Transform Your Space: Layering Kitchen Lighting for Function and Style

August 13, 2024

If you’re in the process of remodeling your kitchen (or planning for a kitchen remodel in the future), you’re dreaming of a warm and welcoming place both for cooking great food and for you and your loved ones to spend time and make memories. A well-designed kitchen can accomplish these goals. One of the most important features of a great kitchen is the lighting. Gone are the days of one bright utilitarian overhead light shining down on the space, leading to glare and shadows. Today’s kitchens feature lights that are layered, beautiful, and appropriate for a variety of tasks. And even if a remodel isn’t in your immediate future, you can incorporate great lighting into your existing kitchen and see how much you love the difference it makes in your space.

Three Types of Lighting

Every kitchen needs three types of lighting: task, ambient, and accent. Using all three varieties allows you to designate zones: certain areas for food prep and clean up, and other spaces for relaxing and lingering over a meal or cup of coffee. When layered, the three types of lighting together reduce shadows (which you get when you only use overhead lighting) and reduce glare (a consequence of only using task lighting). Layered lighting comes from multiple sources and varies in terms of brightness and softness.

What’s a Prep Kitchen?

Also known as back kitchens or sculleries, prep kitchens also harken back to times past. They were small rooms off the main kitchen commonly used for doing the “dirty work” of cooking–the majority of the food preparation and all the clean-up would take place in the back kitchen.

Today, prep kitchens are growing in popularity again. They are small, functional kitchens that are connected to the main kitchen. A prep kitchen will usually have a sink and dishwasher, possibly a range or oven, and often another fridge. It will also give you more counter space for cooking and room to store bulk items and appliances.

A prep kitchen is especially useful if you like to entertain. You want to be able to spend time in the main kitchen, maybe have your guests sit at an island and visit with you while you put the final touches on the meal–but you don’t want to be looking at a sink full of dirty dishes or a stove spattered with tomato sauce. If you’ve done the bulk of the cooking in the prep kitchen, the mess is hidden until you’re ready to deal with it, and you get to enjoy your guests and a clean kitchen while you eat.

Many of today’s homes have open floor plans, which feel spacious and are wonderful for encouraging conversation and spending time together. But they’re not great for concealing storage and work zones. Prep kitchens solve this problem.

Many homes today have open floor plans. These layouts are wonderful for entertaining and connecting with family and friends, but they can sometimes feel cold and impersonal. Layered lighting combats this by warming up the space, accenting and highlighting features and specific areas, and drawing you in.

Task Lighting

Task lighting is light that is cast directly onto your work surface. It should be bright enough so you can safely prepare, cook, and clean up in the kitchen. Mentally break the kitchen into different zones based on the work you do in each space, and make sure each zone has appropriate lighting: the stove area, the sink, the food prep area, etc. Some examples of task lighting include

pendant lights that hang from the ceiling, especially over an island or other prep space
lighting over your sink
multi-bulb LED strips or LED tape that mounts on or inside your kitchen cabinets, pantry, or drawers, allowing you to find what you need
under-cabinet lighting that shines directly on the countertops

Pendant lights are one of the best ways to add task lighting to your kitchen because they also add style. As a rule of thumb, you generally want to add pendants above your kitchen island so they hang 30-36 inches above the surface of the island, spaced about two feet apart. You can use simple ones that match the other metals your kitchen uses (like the cabinet hardware, for example), or you can choose pendants that inject style into the room. Metals, glass, Edison bulbs, rattan, and linen pendants are some of the many options you can find. Your pendant lights can become the focal point of your kitchen: the perfect marriage of function and style!

You can also use a pendant light over your sink that matches or coordinates with the ones over the island. Recessed lighting is another good option here–more on that below.

Under-cabinet lighting can be great task lighting because it shines bright, focused beams exactly where you need them, and the lights themselves take up no visual space. LED strip lights or puck lights should be installed under the cabinets toward the front. They can be controlled with a switch or a remote and you can find dimmable options if you prefer.

