Kitchen lighting: where to start?

[MyCatHatesOtherCats]

Apart from Pinterest, that is?!

We are in the process of planning an extension and are starting to look at building control drawings. The architect wants to get an idea of where to put plug sockets, etc. Light fittings. I’m not quite sure where to start!

We haven’t been to a kitchen showroom or anything yet. So not really sure what “look” we’re aiming for despite hours spent on Pinterest. I feel like how we light the kitchen is really important and I don’t want to get it wrong. DH is useless. Lovely but no idea. So it’s up to me!

The space in question is a kitchen-diner, with a sloping roof over the “kitchen” side and a flat roof over the “dining side. The units will be arranged in a sort of upside down U shape (but corners rather than curves). The run of units dividing the kitchen and diner will have a breakfast bar and hob on it.

The architect has suggested thinking about light for the dining end, light for the breakfast bar, and light for the kitchen side. I’m wondering about pendants over the dining table and spots over the kitchen end but no idea what to do about the breakfast bar.

If you had to make lighting decisions about a kitchen in a new space, what did you choose? Would you recommend it?

We have done similar but probably larger. Don't do pendants as if you are there a long time and change kitchen around they might be in the wrong place.

We had spots but divided into zones. A strip around the end matching over the units and placed near the wall so not to cause shadows. Another zone over the island which is lovely to sit on with lights dimmed down and then others for the living space all zoned. All zones had dimmers.

Make sure you have strip LED lights under the wall units and on a separate zone if possible

I'd think in areas and make sure you have each area controlled separately from the doorways where you enter. You want to be able to turn on/off and also dim each area as you enter or leave the room.

@Sunflowergirl1, thank you - that’s a useful tip in terms of pendants. The layout is such that I really can’t see us changing it in terms of where the kitchen units go - the room will be about 5.5 by 3.5 metres - but I suppose we may want to be more flexible with the dining side of the room at some point. Having said that, we have limited alternatives for where a table could go and the whole point is for us to have an eat-in kitchen!

@PragmaticWench, that’s also a good tip in terms of switch positioning - thank you.

Anyone else got any thoughts on pendants vs spots vs.....other forms of lighting?!

Similar advice to.@Sunflowergirl1

I originally wanted to have pendants over island and matching over dining area but the only input Mr WhereDoes had was he didn't want "dangly" lighting over island! We also decided against pendants over table as (pre covid) we enjoy having groups over for drinks and snacks and move table around a fair bit.
Our final lighting is zoned.

1. under cabinet 2)over island and table 3)rest of kitchen 4) sitting area. All but cabinet on dimmers. We also have automatic lighting inside large pantry cupboard - really recommended

We have spots in the kitchen with under cupboard lighting on separate switch, we also have pendants over the breakfast bar again on a separate switch and these are warm white rather than the cool white we have in the spots (these are the lights we tend to leave on in the evening) we then have spots in the dining area but on 2 separate switches

In terms of sockets, as many as possible. Plenty at the breakfast bar for devices and charging. You can get drawer inserts with charging ports too.

I would go for pendants over the breakfast bar but you need higher ceilings to make them look good. Apart from that, don’t have lighting behind you so you form a shadow on the surface you are using.

Good tip about shadows! Hadn’t thought about that.

We are definitely getting some USB points on the breakfast bar - we have some in the bedrooms from our rewire and they’re so useful.

Any other thoughts on pendants?

I like them but they must be above your eyeline. The breakfast bar won’t move so that’s the obvious place. Check the angle the lights give you over the surface. Small narrow lights are going to give a smaller spread of light. The spread of light varies greatly in bulbs too. So check any installation gives you workable light and the shades don’t get in the way of vision.

I have a big Arco light over my dining table. Any similar floor lamp would do. This has the huge benefit of being a statement piece and it’s moveable! It goes where you want it and floods the table with light. Would this work for you? Mine is adjacent to the kitchen because ours is partial open plan.

We have undercabinet lighting, a single pendant over the island, wall lights above the sink (we have a shelf over the sink with pretty bits and bobs on so it highlights those). We also have lamps.

In the dining area we have spots - our table is below a skylight so the spots are angleable ones attached to the side of the skylight reveal. I didn’t want a pendant as we move the table a fair bit but also because I find them a bit too in your face when eating dinner.

I agree with the advice above about having your lighting on a few different circuits, each with its own dimmer switch. However I wouldn’t think about separating them by “zones”, more by what are you doing in the room. For example the main overhead lights, that you will want on while cooking etc, that’s circuit one. Any gentler decorative lights that you would want on whilst relaxing over dinner, that’s circuit two. We have got ours “zoned” ie a circuit for each part of the room, but I find that I never want to have the lights on in one part of the room but off in another - it feels odd.

