Kitchen Lighting Ideas

Much of everyday life happens in and around the kitchen. All hours of the day, whether for that first cup of coffee before work, or the daily chores, any member of the household may need to flick on the kitchen light. A properly illuminated kitchen makes it easy to find what you need and reduces eye strain while doing tasks, from dinner prep to reading recipes. 

There are a variety of kitchen lighting ideas to create a comfortably lit kitchen that makes the best use of the room’s design. It's surprisingly easy to find an effective lighting solution that fits how you use your kitchen.

With a few basic elements in your home design toolkit, you can choose the best kitchen fixtures to provide years of style and comfort to the eyes. Read on to learn everything you need to know about the best kitchen lighting ideas for your home.

Layers of Light

One of the first considerations when planning any lighting project is the amount of light the room needs. The different uses of a room help determine how much light is needed, and where. For instance, careful work like chopping vegetables at the counter top could be made easier by under-cabinet lighting to remove the potential interference of shadows. 

The first step is to determine how you use each area of your kitchen. Some spots may be ideal for socializing and eating at mealtimes, such as the kitchen table or island, while others are for specific activities, like cooking over the stove or washing dishes at the sink.

There’s a three-part design plan to help coordinate the lighting of the room with how you use it by determining the different layers of light at work in your kitchen.

For those busy areas where details are important, start with light fixtures that can provide efficient task lighting. Task lighting is bright, directed light that covers the work surface to make every kitchen project easy to see clearly.

The next stage of lighting to consider is the wall-to-wall illumination of the whole room, with ambient lighting. Good kitchen light fixture ideas for ambient lighting provide the overall wash of light across the room, such as ceiling fixtures and wall sconces, with light that is reflected up and spills everywhere. These light sources are useful for more general kitchen activities, like socializing at the table.

The final level of lighting to include in your kitchen lighting ideas are the sources of accent lighting to emphasize the style of the room. This could mean track lighting to splash across specific features of the room’s design, to play with the appearance of height or depth, or to single out artwork hanging on the walls.

When the different light elements are combined, the kitchen has a functional and comforting depth, with few dark corners or unused spaces. The idea is to optimize how much can be seen in the room and improve access and safety for everyone. Be sure to consider the different layers of light as you put your kitchen lighting ideas into use.

Kitchen Light Fixture Options

With thousands of different light fixture designs to choose from when planning the perfect kitchen, the selection can be overwhelming. Rather than sort through so many options, first select the type of fixture that will work best in each area of your kitchen. Here we have narrowed the common kitchen fixtures down to five individual lighting types to make searching for the best kitchen lighting that much easier.

Ceiling Lights

Ceiling lights are a common choice for ambient light in a kitchen. Also called flush or semi-flush lighting, ceiling lights install flat against the ceiling or hang just below it. Ceiling lighting is not aimed or directed, and generally reflects off the ceiling and down, or is diffused through a shade to help spread the light throughout the entire room. 

Ceiling lights install on the surface of the ceiling and project down into the room, making them a visible feature. Plan for the appropriate height ceiling light, as they should always have a shallow enough profile to avoid interfering with the usual kitchen foot-traffic. You can read more about ceiling lights in our ceiling lights buying guide.

Recessed Lights

In contrast to ceiling lights, recessed lighting is embedded into the surface of the ceiling. Also called can lights, recessed lights are directed lights that aim down or around the kitchen to spotlight specific features or work areas of the room. 

Recessed lighting is a good source for both accent lighting and task lighting, as different can types allow a certain amount of flexibility to point a wide beam of light in any given direction. For additional information on the different trims available to customize kitchen recessed lighting, read our article on how to choose the best recessed lighting.

An important consideration with recessed lighting is that the installation requires cutting holes in the ceiling and mounting large housing cans above the ceiling, that then must be wired to the appropriate electrical supply. The light cans and wiring need enough space to avoid contact or interference with other internal wiring, insulation, or plumbing. Recessed lighting should be professionally installed to ensure safe and long-lasting use.

Track Lights

The use of track lighting in kitchens combines the brightness of canned lighting with the benefit of a customized spotlight. The individual can lights hang from the ceiling on a powered track, in either a straight line or along a curved or cornered track. Each light can be pointed in a different direction, to clear away shadows on a countertop cutting board, or even aimed into a spice cupboard to highlight the contents and keep the ingredients easy to find. 

Kitchen track lighting ideas can be implemented in one or multiple places in a kitchen, or stretch along a larger area, depending on the amount of track and ceiling space available. Track lights can be wired directly to the light switch in the room, and are also available as fixed rail light bars with pull-strings for greater customization.

