Kitchen Recessed Lighting Layout - HELP
Hello everyone,
I am trying to determine layout and my ceiling joists are giving some trouble. I have two soffits that run over the sink side and the oven side. The light over the sink is within one soffit and i will have under cabinet and shelf lighting on both sides. There is no room in the soffit over the range to fit lights this is the layout i have landed on. I can not align the center light with the window due to a ceiling joist, would this misalignment still look ok? any ideas? Thank you for any help!
Comments (9)
PRO6 years ago
6 years agoRelated Discussions
Kitchen lighting plan - need help with recessed lighting layout
Comments (7)I don't know what the rule is on this, but we put our 4" cans with the edge closest to the cabinet over the edge of the counter. That way, they shine right in front of you when you are standing at the counter. A 6" would get pushed back farther if you use the edge. Stand at a counter where you would work comfortably and look up. My thought is that you want the center of the light just in front of you and hitting the counter in front of the upper cabinets. To close and they wash the cabinet more than light your work space and too far back, the center of the light will hit your head rather than toe work area. Make sense?...See MoreRecessed Lighting Layout for Kitchen - Please help
Comments (8)I guess my main take-away, which I don't seem to be communicating very well, was that there was something about the 5" (or are they 4"?) that looked significantly better (and less cheese hole like) than the 6" cans in her home on similar ceilings. They just looked a LOT less obtrusive. I think part of it was the size in our small homes with short ceilings. But, I think part of it was also that the inner area was different. The bulbs were not receded into the cans. Instead, there was some kind of casing that was even with the ceiling and the bulb area was small (maybe 2"?) and even with that line, too. The lighting was not diffuse. It was more sparkley and bright. It was just really interesting, given there were cans on in the adjoining DR that were the 6" we've been considering - and could still use in our adjoining hallway. I'm explaining this HORRIBLY. I should have taken pics. Is anything I am saying making sense? Do you have any idea what lights were in that kitchen?...See MoreRecessed Lighting Layout for Kitchen
Comments (9)Thanks so much for all your help, everyone. You guys are awesome! I'm not sure if it were obvious, but I forgot to mention that cabinet 8 in the corner holds the sink, appliance 10 is a dishwasher which has a countertop over it, and the OTR microwave has a light on the underside of it that I can use to illuminate the stove if necessary. David, I looked at the diagram again, and I think the area I need to light is around 12' x 10' (sorry for the confusion, I know I mentioned 8' x 8' for the light placement when trying to figure out the spacing). I believe I need to light the entire width of the kitchen and the length of it up to the BB where I plan to have pendant lights, but let me know if that isn't right. Using your formula and assuming approximately 600 lumen output per 4" can, I get the following: 12' x 10' x 35 = 4,200 total lumens required 4,200 / 600 = 7 cans I took a stab at the layout if I want to keep the grid. I couldn't find a way to get seven cans to look right, so I just increased it to eight and figured I can put dimmers on if necessary. The cans are roughly four feet apart from each other. Obviously, the grid isn't ideal from a practical perspective, especially because cabinet 19, the dishwasher, and the corner sink all have different center points. I shifted the lights around to see what it would look like off the grid and incorporated some of Carol's suggestions , and here is what I have. I'm not opposed to losing a can in the second option to get to the recommended seven cans per David's calculations, but I'm not sure which to lose. I suppose I could remove the one near the fridge since the fridge has a built in light, but I'm not sure. Any opinions? Thanks again for the help!...See Moreneed help with recessed light layout
Comments (1)Full disclosure... I’m generally not a fan of recessed lights in non task areas. Where were you are planning on putting a sofa in that room? Anyone under the soffit might think they are getting interrogated. Having a couple of switched outlets might achieve the same...See More- 6 years ago
6 years ago
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoThis happens all the time. I have numerous places that have joists in the way and the cans are off center (see my pic - notice the can on the right is not centered - there is a joist in the way). There’s not much you can do about it. Sometimes though, if you are able to put smaller 4” cans on either side of a joist, you can manage to do 2 of them and they will end up being evenly spaced in the selected area. I don’t think you have enough lighting in your kitchen though, and you need to make sure that your cans are located over your task areas and not situated in such a way that they are behind you thus casting a shadow where you’re trying to work.
- 6 years agolast modified: 6 years ago
- 6 years ago
- 6 years agolast modified: 6 years ago
If there are no uppers and just open shelving, I would center them over the counters to make sure the cans are not behind you thus casting shadows in your work area. I am currently in a rental right now while my home is under construction and the kitchen here is 12 x 14 (+/-). There are six cans, but they are not situated properly and cast horrible shadows in the work/prep areas (see pics). I think they should have installed a few more cans to light up a couple of the darker areas as well. But, the fact that you will be installing under counter lighting will help tremendously. I don’t know how much under-counter lighting counteracts shadows coming from the opposite direction though.
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