Unless you like the thrill of handling a razor-sharp knife in the dark or having conversations with a faceless void, you likely understand the importance of lighting in the kitchen. With it sitting at the heart of the home, the kitchen is both a technical workspace and atmospheric gathering space, and light is the central component delegating how we interact with the varied purposes of the space.

The proper lighting mix is essential, but so are proper lighting controls, which is where we may see integrators step into the picture. While kitchens have traditionally been a difficult section of the home for integrators to break into for work, the explosive growth of the lighting category has made an integrator’s role on a kitchen project to tie the entire experience together.

However, for many integrators, that begs another question: how do you light a kitchen?

To address the question of how to light and adequately control the lighting within a kitchen, I recently had the opportunity to chat with Sean Gaydos, Senior Vice President at USAI Lighting.

In this guide, Gaydos walks us through the different types of lighting a kitchen needs, what fixtures are best suited for each, and some of the best practices for achieving a clean, functional appearance.

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How to Properly Light a Kitchen

Ambient Lighting

“Probably the most important layer of lighting is ambient lighting because what that’s doing is setting a baseline,” Gaydos says. “People use kitchens in a variety of ways, but we need that ambient lighting there to let people do whatever they would normally do at baseline. Think of it as the minimum amount of light needed to function.”

Gaydos stresses the importance of uniformity in ambient lighting. It should be even, out of the way, and offer no shadows or glare that might detract from one’s enjoyment. Think of the way in which a room would look with ample natural lighting. Ideally, we want to have as much natural lighting as possible for ambient lighting, but this isn’t always possible given a home’s design.

When we’re looking to fill a room with ambient lighting, Gaydos says we must turn to the workhorse of the lighting professional’s stable: the downlight.

Downlights for Ambient Lighting

Downlights set up in a grid-like pattern overhead is the ideal strategy for delivering uniform ambient lighting to a space. They’re small, out of the way, and are usually design to have as little visual impact as possible. The important thing, Gaydos notes, is to focus on the areas with the most foot traffic. Space the lights four to six feet away from the center of traffic, space them consistently, and you’re good.

Anything with a brightness of about 30 to 40 foot candles works great, notes Gaydos, with more lights being conducive to more uniformity throughout space. You also generally want to use smaller apertures. Three-inch recessed downlights are best, says Gaydos, but 1-inch recessed downlights have been growing in popularity as well.

Anything from 2700-3000K CCT is considered lighting industry standard, however, as Gaydos explains, this can vary between client preferences.

“As people get older, they tend to lean towards cooler, brighter color temperatures like 4000K or even 5000K because their eyesight isn’t as sharp,” he says. “Also, more higher end kitchens are looking for fluid color tuning, a la circadian lighting to mimic the path of the sun throughout the day.”

Lights with a minimum 90 CRI (Color Rendering Index) what works best here. If you’re not familiar with CRI, think of an 90 CRI light as being able to replicate 90% of what incandescents can do. (Alternatively, you can check out our article on the terminology behind circadian lighting.)

Task Lighting

If ambient lighting is the baseline, then task lighting is lighting at its maximum.

“When we transition from ambient lighting into task lighting, that’s where we’re really focusing on what you’re using in a space,” Gaydos explains.

“The most obvious example would be when you’re cutting vegetables or preparing food. There, you need to increase the intensity and the focus of the light because it’s a detail-oriented task. The last thing you want is to not have enough light to see what you’re doing, especially when you’re handling something like a knife.”

Knowing how to light a kitchen requires knowing how and where to place task lighting. Traditionally, this translates to higher intensity lighting over cutting areas, islands, and perhaps even washing stations.

But how bright should you make task lighting? A good rule of thumb for Gaydos is to have it be two to three times brighter than the ambient lighting. You also want to make sure you’re matching the CCT being used in ambient lighting. However, since focus is key, task lighting benefits from a slightly higher CRI, somewhere in the 90s.

Pendants for Task Lighting

Gaydos is quick to point out how pendant lights bring a lot to the kitchen table when used for task lighting. By their very nature, pendants hang low from the ceiling, bringing them closer to the work surface compared to traditional downlighting.

“Pendants can come in a lot of different shapes and sizes, so you can select these based not only on the amount of light they produce, but also how they fit in with the overall aesthetics of the kitchen environment. It turns it into one of the most personalized aspects of the kitchen.

“The whole point of a downlight is to be out of the way, to be unseen, but a pendant will sit directly at eye level much of the time. They have their own presence in the space, and there’s a tremendous variety in the types of pendant lights out there that will give you the light output you need for task lighting while offering a very customizable look.”