I highly recommend putting in a couple of 5amp sockets here and there, this way you can buy lamps and they are controlled by a wall light switch. (lamps might be circuit three or part of circuit two). You definitely want a lamp or two in the dining end as it makes the space much cosier.

Light bulbs: If you are going to be using LEDs and haven’t got them already, then have a bit of a read about colour temperature and CRI. I prefer 2700k (“very warm white”) as that is closest to old style incandescent and halogen bulbs. Some builders will use 3000k (called “warm white” but not very warm IMO) or even 4000k (called “daylight”) in kitchens unless you tell them otherwise. It’s a matter of personal preference but worth working out what you prefer rather than leaving it up to the builder.

CRI is how accurate colours appear under that particular light bulb - higher CRI is better. If you can’t find out the CRI of a bulb it’s probably rubbish!

One last thing: you say you’ll have hob and breakfast bar on the peninsula . Will it only be 900 deep (one cabinet plus breakfast bar)? If so that’s a bit close for comfort, people sitting at the stools may get splashed.

If you are having a hob on peninsula, any pendants are going to be subject to more steam and oily vapours so avoid anything that needs to be immaculately clean to look good!

How many lights you need will be determined by the spread of light, which varies with different bulbs and fittings. While the architect is pressing for this so he can put it in a drawing, I’d suggest you confer with electrician. That might not be possible now, but definitely arrange to meet and discuss on site at some point. I learned a lot and got much better advice than from my architect.

Are you considering smart lighting? DH and I are divided on this - he loves the huge range of options and control, and I’m frustrated by the thoughts of fiddling with apps instead of just flicking a switch.

Thinking about sockets - visualise yourself in the room, and think about where you’d want to plug in a hoover/ blender/ phone charger. Where will your coffee machine be? Kettle?

Thank you all - particular thanks to @minipie, you’ve suggested a few things I hadn’t thought of!

Good point about pendants and the breakfast bar - I will bear this in mind. Yes, the peninsula will only be one unit plus breakfast bar deep. The problem is that in terms of layout, we can either have the hob on the peninsula (with attendant concerns about splashing), or on the other side, in which case I cook with my back to the room.

The peninsula option gives a better run of work surface on the other side of the room as well as creating a natural “triangle” with the fridge and sink, aka I know exactly where I want the kettle and drinks cabinet so people can make drinks without getting under my feet when I’m cooking.

Hadn’t thought about plugging in a hoover! Great point.

I think we need to speak to some kitchen designers sooner rather than later...

3 lights to cover 3 m may not be enough. Depends on shades and angle of beam of the bulbs. You need advice on this. We have 5 large angled spots on wires over 3.5m .

Will you not need an extractor fan over the hob, therefore breakfast bar? It might impinge on your lighting choices.

Like you i had decided I wanted my hob on the island facing the dining/living area but I realised I don't actually spend that much time stirring with a glass of wine a la Nigella, so I'm going to put it back against the wall with a built in extractor hidden above. Then I can have a fuck off statement pendant over the island with a couple of back up spots for dark day pastry rolling.

I had a massive open plan area in previous house and agree with above posters saying sections / areas that can be turned off / on independently , I personally wouldn't bother with dimming as I like light and bright in kitchen dining area,
Sockets go as many as possible , and I like the usb charging combo ones as at least some of them
I had my hob in the island but this house I have reverted back to the wall as it's more practical for me
Yes to decent statement pendants over the dining area , these really make a kitchen

Get the Houzz ap it's full of great pictures and ideas

Definitely make sure all lights are dimmable. Makes a massive difference.

We have smart bulbs linked to Alexa and also zoned. So we can turn on all kitchen lights, or just the island or dining table or cupboard. Alexa is also programmed for dimming if we want

One lesson learned that I’ll share - we have downlights throughout the kitchen/diner space; however, the holes were drilled before kitchen units went in and while the lights are evenly spaced across the ceiling, the ones closest to the units effectively illuminate the top and front of the cupboards rather than sitting a few cm forward where they would illuminate the actual room. It drives me slightly mad although I have come to terms with it!

My plans changed a bit when I found a good kitchen designer! I had been planning a peninsula with hob and one of those pop up extractor fans to mitigate the splashing. But they’re not actually great extractors, plus there’s more to go wrong with moving parts and I passionately want to minimise the need for ever having another tradesman in my home
I ended up with my peninsula morphing into a wider island that I didn’t realise I had room for. She was brilliant at explaining the ergonomics of kitchen spacing; I thought I needed more space between my units and peninsula/island.

I’m still not completely decided about my table position but I want a pendant over it so my electrician is leaving cable in the ceiling and we can figure that later.

One thing to mention - do you need lights inside any cupboards, perhaps ones with glass doors? Or a light to come on when you open the larder door.