Lighting in kitchen with no island? (floor, paneling, countertops, ceiling)
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We are remodeling our kitchen, and I am lost as to what type of lighting to use. It is a small eat-in kitchen that is one open room about 10'x18' with room for a table in one corner. The sink/stove area is along one of the long walls and the fridge and more cabinets are right across the floor in the other corner (so, there are two separate counter areas, one long and straight the other a small corner). No island.
Most of the lighting ideas I've seen involve pendants/chandeliers over an island with recessed lighting elsewhere. Our ceilings are standard 8-foot, so I was thinking it would be weird to do pendants or a chandelier right under where you walk. Do you agree? We are thinking of doing recessed lights only and then a smallish chandelier above the dining table. From a functional and style perspective, is it bad to have only recessed lights in the kitchen area? We really want to avoid the typical kitchen light dome/rectangle that's right against the ceiling that you see in cheapo kitchens. One possibility is to do short pendants either right above the sink or right above the corner counter, but I am worried this will be to busy or will seem like it's looming right over our heads, lol!
Also, the space for our table is off-center from the room (so we don't block walkway to livingroom). Right now the light on that side that we want to replace is centered on the room, not the table. Is it going to look bad to center a small chandelier above the table, or should it stay in the middle of the ceiling?
Thanks to any who try to answer this, it is hard to describe without pictures/floorplan! (and, btw, the house is cheap and we are on a budget, so nothing too expensive, and mission/arts and crafts would match our style, although I'm really asking more about placement than specific fixtures)
I remodeled my kitchen in 2004 and removed that annoying rectangular, fluorescent light box I had in my small kitchen. I put in 6 recessed light cans. Each light can be 50-75 watts. I also put in a dimmer switch which is great for my needs. I cannot stand fluorescent lighting. My lights are all halogen bulbs. My kitchen is U shaped so I don't really have an island, more like a penisula (breakfast bar) where two pendant lights might have worked. But I opted to go all recessed cans. I have cabinets above my sink so there isn't a light fixture there. My kitchen is so small, I wanted the extra cupboard space there.
I had a ceiling fan above my kitchen table and replaced it with a newer ceiling fan, same location. My ceiling fan isn't centered above the table but it is centered above the dining space. I too have moved my table so it's easier to walk from the table into the living room. I don't think it looks bad that the ceiling fan isn't centered above the table. The fan hugs the ceiling. If the fan and a down rod and the lighting came down a little lower, then it might look funny.
I love the way it looks. In fact, the lighting is my favorite part of my kitchen remodel.
It is hard without pictures, but I'll take a crack....
I think you are on the right track with the recessed lights/task lighting idea. I also like lights mounted under cabinets.
The dining fixture is hard to imagine. I guess the question is: is the placement of the table "fixed", meaning there is no possible way the furniture could ever be arranged to be centered under the light? If that is the case, I'd probably center the light over the table. You could also do a "swag" lamp; keep the electric in the same place and hang your lamp/chandelier from a hook above the table. (does that make sense?).
It is hard without pictures, but I'll take a crack....
I think you are on the right track with the recessed lights/task lighting idea. I also like lights mounted under cabinets.
The dining fixture is hard to imagine. I guess the question is: is the placement of the table "fixed", meaning there is no possible way the furniture could ever be arranged to be centered under the light? If that is the case, I'd probably center the light over the table. You could also do a "swag" lamp; keep the electric in the same place and hang your lamp/chandelier from a hook above the table. (does that make sense?).
I agree with plaidmom, but my vote is to swag the chandelier over to you seating area, if you ever suffer from furniture moving disease like I do sometimes, it's nice to keep your options open....plus it makes more sense for resale.
Thanks for the feedback! Ok, it is reassuring to hear that other have/would suggest just recessed lighting. I think that is the way to go. Eggalegga, your kitchen looks nice, that is just the kind of lighting I was thinking of! It looks good without the extra interest of lights hanging down, that is what I am going for too.
The placement of the table isn't quite fixed, but on one of the short walls to the kitchen is a big arch doorway leading to the living room. Basically the table could move about a foot in each direction without being in the way but couldn't be actually centered. The table is really too big for the space, so normally it will be almost against a wall and then for holiday dinners we can pull it out a bit. Thanks to Plaid and Bella for the idea of the swag lamp, that may be a good way to go! We will only be in the house for a few years, I think keeping the electrical in the middle could be more appealing for resale. If we do that I just hope we can do it well, I've seen way to many lights hung swagged like that with the cord showing too much or just awkwardly.
I'd have both ample recessed lighting (every room need max lighting in case you drop an earing) and something decorative hanging. mood lights are great too. I have them all and is motion sensored
I have a smallish L-shaped kitchen with no table. There's a light over the stove, one over the sink, under cabinet lighting (that looks lovely at night) and three recessed fixtures for general illumination.
I think that some sort of chandelier over the table would look nice and be functional. People always do things other than eat at the kitchen table.
My kitchen is very small and I put in recessed lighting. I also had lights installed under the counter (they look like little hockey pucks but you can barely see them) that are attached to a dimmer switch. It looks very good and is functional.
In my first house, when we renovated the kitchen, we replaced the center blob fixture with a number of recessed lights over every section of the countertops and appliances. They were not run off of one switch but off a number of switches so that we had the choice of lighting one or more areas at a time or all of them. They were also all on dimmer switches.
We hung pendant lights over the sink and over the table area. The table area was not centered on anything, but was in a place that looked right, and the light fixture was thus centered over the table and not in the center of the space.
For the recessed lights we made one booboo buying spot lights instead of flood lights - the spots created a lot of shadows when I'd be working at the counter because the light fell down slightly behind me, therefore my body blocked the light on the counter directly in front of me where I'd be trying to do something. Switching to flood lights helped a bit, but we learned from that kitchen to install the recessed lights more directly over the counters and, most importantly, to install under-cabinet lights in the next kitchen we renovated.
We haven't done anything in our current kitchen, but it could use new lighting! We have 7 recessed lights, including one over the island, and all work from one dimmer switch. I listen to my electric meter whirring every time I turn on the kitchen lights even if it's just to wash one simple glass - I wish the lights were on different switches so that I could just turn on one or two at a time!
In my first house, when we renovated the kitchen, we replaced the center blob fixture with a number of recessed lights over every section of the countertops and appliances. They were not run off of one switch but off a number of switches so that we had the choice of lighting one or more areas at a time or all of them. They were also all on dimmer switches.
We hung pendant lights over the sink and over the table area. The table area was not centered on anything, but was in a place that looked right, and the light fixture was thus centered over the table and not in the center of the space.
For the recessed lights we made one booboo buying spot lights instead of flood lights - the spots created a lot of shadows when I'd be working at the counter because the light fell down slightly behind me, therefore my body blocked the light on the counter directly in front of me where I'd be trying to do something. Switching to flood lights helped a bit, but we learned from that kitchen to install the recessed lights more directly over the counters and, most importantly, to install under-cabinet lights in the next kitchen we renovated.
We haven't done anything in our current kitchen, but it could use new lighting! We have 7 recessed lights, including one over the island, and all work from one dimmer switch. I listen to my electric meter whirring every time I turn on the kitchen lights even if it's just to wash one simple glass - I wish the lights were on different switches so that I could just turn on one or two at a time!
Great, thanks for the input! I never thought about the shadows before. What exactly is the difference between spotlights and floodlights? Do they look different or just function different? Unfortunately, we will need to keep all the recessed lights on one switch. There's 1/2" solid wood paneling behind the drywall, and studs every 12", so my husband will kill me if I make him do more electrical work!
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