Ambient Lighting

Ambient lighting should direct light evenly across the kitchen floor: this is the light you see when you simply walk into a room and hit the switch. It comes from one or more lights on the ceiling, and rather than targeted beams of light, ambient light fills the whole room. Ambient lighting could include

Recessed lights mounted inside shallow openings in the ceiling
Flush-mount or semi-flush-mount fixtures that affix directly to the ceiling
Chandeliers or lanterns that hang from the ceiling by a chain
Track lighting

Recessed (also known as can) lights are popular kitchen fixtures. They mount into the ceiling and can be placed wherever you want. They come in diameters of 4, 5, or 6 inches. The best thing about recessed lights is that they don’t take up any visual space, so if you have a pendant light (or three) in your kitchen, the recessed lights won’t steal the show. On the flip side, because they only shine directly down, they can cause shadows that flush- or semi-flush-mount lights won’t.

Recessed lights over your sink can be a great idea, especially if you have a window behind your sink and don’t want to block the view with a pendant light. You still get great, bright light while allowing the window to take center stage.

Flush-mount or semi-flush-mount light fixtures attach directly to the ceiling or have a gap between the light and the ceiling. They come in innumerable shapes, sizes, and styles. The best thing about this type of fixture is that the light shines back up onto the ceiling as well as down into the room. This disperses the light and does away with shadows.

If you don’t have pendant lights over your island or elsewhere in the kitchen, you may want to use a chandelier or lantern for ambient lighting, as it will become the focal point of your room as well. If you do use pendants elsewhere, adding another hanging light may result in too much visual clutter for the space.

While some may think that track lighting is outdated, it’s actually growing in popularity again with contemporary new designs. Track lights can be installed in a variety of layouts and with various numbers of lights, to suit any space. And because the direction of the individual lights can be adjusted, you can really customize track lighting to your specific needs.

Accent Lighting

If task and ambient lighting are the meat-and-potatoes of kitchen lighting, accent lights are the dessert. Accent lights are specifically placed to highlight the details and decor in your kitchen that you want to show off. They are soft and gentle, and they invite you and your loved ones to relax and stay a while. Accent lights might include

Cove lights set into the tops of the cabinets or built into the crown molding or trey ceilings
Puck lights: round lights that mount inside cabinets or near elements you want to highlight
Small lamps set on countertops
Toe lighting that mounts underneath the base cabinets

Cove lights are a unique and beautiful way to cast a gentle light in your kitchen. They are installed in the tops of cabinets or in the trim around the ceiling and often shine up at the ceiling or at the tops of walls. They can make the whole room glow and they often highlight architectural details in the space.

Puck lights can be used to illuminate the inside of cabinets with glass doors, highlighting the cabinets themselves or the items stored within (a special collection of china for example). They can also be placed in dark corners or areas that just need a little boost of light.

Lamps in the kitchen are unconventional and fun, especially in larger kitchens with lots of counter space. They can add charm and style and are a delightful surprise.

Toe lighting is useful at night when all the other lights are off and you still need to find your way through the kitchen. They add warmth and highlight the details of the cabinets and layout in an appealing way.

Other Lighting Tips

Make sure you can control each type of light separately. This allows you to adjust the purpose of the room: is it time to cook or clean up? Do I want my guests to feel invited to linger? Is it a family game night? Your lighting can support the use of the space.
Natural light is always a win. Look for spaces to add windows or a skylight if a kitchen remodel is in the works for you.
Use different light sources in different areas to create pockets of light and dark. This makes a room feel complete.
If your kitchen is small, make use of dimmable lights. This allows you to still use light to create zones and moods even without as many different light sources as you might want.
Remember to use LED lighting when possible. It comes in warm and cool light, and it is up to 80% more efficient than other lights.

You can add lighting yourself and instantly change the feel of your kitchen. But if you’re ready for a more complete renovation, contact us today. We serve Maryland, Virginia, and the DC area, and our impeccable work and attention to detail mean that we put our hearts into every project we do. Let us help you make your kitchen perfect.