Making sure you have the proper light in the kitchen is essential to creating great meals. The light allows you to see how well your meal is cooking, how fresh your ingredients are, and how clean your work area is. Additionally, the light brightens up the place. One thing to consider when mapping out your remodel is what type of light works best for your needs and wants. We’ll discuss several types.
Track Lighting
Track lighting is lights attached in a continuous line that are all linked via the electrical charge. This means that instead one light coming on at a time, the whole track is linked via the switch and go on and go off at the same time. Track lighting is easy to install. Another benefit to this type of lighting is that normally the individual lights can be positioned separately. This allows light to be spread over a large area. The downside of this is that it is normally smaller lights which don’t give off the same amount of glow as a larger light. So there will be concentrated areas of light that are brighter than the area as a whole.
Pendant Lights
Pendant lighting is lighting that is suspended from the ceiling, usually by chain, cord or metal rod. One benefit of pendant lighting is that it works well with high ceilings. The light can have a longer cord so it will be easier to clean, replace, and allow for the perfect light for the space. There are many design choices for the lights, and they can be larger or smaller. This will also help with the illumination of the kitchen area. The installation of these lights is relatively easy, but you need to make sure that the light is the correct height for the room.
Recessed Lighting
Recessed lighting is lighting that is embedded in the ceiling. An advantage to this type of lighting is that there are no cords or hanging parts of the fixture to cause a trip/fall hazard. A disadvantage to this style is that it is not portable. This type of lighting cannot be moved from location to location. It is also more difficult to install than other types of lighting. An advantage to this type of lighting is that it can be used as background lighting (inconspicuous light) to highlight treasured objects in your kitchen, such as a painting.
In choosing which style of lighting will work best for the kitchen area of your home, make sure that you review the types of lighting that are available, what lighting you are interested in, and your abilities in installing the lighting.
