Creating the Perfect Kitchen Lighting Scheme

    Kitchen lighting may appear to be deceptively simple to plan. Find a style you like, and have it installed. Easy right? Too bad that's just one part of the process.
    Years ago, it was that simple. A single light in the kitchen was the norm. While a single overhead lighting fixtures gave enough light to work in the kitchen - people used that method for years - it won't make your kitchen as functional and easy to use as it could be.
    The biggest problem with using a single light in the center of the kitchen is that it casts shadows on your countertops because your hanging wall cabinets block the light. That can make it hard to prepare food or wash dishes because you don't have an adequate amount of light to perform those tasks. Other than having dark counters, a single light means you only have one type of light in your kitchen. If you have a dinner party or sneak in to get a midnight snack, your only option is to turn on that bright, harsh, middle light, which isn't that appealing in those situations.

Three Lights are Better than One

    Today kitchen lighting is much more advanced, and to learn about kitchen lighting options, I stopped by Kichler Lighting to speak with the company's Senior Product Manager, Jeff Dross. During our conversation, Dross gave a simple rule to follow when planning your kitchen lighting.
    "You need three different types of light," Dross said. "You need to have general illumination. ... The second thing you want to have is task lighting. ... And then you need accent lighting."
    General kitchen lighting provides the basic lighting for the kitchen. When choosing general lighting, a big fixture in the center of the kitchen works well as for small kitchens that don't have islands; whereas, recessed can lights work well in larger kitchens.
    Task kitchen lighting provides targeted, bright light that makes performing tasks in the kitchen easier. After the general illumination lights are in your kitchen, you can see where task light is needed by looking at all of the dark surfaces in your kitchen. If a countertop doesn't look bright, a task light should be installed above it. Under cabinet lighting and pendant lights over kitchen islands are examples of task kitchen lights.
    Accent kitchen lighting provides soft, ambient lighting in a kitchen perfect for showing off beautiful architectural details, entertaining guests or turning on to grab a quick glass of water. You can find accent lighting for inside glass cabinets, behind crown molding and even for the toe kick, which is the part of your kitchen cabinets that touch the floor. Another common type of accent lighting in a kitchen is track lighting, as Dross explained to me. Track lighting can be positioned to highlight artwork, beautiful cabinets or other details in a kitchen.
    Layering those three types of light - general, task and accent - makes a kitchen more beautiful and functional by eliminating all dark corners. With the extra light, you will suddenly be able to see the surface of your cabinets and the true colors of your countertops - things you want to be able to see not only when fixing meals, but also when enjoying your kitchen. After all, you spent quite a bit of money to make it look good and using proper lighting is the only way to enjoy that.

Getting Switched Up - It's a Good Thing

    Even with the best kitchen lighting scheme, it can all be a waste if you forget to plan for the light switches.
    "Make sure you have the appropriate amount of switches," Dross said. "Don't put one switch that turns everything on. That's probably the biggest mistake."
Because kitchens are used for more than just cooking, you don't need all of the lights on at one time. Instead, you want to have the ability to control the level of light for the different tasks performed in your kitchen.
    "Consider this,” Dross said. “You’ve spent your entire day cooking a meal, the kitchen is a mess and you’ve cleaned up the kitchen, and naturally people migrate to the kitchen after the party starts. You don’t want to keep the bright lights on, because maybe you forgot to clean up this one little corner of the counter, and it has a few crumbs on it," Dross said.
    When planning for your switches, you may want to have a different switch for each type of kitchen lighting - one for your general, one for your task and one for your accent. Dross also suggests using a different switch for different geographic locations in your kitchen. For example, one switch might be for the light over the kitchen island, while another switch is for the back wall.
    Just don't get carried away when assigning switches. There is no need to have 10 different switches you have to turn on every time you cook in your kitchen. Instead, think of the way you use your kitchen and divide the lights up by which ones you would use during the three most common tasks in your kitchen: a high-light level for tasks such as cooking, a medium-light level for tasks such as grabbing a snack and a low-light level for tasks such as entertaining or a romantic occasion. More light levels can be added if you need them, but remember with each new light level comes a new light switch.
    After deciding how many light switches you need, it's time to choose where they go. If you have multiple entrances to your kitchen, make sure you can turn on each light at each entrance. Another smart idea is to choose dimmer switches over standard switches. Dimmer switches give you the maximum amount of control over your kitchen lighting, and allow you to limit the number of light switches you need because you can achieve any level of light with one. But don't think having just one light switch in your kitchen and making it a dimmer is the right choice. Even on the lowest level it won't give you the same effect as having three separate switches.