Kitchen Lighting

yellow hen · 26-03-2021 9:50am #1

The lighting choices for a kitchen are bamboozling me. We are buiding a 2.4m island so as a I google I see people have spots in the kitchen, pendants on an island and pendants again at the dining table. In one room, that seems like alot of clashing lights - am I wrong? Really struggling on this.

Are glass pendants a pain to keep clean? I like the simplicity and transparency of them but wondering if dust becomes a pain.

phormium · 26-03-2021 8:37pm

I actually don't like the look of pendants at all over a counter, possibly over table but I think two lots of hanging down things clutter up the place unless of course you have seriously high ceiling.

I don't like recessed spots either, I have two track ones at the moment but have built a small kitchen extension so stuff has moved around and lighting needs to be changed, pity of it is I'd actually buy more of the same lights again if I could get them!

misc2013 · 27-03-2021 8:33pm

V interested in this. I'm not a fan of spots, my OH is. I wouldn't have even considered a light over the island? Over dining table, yes.

jrosen · 31-03-2021 7:27pm

We have pendants at our island. We went for a reeded glass, its basically ribbed if that makes sense. We got them from Mullan Lighting. Irish company. I wanted glass but the clear glass is a nightmare in a kitchen imo, shows the grime really quickly. I dont find this is the case with the reeded glass.

Over our table we have gone for something more flush to the ceiling as I felt the same as you, too many clashing lights.

Edit to add we also have spots. We have 11 in total in the kitche/dining living space. The spots are closer to the kitchen cabinets and 2 under the cabinets and close to the wall where the dining table would be. We went for a warmer bulb in our pendants and dining table light so the spots are great when cooking or working at the table late in the evening but once off the other lights are cosy.

...Ghost... · 05-04-2021 10:18am

Having studied lighting and design I fully understand the popularity of spot lighting in Ireland for the common rooms and bathrooms. Our ceilings are typically 8-8.5ft and the furniture in these areas is rarely or never moved. Spots are out of the way and can be deployed in a pattern that not only looks well, but covers all the areas you want illuminated an will allow for some furniture movement.

Hanging lights or pendants really only suit rooms with higher ceilings, lower traffic or over an area with set in place furniture. Technically you could place over an island, but this is a food prep area and spiders love pendants for a bit of a crawl. Pendants look good over a dining table but then you are stuck with it and if you have the room, moving your table is no longer a viable option.

Rail lights are good. They give you directional control and don't hang as low as pendants. But like pendants, they do need cleaning and the kitchen is a high traffic area which gets a lot of use.

In my house, I use spots in the attic because of space, pendants or flat globe lights in the bedrooms (including a hilariously oversized pendant in my bedroom), spots all downstairs though i do plan to change this in the sitting room for a half globe.

My kitchen is split into 5 lighting zones and all are spots. The first 2 zones are the original kitchen and split into half zones of about 6 spots each. The extension which is used as the dining and family room has 3 lighting zones(a,b,c). zone "a" illuminates the wider extension of the kitchen counter from the original kitchen. zone "b" illuminates the mid section where the dining table rests. zone "c" illuminates the end of the kitchen and is often left on at night when the original kitchen is in use.

My advice is to first consider the lighting you need and let the style come second. I wouldn't worry about mixing lighting types as long as the function makes sense, it won't look out of place. Keep your mind focused on colour temperature too. I think white or cool light looks dreadful in anything but a utility room. The 3000-4000k range is what I think works best in Ireland. Coloured shades and pendant glass will change this and is another consideration. Whatever you choose, go LED and dimmable is possible.

Good luck

fits · 06-04-2021 9:06am

I wish we had got expert advice on lighting our house. I would reconsider that if I could go back. Anyway we have high ish ceilings in open plan area with spot lights. Have a hanging led bar light over island and it’s brilliant for cooking and looks well. Do make sure your work area is well lit.

mel123 · 07-04-2021 7:12pm

do not, i repeat, do not get glass lighting. every time i look at mine i cry a little inside. nightmare to keep clean and you can really see the grime/dust on them at all times - when they are on and even when they are not on and the sun is shining.

yellow hen · 07-04-2021 8:38pm

So what I've learned from all the posts here is that kitchen lighting is a fecking nightmare!! I'm none the wiser on what to pick. Our island is long and will be half under a normal ceiling height and half under a vaulted ceiling. I find coloured pendants look very heavy compared to glass but I'm hearing all the comments on glass..what about a textured glass...would that work?

lawred2 · 07-04-2021 8:52pm

yellow hen wrote: »

The lighting choices for a kitchen are bamboozling me. We are buiding a 2.4m island so as a I google I see people have spots in the kitchen, pendants on an island and pendants again at the dining table. In one room, that seems like alot of clashing lights - am I wrong? Really struggling on this.

