Lighting is a vital aspect of any room”™s design, but never more so than in our kitchens. Kitchens today are multi-functional spaces and we expect our rooms to meet a variety of needs so if you are looking for some ideas for your kitchen lighting here are the top three types of lighting you must consider in designing a kitchen:
Task Lighting
Task lighting refers to increasing illuminance to better accomplish a specific activity, such as a desk light in the office or under-rangehood lighting. Contrast light is a really important consideration, as a poorly-positioned light source may cause contrast reduction, which results in loss of visibility. The most important purpose of task lighting is not increasing illuminance, but improving contrast.
In the kitchen below a combination of pendant lights plus in-bulkhead downlights provides task lighting to the main work spaces.
Ambient Lighting
Ambient lighting provides the stronger light source, ensuring all areas of a room are effectively lit to serve functionality. The key to effective ambient lighting is spacing, light colour (warm, neutral, cool), and coverage across the area of the room.
In this kitchen down lights are spaced throughout the room to achieve maximum visibility thanks to a combination of ceiling downlights and in-bulkhead downlights.
Mood Lighting
Clever mood lighting can achieve a predetermined emotional response from the lit environment. Higher levels of lighting generally produce cheerful effects and stimulate people to alertness and activity, whereas lower levels tend to create an atmosphere of relaxation, intimacy, and restfulness.
A relaxing, romantic feel is enhanced by the choice of light fitting as well as placement and combination of lights in the kitchen below.
Incorporating all or some of these lighting ideas when planning your kitchen design will ensure that you are not left in the dark.