Adjustable downlights work just as well, however, and remain a popular option. Compared to those used in ambient lighting, professionals should take care to opt for tighter beam spreads, Gaydos cautions.

Linear Lighting for Task Lighting

Linear lights (or tape lights) can be placed underneath cabinets and provide an immense amount of light within a small area beneath them. Because of the size and focus of these fixtures, there is very little spillover with the ambient lighting despite their brightness.

Accent Lighting

Accent lighting is by no means essential, but it is deeply personal. Think of it as providing the final touches with regards to how you might want your kitchen to be perceived.

“We’re not always in the kitchen, so a way to think of accent lighting might be, how do you view the kitchen when you’re over in the living room? Depending on the kitchen, you might have some artwork. How do you want the artwork to be lit then? Some people even like to showcase what’s inside their cabinets.

“Accent lighting is very personal for a lot of people because it’s meant for display purposes. You are identifying what is important and highlighting that for you and everyone else to see. Of the three categories, it might not always be necessary, but there are some good reasons to use it still.

“For clients who want their kitchen to look a certain way, it’s essential. Ambient lighting can sometimes make a space look flat, so you might want to consider it there. It can also be important in contributing to the atmosphere of a space, maybe making things a little more romantic at times.”

Accent lighting can also draw attention to specific architectural elements. There’s any number of objects in the kitchen a homeowner may wish to highlight, and as such, what fixtures you might use depends on what object or location requires added emphasis.

As for the CCT, there’s no set parameter that meets every situation’s basic needs. Take a simple painting, for instance. Cooler color temperatures may work great for art with plenty of blues but try a warmer tone and the results could be garish. No matter what, though, always select a high CRI (above 90) to get as close to natural light as possible.

Lighting Artwork

Adjustable downlights aimed at the wall and set to an ovular beam create a wonderful spotlight effect on artwork.

Wall washers, too, can work in situations where a more uniform, yet still focused, spread of light is desired. This can be good for artwork, but it really shines (forgive the pun) when used to highlight architectural elements. (We have an article that goes into greater detail about the nuances of lighting artwork in the home, so you should head over there if you’re interested.)

Lighting Inside Cabinets

Linear lights work just as well inside the cabinet as they do underneath for the same exact reason, focused, powerful lighting that doesn’t mess with the ambient lighting. However, Gaydos notes, puck lighting can be just as effective and often cheaper to boot, though it can still be very costly to run power to them compared to other lighting fixtures.

Lighting Architectural Elements

All manner of fixtures hold some value when placing a greater emphasis on architectural elements. Train uplights into the rafters of a high-ceilinged home. Run linear lights along the wall moldings or kickers. Set wall washers along some brickwork. The options are only limited by the budget and client preferences.

The Allure of Incandescent

“You can’t talk about accent lighting without discussing mood lighting,” says Gaydos. “Incandescents have long been cherished for the characteristic warm glow that they give off when dimmed. Of course, given the recent federal ban on incandescent sales, those might be harder to come by.

“Thankfully, dim-to-warm lighting options like USAI’s Warm Glow Dimming technology provide a suitable replacement.”

With dim-to-warm, as the LEDs dim, the CCT shifts from a cooler to warmer temperature. Don’t confuse it with circadian lighting, though. Dim-to-warm lights seek only to mimic the dimming and warmth curves of an incandescent.

How to Best Control Kitchen Lighting

It’s one thing figuring out how to best light the kitchen. Controlling that lighting is a different story. At minimum, with tunable white light, Gaydos says kitchen lighting should have two control switches, one for brightness, and one for color tuning. Otherwise, other controllers can be used. It’s around this point the value of an integrator really starts to shine.

As far more lighting manufacturers have begun to offer integrations with popular control systems on the market, the easier it has become for integrators to install these advanced lighting systems. At the same time, the user-friendliness of apps have made it incredibly simple for the average homeowner to customize and automate their lighting system on the fly.

“Nowadays, the LED is effectively a miniaturized computer. There’s a lot more going on that allows integrators to provide more advanced controls and automation to their clients. However, that puts a lot of pressure on the manufacturer to get it right, so integrators will want to find a good lighting manufacturer that can handle all of the demands of the client.

“Additionally, I will always advocate that before you get to work on any lighting project: talk to a lighting professional. See what they have to say, what advice they might have because the expertise they’re going to bring to table will be able to cover stuff we might not be able to get to in a single article.”

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