Are glass pendants a pain to keep clean? I like the simplicity and transparency of them but wondering if dust becomes a pain.

We had pendants in our kitchen. I pulled them all and replaced them. Visual clutter and constantly collecting dust.

yellow hen · 07-04-2021 8:53pm

lawred2 wrote: »

We had pendants in our kitchen. I pulled them all and replaced them. Visual clutter and constantly collecting dust.

What did you replace them with?

lawred2 · 07-04-2021 9:00pm

yellow hen wrote: »

What did you replace them with?

Recessed spotlights

Hardly imaginative but definitely cleaner and less obtrusive

yellow hen · 07-04-2021 9:21pm

lawred2 wrote: »

Recessed spotlights

Hardly imaginative but definitely cleaner and less obtrusive

I hear you. Have you a dimmer on them? Or a soft bulb? I.have spots throughout our house and I've learned that my eyes are overly sensitive to them which is a bit annoying.

jrosen · 07-04-2021 9:34pm

yellow hen wrote: »

So what I've learned from all the posts here is that kitchen lighting is a fecking nightmare!! I'm none the wiser on what to pick. Our island is long and will be half under a normal ceiling height and half under a vaulted ceiling. I find coloured pendants look very heavy compared to glass but I'm hearing all the comments on glass..what about a textured glass...would that work?

See my post already, our glass is textured on our pendants. They are up now maybe 6 months and I haven't cleaned them. Id imagine they need a clean but they certainly dont look like they do which is all im concerned about.

Ronaldinho · 07-04-2021 9:43pm

You may get some inspiration flicking through photos here: https://www.johncullenlighting.com/projects/kitchen-lighting/

lawred2 · 07-04-2021 9:58pm

yellow hen wrote: »

I hear you. Have you a dimmer on them? Or a soft bulb? I.have spots throughout our house and I've learned that my eyes are overly sensitive to them which is a bit annoying.

They are all hue spots so yeah they are dimmable.

...Ghost... · 07-04-2021 11:56pm

yellow hen wrote: »

So what I've learned from all the posts here is that kitchen lighting is a fecking nightmare!! I'm none the wiser on what to pick. Our island is long and will be half under a normal ceiling height and half under a vaulted ceiling. I find coloured pendants look very heavy compared to glass but I'm hearing all the comments on glass..what about a textured glass...would that work?

It's only an issue if you start to overthink it. So, take your island for example. You could go a couple different directions with spots alone. Use a higher lumen bulb for the higher ceiling. Forget the ceiling height and only consider the working surface. So you might have a 5 foot height from the lower ceiling to the worktop and 8 feet from the higher ceiling. To even the lighting on the work surface, you will need the lumens to be 60% greater as a rule of thumb. If you go for 3W spots, then 5W bulbs of the same brand will be close enough. I overcame a similar issue by using frosted spots over the extended worktop in the extension which helped disperse the light more evenly on the work surface.

You could also add more spots of the same luminosity on the higher ceiling, or hang a light bar as a feature......keeping the bar/rail thin to reduce dust settling and cleaning. Have a bit of fun with it. Adding a set dimmer level will ease your mind if you go too far with the difference in intensity on either set.

Sunny_Arms · 23-06-2022 4:12am

Hello! Thank you for this interesting exchange about kitchen lighting. I think it all depends on many things like the overall place and the theme. Sunlight can also be an element in choosing your kitchen lighting. What do you think of track lighting over the island and then recessed lighting everywhere else? I thought of this because my husband is a chef and wants to do some presentation, for our friends, visitors, or just for fun, on the island with our plain white Caesarstone countertop as the background of the dish. What do you think?

angel eyes 2012 · 23-06-2022 6:32am

We have to replace our kitchen lighting as half the lights are broken at this stage and I just keep putting it off. Our kitchen is small, so I am thinking spots with some small pendants over the kitchen table.

Only question is, do I get an electrican in to price the job and perhaps offer advice or do I proceed to buy the lights and then get the electrican. I have other small jobs to be done too, fix smoke alarm, sockets to be replaced etc.

Not sure what the usual approach is?

Sunny_Arms · 24-06-2022 8:57am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119237570#Comment_119237570

What is your budget? Maybe you can get a consultation first? Consult on everything including the lights. Then decide. Sometimes it's cheaper to get the materials yourself and let professionals do the labor.

NickyNicks08 · 28-07-2022 12:00pm

Have you thought about adding more light and greenery to the kitchen? In fact, this can be beaten very nicely in design. I've seen kitchen furniture or walls painted green and it goes quite well, to be honest. I found some ideas and suggestions from designers. In general, it looks good. What do you think?

SixtaWalthers · 06-08-2022 12:15pm

Pendant lights definitely give a unique and good look to your kitchen but their size shouldn't exceed one-tenth of your space. Also, they are not much good at providing enough light.

Kitchen Lighting

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