Another Plea for Help with my sad Kitchen Lighting plan

16 years ago

I've been trying to research lighting plans for weeks now and I feel like I am getting no where. I don't like to ask for help when I haven't really been able to pull anything decent together myself, but I'm so tired and overwhelmed that I thought I should just try. I feel like the more I read, the more I realize I don't know what the heck I'm doing! So here goes:

Ceiling - 8ft

Cabinets - Off White

Countertops - Something light, possibly marble

Floors - Oak Hardwood (Light)

Microwave - Over the stove

Bottom left corner - There are two doors there. One to the basement and one to a small sun room. We don't get a lot of light in the kitchen from the sun room.

On the other side of the penisula is the dining room. There are two windows in there and a flos pendant light. The dining room gets pretty good light, but the kitchen does not.

I think I would like Xenon Strips for the undercabinet lighting. And I would also like some recessed lights. I think I would like to put a large drum pendant in the middle of the kitchen (is this a bad idea?) or over the sink. Because the penisula is so close to the dining room and it's pendanet light, I don't want to put anything hanging down over the penisula.

ANY help would be much appreciated. I have also looked around for online lighting designers, but from what I can tell they cost $1000s. If anyone knows of an affordable one that I can submit my kitchen plan to, I'd appreciate it. Or even a lighting store. I did e-mail Light Universe and hope to hear back from the tomorrow.

You can also view the original PDF before I "colored" on it at:

Kitchen Layout - Adobe Acrobat File

Thanks in advance for any guidance you may have.

P.S. I know my kitchen plan is kind of a mess. Unfortunately, I discovered this wonderful resource after I already ordered my cabinets. Long story...

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Comments (5)

DavidR
16 years ago
I'm no expert, but I know that if you light with cans you will throw lots of shadows unless you have LOTS of them - and even then it's hard to get even, shadow-free light.

Perhaps I'm just too much into utility, but I think a kitchen is best lit with high quality fluorescents - and NOT recessed lights of any kind. I like to see what I'm doing when I cook, and now that I'm middle aged my eyes work best with bright, even light.
cimbronemamma
Original Author
16 years ago
davidr, thanks so much for your advice. the same night i posted this, i emailed an online light store to see if they had someone who could help me and sure enough they did. they are working on a lighting plan for me now. if i use it (which i don't know why i wouldn't) i'll post it. thanks again for taking the time to answer my post.
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I never even thought of an up-light fixture. That could certainly add a nice ambiance when task lights aren't needed. I will play with that idea. Thanks! Yeah, I figured you didn't notice the window issue, lol. I was thinking about mid-point between wall and edge of counter and tried to center my little circles to show that. 10" from counter makes sense, too. I've never heard an exact placement so I was guessing. It seems that so many lighting plans I look at have the light fixture half on the counter and half off into the aisle and this makes no sense to me as your head would be blocking the light. We are going with the flush mounts as we have a weird ceiling issue. We have a false ceiling of of 1/4" plywood, then 4" gap, then another ceiling of 3/4" plywood. Directly above that is the attic which has about 15" of loose insulation in it that has never been disturbed. We don't wish to disturb it now. My DH says it will be a lot easier to cut holes in the false ceiling and then pull/fish the wires up the wall (breaker box is in the garage below) than to have to cut through the 3/4" plywood and line up both holes correctly in both ceilings. Makes sense to me. I think the flush mounts look fine and really don't drop down much more than the decorative edge for the can lights. I have also read that they tend to have greater coverage as the light is lower than the ceiling and shines out from the rounded edge of the light, where it meets up with the rim, instead of being more recessed and, thus, a bit shaded on the edge. Not sure if that's accurate or not but it makes sense to me, too. Do you know anything about the flush-mount LEDs that I should be concerned about? Thanks again for your help.
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sahsah
16 years ago
cimbronemamma,

Can you tell me the name of the online lighting store that is doing a plan for you and approximately what it costs? I, too am having a difficult time mapping out the lighting since some of the cabinets & island are not in the center of the room. Thanks.
jennyandretti
16 years ago
c-mamma: I'm going through the same dilemma you are! I, too, planned on recessed lighting, but now that I've read your post... I might re-think the lighting plan as well.

davidr: You brave, brave man; admitting to the world that middle-aged eyes need nice bright light. But flourecents? Really?
DavidR
16 years ago
But flourescents? Really?

You bet. I love 'em, both for the intensity without excessive heat or electricity use, and for the smoothness of the light. At least for the linear type, the large radiating surface minimizes shadows, like working outside under a clear blue sky with indirect sunlight.

Funny, when I was much younger, I hated fluorescents. I ripped them out of one house I owned. But three things happened.
1. I got older and my eyes got weaker.
2. Electricity got more expensive.
3. Fluorescents got much, much better.
A lot of people still think that fluorescents are those ghastly greenish-grey humming, flickering "cool white" tubes in offices. No more.

I'll have to admit you can still get the ugly type if you're a cheapskate. The buck-or-two lamps are the low-CRI cool white or pinkish warm white.

But for fixtures and lamps of any quality, the light is dramatically better. Tri-phosphor T8 lamps have a range of color temperatures from warm to bluish daylight, and very good color rendering index (but don't let them sell you lamps with a 7xx number - those are lower CRI).

Fluorescents come in more shapes and types (notably compact fluorescents). This makes them easier to fit into more spaces.

Finally, there are even a few decent looking fixtures if you look around. In my area the big locally owned electrical supply carries some fairly nice ones. I've seen a few online, too.

Another Plea for Help with my sad Kitchen Lighting plan

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DavidR

cimbronemamma
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Another Plea for Help with my sad Kitchen Lighting plan

Comments (5)

DavidR

cimbronemammaOriginal Author

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Original Author