Kitchen pendant lighting ideas to consider
The saying goes 'home is where the heart is.' Your kitchen needs additional attention when it comes to lighting, after all they are the kitchen is a central point of homes today. Sure, there are 1000's of different pendant lights online to choose from, but why not spend some extra time selecting a light which creates a warm, yet stylish, kitchen that people want to spend time in.Whether it's assembling a cake mix or creating a special dinner for friends, lighting is key. While performing a practical function, lighting creates an inviting, romantic and fun atmosphere but most of all. Kitchen pendant lights are the best place to start when combining functionality with a stylish look.
Planning your Kitchen Lighting
Early in the design phase of planning your kitchen, you should decide on how you want it all to look and feel. It’s better to do this earlier to maximise the options you will have to work with, rather than later when you may have to just stick something in to fit. Pendant lights can change the mood of a room considerably, so your kitchen should be built around them, not the other way around. One great way to assist with this process is to create a mood board. Mood boards allow you to consider and match colours and plan harmony before starting a renovation. This is the time to choose tiles, splashbacks, flooring, cupboard colours and textures, bench top and most importantly the lighting. Another thing most people are not aware of, is how important it is to choose high quality lighting fixtures with high CRI. CRI stands for colour rendering index – this is how true light makes colour appear. The higher the CRI the truer the colour appears. So if you use a high CRI globe/light fitting above your floor covering, marble bench top and cabinetry, the right lighting will show them off to their best advantage by allowing them to appear true in their colour.
Pendant Lighting Colour
However, it’s possible that your kitchen is already established. Which brings us to the choice of pendant lamp colour. You may be restricted by every previous choice around your kitchen. Where your kitchen is full of neutral colours, then you may want include a splash of colour to uplift your layout. This is a great opportunity to make a real statement with the colours of your new kitchen pendant lamps. On the other hand, you may well be satisfied with all the colours in your kitchen, which means you will need to look for a pendant light colour which will blend in.
Brightness of globes for pendant lighting
Another thing to consider is whether the pendant lights will be the only lighting in the kitchen or is there additional lighting? For example, you might consider pendant lighting as task lighting over your island bench, and may have extra downlights to turn on when cooking etc. A small range of pendant lights will have built in LEDs which means you won’t be able to change the globe and make the light brighter if needed. Most pendant lights however will take a E27 screw in globe which means that brightness can be adjusted if needed and replaced when they expire. For kitchen pendant lights you will want a 3000k or 4000k temperature. The use of a dimmer is ideal and will allow you to use a brighter globe and adjust down to the perfect brightness.
Choosing the Right Kitchen Island Pendant Size
Sizing of your pendant lights for your kitchen island is crucial. You don’t want your new lighting to overpower the space, rather you want the pendant lights to complement and enhance the style of the kitchen.
Consider the position of the pendant lights and choose ones which have a slimline look so there is minimal restriction of the view from each side of the island bench. The impact of the pendant lights can be damaged, depending on the height they are hung at. Your kitchen pendant lights should be hung high enough to enhance the impact of the lighting and low enough to not block the view.
Conclusion
To conclude this article on kitchen pendant lighting you need to answer these questions – do you need task lighting? ambient lighting? or decorative lighting? Once you know the purpose of the lighting, plan your kitchen around it. Be bold with your choice and make it the hero of the kitchen!