Hal Can Help

Lighting up a kitchen is not as simple as hanging an incandescent light bulb, or perhaps a fluorescent lamp, from the ceiling. With the almost endless types of bulbs and lamps with different wattage mounted on different bases, from the purely functional to the exquisitely elegant, a kitchen can be transformed from an austere and dreary work area into a cheerful and pleasant gathering place for the entire family and their friends.

For over-all illumination you can use flushmount or semi-flush lamps which may consists of a single high wattage bulb or several with lower power. Your counters below overhead cabinets can be lighted with bulbs mounted beneath the cabinets. If there are no overhead cabinets, you can use pendant lights to illuminate the counters. The stove, sink, and preparation area should also be amply illuminated. This can be done either with recessed or flush-mounted lights. If the ceiling is rather high, you can opt for pendant lights. Just be sure to use bulbs with higher wattage in these areas as these are where most of your work will be done. Your kitchen table should have its own pendant light, which should be bigger and more elaborate that those in the counters. This will give more character to the table.

There are plenty of kitchen lighting ideas on the Internet. In fact, there are too plenty that they could get confusing. Nevertheless, it is a great place to start if you’re planning on jazzing up your kitchen.