When designing a kitchen, choosing the correct lighting is more important than most people realize. The kitchen is the hub of the home, and it’s used for everything from meal preparation and cooking to paying bills. Lighting influences productivity for every task, but not every task requires the same illumination. As with any room, lighting should never be an afterthought or last-minute addition. The ultimate cooking area lighting strategy typically provides three types of lighting categories – task lighting, safety lighting, and ambiance. Under-cabinet illumination options are a perfect choice to accomplish all of these goals.
Task lighting: Task lighting refers to those fixtures used to point more direct light at areas where tasks will be performed. A homeowner may look to incorporate under-cabinet task lighting when they design their kitchen cabinet to brightly illuminate their prep areas, for instance. By employing brighter illumination, angled lights, or other task lighting alternatives, under-cabinet lights, work areas will be well-lit and ready for any kitchen job. Targeted hood lighting provides the lights you need while cooking, illuminating the entire stovetop for safety.
Safety lighting: Safety lighting is used to facilitate safe passage and provide low light after hours. Under-cabinet lighting is perfect, with dimmed lights that will not blind someone in the middle of the night but will allow them to make their way around the room without tripping or stubbing their toe.
Ambient lighting: Ambient lighting creates the mood in your kitchen, which may evolve throughout the day. You may want to have a gentle, cozy mood during your morning coffee, a bright and lively feel for kid’s homework time, or a more romantic mood while cooking dinner with your hubby. You can even add under-cabinet lighting in different colors for parties or special occasions.
Popular LED Under-Cabinet Lighting Options
Whether working with a designer or visualizing your own space, the variety of lights available for kitchen renovations is vast. Long-lasting, low-voltage LEDs utilize 90% less energy than incandescent models, and new LED bulbs can last for as long as 100,000 hours, making them highly efficient. This allows homeowners to perform fewer bulb changes throughout the course of their time at the home.
Another positive aspect of LEDs is that they don’t get hot, are safe to touch, and don’t cause house fires. Additionally, if someone mistakenly breaks an LED bulb, there is none of the mercury that fluorescent lights contain. (and is toxic.) LED lights offer a wide spectrum of colored lighting alternatives, including warm, cool, bright, and natural. They will all shed light differently into the space it is illuminating. These lights are custom-fit to your cabinet design scheme to best light up your life. Under-cabinet lights can be effortlessly integrated with hidden and minimalistic wires that connect into a discreet wall outlet that does not ruin the aesthetic design of the space.
Another excellent way to personalize your lighting design is to utilize wireless dimmer switches that will allow for custom light quality and intensity. Dimmers are especially appropriate for under-cabinet lights. Wireless dimming alternatives provide even greater flexibility, allowing a homeowner to automate light over their cooking space with a remote from anywhere in the kitchen.
Under cabinet lighting is one of the many options available to homeowners looking into a home renovation or kitchen remodeling. To learn more about how West Coast Design Build Florida can help you to design the kitchen you’ve dreamed of, call us today for more information. From kitchen cabinets to updated countertops, we are Sarasota’s kitchen renovation experts.
