5 Types of Lighting that are Best for the Kitchen

Lighting in most rooms is chosen for form, how it adds to the interior design while also providing illumination. 

Lighting in the kitchen, however, is more than just about light fixtures and a central glow. Lighting in the kitchen influences the quality of your cooking experience, including the safety of your food prep.

It's very useful to have dispersed light and workstation light in order to get the clearest shadow-free view of every countertop. You may also want a centerpiece light fixture for the island or breakfast table in addition to many practical kitchen lighting choices.

Let's dive into the five best types of lighting for the kitchen. There are several ways to light your kitchen that will make it more useful, enjoyable to cook in, and welcoming for others based on your chosen design.

Recessed Can Lights 

Can lights are fantastic for a kitchen to distribute clear light throughout the room. A single pendant light tends to cast shadows, but an array of canister lights is ideal for ensuring that there is plenty of light for every counter and workstation in the kitchen.

Canister lights can be installed in a grid or even an attractive pattern, spaced out to fill whatever size of kitchen you may have.

Under-Cabinet Strip Lights

One of the biggest challenges in lighting a kitchen is lighting the counters. By a rule, ceiling lights in the kitchen are usually behind you if facing a wall-mounted countertop.

Both your own shadow and the upper cabinets may block light when you need it most. The best solution to this problem is strip lights along the underside of your upper cabinets.

These flexible LED strips provide clear light where it is otherwise nearly impossible to fully illuminate your kitchen workstations. Make sure to start your under-cabinet lights at an outlet where the strip can be powered and controlled.

Overhead Pendant Lights

Traditional kitchen lighting almost always features a statement pendant, ideally over the central island.

Kitchen interior design can often be enhanced by the perfect pendant, chandelier, or cluster of pendants to draw the eye up away from the cabinets.

Pendant lights can be used to pull the room together and to add a flair of real, decorative personality to an otherwise utilitarian room.

Interior Cabinet Lighting

Some cabinets are easy to see into, some are not. Your kitchen cabinet design might be one that is always shadowy, with deep recesses that we can never fully see the back of.

If this is true of your cabinets, or you just wish you had more cabinet illumination, you can light those inner shelves.

Using a few more clever tricks and an LED light strip, you can light each shelf from above so that you can finally see what's lurking in your cabinets on every shelf and all the way to the back.

Diffused Frosted Glass Lights 

One type of lighting underestimated in kitchen design is frosted glass lighting.  Replace your cabinet doors with frosted glass and light the insides to make your entire kitchen appear to glow. Mount small frosted sconces along the walls to gently illuminate your kitchen.

This type of lighting mixes beauty with function and can make a kitchen feel softer without turning down the lights.

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Here at the Edesia Kitchen & Bath Studio, we would love to help you find the perfect lighting solutions for your kitchen.

Make your kitchen beautiful, inviting, and delightfully well-lit for chefs and guests alike. For more great kitchen renovation and design ideas, contact us today!