How to Choose the Best Types of Kitchen Lighting for Your Home
Your kitchen deserves a little light
The right kitchen lighting can transform your space into a bright, comfortable room that’s clear for food preparation or inviting for socializing. While many rooms in the house can get away with just one light fixture, kitchens benefit from a mix of ambient light and focused light. We’ll explore the three main types of kitchen lighting and how you can mix them to create a stylish, balanced space.
1. Ambient Lighting
Ambient lighting, or general lighting, is designed to provide even illumination for the whole room. Windows are often a beautiful source of ambient light during the day, but lighting fixtures can help provide ambient light at night. There are several types of kitchen ceiling lights that create ambient light.
Surface Ceiling Lights
Simple and effective, surface ceiling lights offer an even cast of light that bounces off the walls to light up your kitchen. Surface lights usually have one to three bulbs covered by a shade, creating a mushroom cap effect that sticks out slightly from the ceiling. You can choose from a wide variety of ceiling light covers, making it easy to style them to suit your space.
In addition to delivering a large amount of light, surface ceiling lights also minimize glare and shadows compared to many other ambient lights. This is because the external fixture makes it easy for light to spread evenly across the room.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Customizable | Takes up space |
| Provides broad light | Minimal designs |
| Reduces shadows |
Best For: Widespread light with minimal glare
Recessed Ceiling Lights
Recessed ceiling lights fit directly inside your ceiling so that the light sits flush. This creates a polished, minimalist feel while still delivering even lighting for the room.
Thanks to their unobtrusive look, it’s easy to install multiple recessed ceiling lights. However, some aren’t adjustable and only point straight down, meaning that anything in the path of the light will cast a strong shadow. The best type of recessed lighting for kitchens are ones that include things like a baffle trim to reduce glare.
Recessed lights have slightly smaller light coverage than surface ceiling lights, so it’s common to place recessed kitchen lighting every five to six feet along your ceiling to light the whole room. They’ll also require space inside your ceiling to accommodate the electrical components.
These fixtures come in several depths to fit different ceilings, and recessed lighting installation usually costs about $360 per fixture.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Unobtrusive | Can cast shadows |
| Lots of lighting | Need space in ceiling |
| Modern design | Expensive install |
Best For: Visually unobtrusive ambient light
Track Lights
Track lights are individual fixtures that are attached to a long track that runs along your ceiling. The major advantage of track lights is that you can add or remove lights, making it easy to adjust your lighting levels or change the direction of your lights.
They take up more space than surface and recessed ceiling lights, so they can sometimes be more difficult to incorporate into home decor.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Easy to adjust | Visually obtrusive |
| Lots of light | Limited designs |
Best For: When you want to easily change the direction or quantity of lights
2. Task Lighting
Task lighting is designed to illuminate a specific area like your countertop or kitchen table. Although ambient light may already hit these spaces, the addition of task lighting can make it more comfortable to cook, eat, and relax. Task lighting is also helpful for areas beneath kitchen cabinets that may have shadows from ambient light.
Under Cabinet Lights
These are one of the most common and useful types of kitchen task lighting. No matter what type of ambient lighting you choose, you’ll almost always end up with some shadows under the cabinets. Under cabinet lights provide bright, even light so you can see all of your countertops.
Recessed lights are particularly popular for this space, as they don’t take up any extra room on the counter. You won’t have to worry about bumping your head on bulky fixtures and you’ll have bright, consistent light for your workspace. The average cost to install under-cabinet lighting is about $265.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Illuminates counters | Won’t light full room |
| Unobtrusive | Expensive install |
Best For: Illuminating countertops
Pendant Lights
Hanging pendant lights are a great solution for high-ceilinged spaces and open areas like kitchen islands and peninsulas. Kitchen island pendant lights are often hung at head height, which helps prevent too many shadows.
There are many types of kitchen pendant lights, and they’re a great opportunity to add style to your space. However, too many pendant lights can also make the room feel cluttered, so it’s best to have two to three at an even distance apart to create a balanced look.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Stylish task light | Need 2–3 in room |
| Focal point |
Best For: Hanging over islands, peninsulas, and tables
Small Lamps
Smaller lamps offer compact, portable task lighting in the kitchen. If you’re looking for a little extra illumination on the countertop or at the kitchen table, a small lamp adds light and style without installation or commitment.
Small lamps can also be used for under-cabinet lighting if you don’t have space in your cabinets to install recessed lighting or if you don’t want to go through the process of installing a lighting fixture.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Versatile | Won’t light full room |
| No install | Obtrusive |
Best For: Portable task lighting
3. Decor Lighting
Lighting fixtures aren’t just great for brightening your kitchen—they’re also an opportunity to showcase your home decor style. While most lights offer some design to the space, there are several types of kitchen lights that act especially well as decor accents.
Chandeliers
A classic for stylish lighting, chandeliers can be modern, minimalist, or glamorous to fit your kitchen. They’re also a good way to add ambient light or task lighting to islands and tables.
Since chandeliers tend to be on the larger side, they’re best displayed in the center of the room or over more open areas like islands.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Wide overhead light | Hard to install |
| Task light | Expensive |
| Adds focal point |
Best For: Ambient light that adds a central focal point
Sconces
Sconces are smaller lights that are attached to the wall and typically feature a creative lampshade. Most sconces point up or down—upward sconces add ambient light along one wall, while downward sconces are helpful for task lighting in spaces like countertops.
Sconces are often associated with classical decor styles, but you can find a wide array of modern sconces too. Since they’re set along the wall, they don’t take up too much space. You can usually install a row of several sconces to create an even row of lights with a creative touch.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Good for walls | Classic design |
| Unobtrusive | Won’t light full room |
Best For: Lighting along walls
Large Lamps
Large lamps offer moderate ambient lighting with a decorative touch. They won’t deliver the same illumination as ceiling lights, but they can be effective at brightening a section of your kitchen. For example, a tall lamp in the corner of the kitchen can provide ambient light for your kitchen table or a section of the countertop.
Although lamps occupy some floor space, they’re also conveniently portable. It’s easy to move a lamp if you need extra lighting in one part of your kitchen. You can also change up the feel of your lamps and other decor lighting by exploring different types of light bulbs for the kitchen to play with color and dimness.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Works in corners | Moderate ambient light |
| Task light | |
| Portable |
Best For: Moderate ambient lighting that’s easy to move
Which Type of Kitchen Light Do You Need?
The best way to light your kitchen is to incorporate a mix of ambient and task lighting. Ambient lighting is key to setting a relaxing atmosphere and having a comfortable amount of light that fills the space. Even in kitchens that have plenty of natural light, ample ambient lighting keeps your kitchen functional in the evenings.
Task lighting helps brighten spaces that may not receive as much ambient light. Countertops are especially important for task lighting since cabinets and appliances tend to prevent overhead ambient light from reaching all of the countertops. Good task lighting can also reduce eye strain while you’re preparing food and cooking.
Decor lighting isn’t essential, but it can be a great way to take your space from functional to enjoyable. Many types of decor lighting also offer a source of ambient or task lighting—chandeliers can light tables, islands, and whole rooms, while sconces can brighten walls and countertops. Using a mix of all three types of light fixtures can give your kitchen visual depth, style, and a comfortable space to cook, dine, and mingle.
Looking for some help installing the perfect kitchen light? Once you’ve found your fixture, call up a light installation company near you to start enjoying your new kitchen lighting.