Kitchen recessed light placement in Galley Kitchen

3 years ago

Looking at updating my Kitchen Lighting with 6” recessed lights. There are so many options. Let's start with the most critical.

1) Placement - I have a Galley Kitchen which is 10’ x 18’. Originally I was thinking about installing 8 Recessed Lights 3 feet off the wall, to avoid shadows from cabinets, and install them in 2 straight rows. But then I looked at online photos of Galley Kitchens with recessed lights ran that way it looked like runway lights at an airport. Attached is a photo of a Galley Kitchen run that way and IMHO not the best layout. Now I am thinking of a staggered pattern. Currently, there are 3 ceiling lights. Even though I had planned to plug the old holes, it would be easier if I used the old holes for the new recessed lights instead. So attached is a picture of my existing ceiling where I placed (4) 6” round templates to represent the new Recessed lights. Also attached are 2 scaled drawings (one with distance marked) showing where the new (7) recessed lights would be placed. So three recessed lights would go where the current ceiling lights are and 4 new recessed lights would be placed 3’ from all 4 corners. You will notice the 3 existing lights are not spaced evenly so not sure if that would be odd looking. I am also attaching another online picture I found of a Galley Kitchen with an odd staggered pattern and thought it looked a lot better than the straight 2-row pattern.

Thoughts on the best placements? I rather plug the old holes and get the placement that looks best.

2) Type of LEDs- Wafer-thin LEDs or old-style Cans. The new Wafer LEDs have a lot of advantages including air sealing and attic insulation. But I just think the old style recessed cans look better than the flat look, but I might be old school and maybe the new Wafer look is the hot trend. Eventually, we will be selling the house so have to keep what buyers are looking for in mind. Also if I go with the recessed cans, instead of a BR30 bulb, I am thinking about using the Trim with the LEDs built-in as they still have the recessed baffle look; like the ones shown in the link below. Thoughts on which option looks the best?

https://www.amazon.com/Bbounder-Lighting-Recessed-Downlight-Installation/dp/B07MMSJ6X1/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=led+recessed+lighting&qid=1607286526&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFKSldXTldQM0hKMTUmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAxOTM4NDYxUEo1SzVQMjQzSDIxJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA2OTQ5ODMxQURXRVdUVFZRT01MJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1

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3) Number of lights - I calculated this using the Foot Candle method and for General Kitchen lighting it is recommend to be between 30-40 Foot Candles or for my 180 square foot space 5400 – 7200 lumens. So roughly 7-8 bulbs.

Any thoughts?

4) Color Temperature - I want the kitchen to be less warm than a BR, but not hospital sterile white. I am deciding between 3000K or 4000K. Any thoughts on which is best for a Kitchen. I will be painting the walls Revere Pewter.

5) CRI - Is 80 good enough or do I need to go with 90?

2 Row Straight Layout Option Example