Because of the added height of the track and light housing, track lighting is a better option for high-ceiling homes, to be sure the system doesn’t interfere with anyone walking below it. For a more comprehensive look at track lighting options, read our track lighting buying guide.

Under Cabinet Lighting

When it comes to cleaning, dark countertops can be a challenge. Even regular cooking and baking tasks are more difficult in the shadow of the overhead cabinets. That’s where under cabinet lighting has the opportunity to shine. With bright, directed light installed on the underside of the upper cabinetry, every inch of countertop becomes visible and usable.

One of the best parts about under cabinet lighting is perhaps that it is often quite easy to install yourself. Whether utilizing light bars, puck lights, or LED and strip lights, many cabinet lighting options are self-adhesive or installed with simple screws. To learn more about under-cabinet kitchen lighting options, check out our under-cabinet kitchen lighting buying guide.

Chandeliers

A chandelier is a lowered, ceiling mounted light that has multiple branches of light sources attached. Chandeliers can be very simple and provide good light coverage, making them one of many excellent kitchen table lighting ideas. There are a variety of style types within chandeliers, so to help narrow down your choices, here’s a complete buyer’s guide to finding the perfect chandelier. 

Chandeliers are available in many sizes to match any size room. They are installed much the same as other ceiling lighting options, and some semi-flush lights may also be considered small chandeliers. As you look for kitchen island lighting ideas, consider an appropriately sized chandelier as a statement piece or simply for the wall-to-wall ambient light.

Pendants

Like chandeliers, pendant lights are characterized by the extra distance between the ceiling mounted base and the decorative lamp at the end. You will often find pendant lamps categorized as island lighting due to their popularity and usefulness over permanent features such as kitchen islands or home bar areas. They hang lower than most ceiling mounted lighting options and work best over areas where no one is likely to walk into them. 

Pendant lights are primarily used for task lighting because they lower the light source to near eye level over a countertop, island, or dining table. The light they provide often doesn’t have a wide spread. They can also be used to accent features of the room, or serve as statement art pieces themselves. 

Kitchen pendant lighting ideas can include pendants made from different materials, ranging from stained glass, blown glass, decorative metals, or even wood. As with any other lamp, look for a shade with a surface material that can be easily dusted and periodically cleaned. For other great tips for finding the perfect pendant light for your kitchen, look to our guide to choosing pendant lights.

Choosing the Right Light for Any Space

Whether you’re looking for functional kitchen lighting ideas for a quick update, or you want an artistic statement piece in the kitchen, it’s important to choose a light that fits the room. Even kitchen lighting should be visually balanced in size as well as style. When dealing with larger pendants, chandeliers, and ceiling lights like semi-flush lights, there are a few simple ways to be sure the lamp is proportionate in size and detail with the entire room. 

Start with a pen, paper, and tape measure to determine the room’s dimensions. Specifically, note the width, length, and height. Once you have this baseline, there are simple formulas that can be applied to provide basic guidelines for the minimum and maximum size range of a ceiling light.

To determine the light fixture diameter:

• Room Width (in feet) + Room Length (in feet) = Light Diameter (in inches)

To determine the fixture height:

• Room Height (in feet) x 2.5 = Minimum Height (in inches)
• Room Height (in feet) x 3 = Maximum Height (in inches)

These formula results include the extra height of the light downrods or chains in addition to the height of the lamp and shade itself. As an example, a kitchen 10’ by 10’ and 8’ tall could have a ceiling light with a diameter of no more than 20” around that would have a lower edge that hangs no further than between 20” and 24” from the ceiling in order to appear visually balanced. 

When it comes to placing ceiling lights such as pendants and chandeliers over the kitchen table or island, there are additional guidelines to help keep the visual weight of a light proportionate with the room.

• A highly detailed light shade will have more elements to draw the eye, which can create the same visual impact as a larger chandelier.
• For a rectangular table or island, choose a light that is between ½ and ⅔ the length of the surface of the furniture.
• Multiple pendant lights can be placed over a table or island, covering as much as ⅘ the length, as long as they are evenly spaced out.
• The bottom edge of the light or shade should hang about 30” to 34” off the top surface of a table, bar, or countertop.

Other kitchen island lighting ideas include choosing linear chandeliers that are narrower in width to hang above rectangular islands. They offer a simple, cleaner design with a smaller visual presence and can run the length of the island without seeming too large or oversized. As with the placement of multiple pendants, narrower chandeliers can take up to ⅘ the length of the surface of the table, island, or bar.