights and one smaller pendant light (all Pooky), tiny strips of LEDs (rarely used!) under the three wall cupboards and a more contemporary burgundy ceramic lamp from Next on one corner of the worktop. The dining room has fabric ceiling and table lamp shades from Pooky and Next.

Separate switches definitely.