As the heart of the home, the kitchen is where many of us spend the majority of our time. We spend hours fantasising about new fitted kitchens or upgrading to a fancy new cooker, but often neglect to think about lighting. When you are preparing food and eating, effective lighting is very important, but if you are stuck with a kitchen where the lighting is less than ideal, there are several options for bringing more light into your life.
Maximise Natural Light
The first, and cheapest thing to do is to get as much natural light as possible into your kitchen. If you have heavy curtains at the windows, vertical or Venetian blinds, consider changing these for a simple roman or roller blind which can be pulled up completely to allow light to flood in, and lowered at night for some privacy. Do the same with patio doors and if you have a solid back door, consider swapping it for one with a glass panel which will let more light into the room. If you have large trees or bushes blocking out light into your kitchen get them cut back, and move any other items which are obstructing the windows. Think also about paint colours and the colour of your flooring, work surface and units. Painting everything a nice bright shade of white or cream will make things seem brighter, as can replacing a dark tiled floor with new, light coloured vinyl flooring.
Swap your Bulbs
Improving the lighting in the kitchen could be as simple as swapping some of the bulbs for stronger ones, or a different design of bulb which throws light over a wider area. If you are still using older energy saving bulbs which take a long time to reach full brightness, swap them for modern bulbs which will provide instant light. Get rid of heavy or dark lampshades which will decrease the light and always replace any bulbs which stop working immediately to make sure everything is as bright as it possibly can be.
Hide Lights on Top of Cupboards
Fluorescent tube lighting is relatively cheap to buy and used to be the default choice for kitchen lighting. It has now fallen out of fashion, but fluorescent tubes are the ideal size and shape to provide hidden lighting on top of the kitchen cupboards. Nobody will be able to see the lights when they are installed on the top of the cupboards, and they will direct light up onto the ceiling and it will then bounce around the room making the whole kitchen seem brighter and airier. This is a trick used by many of the top interior designers and it can make a huge difference to the light levels in your room.
Under Cupboard Lighting
If you find that the main issue in the kitchen with poor light is that you struggle to see what you are doing on work surfaces, then under counter lighting can be a good choice. There is a wide variety of different lights on the market, ranging from simple fluorescent tubes to touch activated halogen lights, and all of these will light up the work surface and hugely increase light levels throughout the kitchen. The beauty of these sorts of lights is that they can be retro fitted and having them installed does not mean disruption to your kitchen. You will need an electrician to fit your lights for you, but installing lights under cupboards is still far cheaper than adding additional wiring to your ceiling light or cutting a skylight in the roof.
Track Lighting
If your main light source in the kitchen is a single, central bulb, then you can easily upgrade this without needing expensive and disruptive additional wiring or extensive electrical work. Track lighting comprises a central pole with three or more spotlights which can be angled in different directions to throw the light exactly where you want it. These sorts of lights come in a variety of designs, are very cheap to buy from DIY or home interiors stores, and can be fitted with basic DIY skills. Take some time to angle the lights to maximise light, and remember that once fitted the lights can be adjusted easily.
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