There are two main aspects you need to consider when thinking about what kitchen lights you want for your kitchen.

First off all, the room obviously needs to be functional. There need to be preparation areas that are lit with strong, clear lighting.

Then you should think about whether you want the kitchen to be lit in an aesthetically pleasing manner and not just the colder, harder light needed for the room’s main function.

Ideally, for the preparation areas the kitchen lighting should be bright and have as little shadow as possible. The best way to achieve this affect is to use fluorescent tubes. These have a larger surface area, so they emit a large amount of light and because of their size, they can help to flood the area with light, significantly reducing the amount of shadow. In addition to this, they produce many more lumens per watt than conventional incandescent bulbs, making them much more efficient and saving you money on your electricity bills.

Where to position this lighting is made easier in areas where there are over-hanging cabinets. In these situations, fluorescent light fixtures can be fixed to the under-side of the cabinets. We have a great range of fluorescent tubes designed for kitchen lighting, in a wide variety of sizes and wattages. Click here to see our range of kitchen lights.

There may, however, be work areas in your kitchen that don’t have such convenient places to position the lighting. These may include islands and breakfast bars. In these situations you would need to either suspend the lighting from the ceiling using hanging pendant fixtures, or you could project the lighting from the ceiling using spotlights in recessed light fittings.

Obviously, you should bear in mind that the direction of these types of kitchen lights are very focused and so there would be much more shadow, and the lighting would be less intense, so you should probably not use these as work areas.

This second type of lighting is of much better use when considering the aesthetic lighting of the area.

Ambient light is preferable when using the space in a more casual manner, such as eating and entertaining. Ambient light helps to fill shadowy areas of the room with a softer light that also helps to reduce the contrast of the harsher lights used for the work areas.

Fluorescent tubes can also be used for this purpose. They could be positioned on the top of the wall cabinets, projecting their light upwards and then being defused throughout the room. You should select fluorescent tubes with a warmer colour.

Spotlights can be used to great effect when there is a particular area or feature in the kitchen that you want to highlight such as artwork or architectural details.

If you want any help or advice in deciding what kitchen lighting to use, do not hesitate to get in contact with us. Our helpful staff will be only too happy to offer you their knowledge from years of experience, so that you can be confident that you are getting the right lamp for the job.