Whether you’re trying out a new recipe, eating dinner with family, or drinking your morning coffee, your kitchen is a place you’ll be inhabiting every day. Since these activities often happen in the morning and night, you can’t always rely on natural light. Sufficient kitchen lighting is essential to make these activities as enjoyable as possible.
Begin the lighting design process by determining the amount of light you need and where it will be. Identifying these issues will give your kitchen a balanced look and feel.
Depending on the changes you will be making and your comfort level, you or a lighting professional could handle these updates and installations.
Top Light Fixtures to Add to Your Kitchen
Track Lights
Track lights are fixtures placed on a track and can be slid or altered to accommodate different lighting needs. The fixture heads are adjustable, meaning you can direct them to provide light in dimmer areas of your kitchen and enhance the overhead lighting. Track lights offer adjustable and customizable lighting, with certain products featuring adjustable wattages and lenses or bulbs that allow you to change the beam angle.
The track light accessories are sold separately, but compatible fixtures are easy to position. These light fixtures are energy-efficient and sold in various sizes.
Recessed Downlights
Recessed downlights are usually used in residential spaces to provide overhead lighting throughout the room. Recessed LED downlights come in a variety of trim designs and color temperatures to achieve the preferred lighting design for your kitchen. Plug-and-play adapters are featured in certain styles, making installation easy.
The trim designs for recessed downlights are:
- Baffle: provides a softer light; usually preferred for ambient lighting
- Flush Mount: sits flat against the ceiling to provide a minimalistic design
- Gimbal: adjustable lighting that can be altered for lighting needs; great for accent lighting
- Reflector: light covers wider areas; ideal for rooms with higher ceilings
- Smooth: exterior provides a clean look making it adaptable to different settings
The most common recessed downlights to have in your kitchen are below.
- Can Light Retrofit: This fixture is good for upgrading or replacing light fixtures in your home because of the easy installation with no existing can light housings removal required.
- Canless Downlight: This updated fixture is good for new builds or renovations because these fixtures have their own junction box, meaning no existing junction box is needed.
LED Strip Lights
LED strip lights are a top choice for individuals wanting to enhance their kitchen because of their easy installation and customization. Most strip lights feature an adhesive backing, allowing them to stick to under-cabinets and strip channels. They are also easy to cut to fit your installation area.
Strip lights are available in various color options, including:
- Single-color
- RGB
- RGB+W
- RGB+CCT
- RGB+ACCT
- Single CCT
- Tunable White
- Color-changing
- Addressable Strips
Strip lights are usually cheaper to purchase and install compared to fixtures and more customizable than bulbs. They provide creative freedom with various of options when customizing your kitchen to your preferences.
Shop our line of Complete LED Strip Kits to make installation easy. Our kits contain all the supplies needed to install the strip lights. Wireless controllers and compatible smartphone apps are available for select kits.
If you don’t like the look of a traditional LED strip, you can use a COB LED strip light that illuminates a continuous line of light without hotspots.
You can also attach your LED strip to an aluminum channel for a sleeker look. The KLUS aluminum LED channels are customizable and versatile. They help with even light distribution, improve heat transfer, and come in various styles and finishes.
Read our 10 Reasons to Use KLUS Aluminum LED Channels blog to learn more.
Pendant and Chandelier Bulbs
Pendant lights and chandeliers serve as decorative focal points for kitchens and provide ambient light around the space. You should understand the bulbs needed for these light fixtures. A common bulb that fits both pendant and chandelier fixtures is the candelabra bulb.
The following bulb bases are typically compatible with pendant light fixtures:
- E12
- E14
- E17
- E26/E27
The following bulb bases are typically compatible with chandelier light fixtures:
- E12
- E14
- E17
- E26/E27
Use our LED Filament Light Bulb finder to shop for the exact bulb you need.
Lighting Placement
Different light fixtures can serve different purposes in your kitchen. Ambient and task lighting are the two common types of light needed in the kitchen. Ambient lighting is used as the main light and is ideal for eating or cleaning. Task lighting provides specific lighting when performing precise activities such as cooking and preparing meals.
- Track Lights: Usually installed over an island or counter. This light fixture can serve as task lighting or ambient lighting.
- Recessed Lights: Usually used as ambient lighting and placed all throughout the kitchen ceiling.
- LED Strip Lights: Usually used under and above cabinets. This light placement adds horizontal task lighting across the kitchen.
- Pendant and Chandelier Bulbs: Usually installed over an island or counter. They can provide ambient lighting for an overall room while also serving as decoration.
Recommended Color Temperature
The Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) of your LED lights determines the shade of white emitted. We recommend using a natural to cool white light for your kitchen, equivalent to 4000K or greater. A cool or natural color temperature provides crisper light, making it easier to see when completing tasks that require precision.
We offer tunable LEDs and selectable CCT lights that allow the CCT of your lights to be changed. Tunable LEDs provide a range of light, usually with warm, natural, and cool white options that you can adjust based on your preference and mood. Selectable CCTs give you specific Kelvin options (usually at least 3 options) that you can click on to change.
- Recessed downlighting, track lighting, and LED strip lights have selectable CCT options
- Recessed downlighting and LED strip lights have tunable options
- Recessed downlighting and LED strip lights have different Color Rendering Index (CRI) options
Benefits of Using LEDs in Your Kitchen
Implementing LED kitchen lighting will not only improve your quality of light, but the energy-efficiency qualities will save you money in the long run. LEDs can have a lifespan up to 100,000 hours, which is 27 times the amount of halogen bulbs and 83 times the amount of incandescent bulbs. This means there are lower replacement costs required over time.
Correctly placing the right kitchen light fixtures is the best way to brighten your kitchen to your liking. Try out the lights above to create the desired atmosphere. For specific product information, call to speak with one of our customer advocates.
by Emily Willis
LED Lighting Specialist
Emily has undergone training to provide technically accurate lighting knowledge on the uses and benefits of LEDs in residential, landscape, commercial, and vehicle applications. These blogs help understand and select lighting for various projects.
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