Kitchen Design: Best Lighting Ideas

While kitchen designs are versatile and highly reflective of your personal style, ensuring a good lighting system for all a kitchen’s uses can be a tough job. From bright and breezy breakfast mornings to ambient cocktail evenings, you need a lighting system that’s as adaptable as your kitchen’s functions.

Kitchen Design Basics: Focus on Utility

Finding the balance between form and function is always important. In your kitchen design, you need to make sure your lighting is functional for you to cook and prepare food safely. However, bright fluorescents for function don’t make for a comforting environment. We recommend a mix of focused lighting (also called task lighting) and ambient lighting, so you can take control of the room’s mood and brightness as you see fit.

Functional lighting also doesn’t mean not aesthetic lighting! Every part of your home, functional or otherwise, can be furnished with pieces that inspire you. For kitchen lighting, we love spotlights and hanging lamps. These focus light downwards onto the surfaces where you need it, such as food prep counters or around kitchen appliances.

Minimalists may enjoy hidden or recessed lighting from the ceiling, while others may enjoy hanging pendant-style fixtures that add character to the room. For those undecided, we recommend hanging lamps for character above kitchen islands, and more recessed hidden lighting for sections under cabinets.

Focus on Ambiance

Sometimes, that post-dinner coffee doesn’t require focused task lighting. Recessed lighting, under-cabinet lighting, and warm lighting add to evening ambiance, creating a relaxing environment for a late-night snack. There are several ways to set the tone with lighting, but the easiest is with bulb temperature and dimmable lighting fixtures.

Dimmable lighting fixtures help you find the balance between a bright, shadow-free cooking space and a calm room for entertaining and relaxing. They’re integrated into existing task lighting fixtures, perfect for those not looking to clutter their kitchen with lights from every angle. On the other hand, hidden recessed lighting can add ambiance without taking focus away from statement design pieces you have in your kitchen area.

Focal Point: Be Bold

Above all, don’t be afraid to experiment. The kitchen is a perfect room to be bold with, whether it’s through custom cabinets or a lighting fixture that adds a focal point to the room. A designer pendant or antique lighting fixture can be a conversation starter and playing with the lighting levels in your kitchen can pull the space together for that finished feel.

You can match your cabinet hardware and seating finishes to finishes on light fixtures, bringing together pieces from different collections that feel like puzzle pieces slotting together. That cohesiveness makes for a kitchen that appears organized, elegant, and sophisticated, without sacrificing function or aesthetics along the way. The Dendelio 7-light pendant by Eurofase Lighting adds geometric interest in either black or gold, perfect as a standalone piece or in multiples for that put-together look.

Kitchen Lighting by Designer’s Mark

At Designer’s Mark, we’ve found the nexus between form and function when it comes to kitchen design. We have decades of experience creating homes that feel inspiring and revitalizing, and we’d love to work with you to create the home you’ve been waiting for.