“Lighting is often the last thing considered in a (kitchen) design and the first thing cut from a budget,” says Randall Whitehead, a nationally known designer and author on the subject of residential lighting.

But to look its best and function well, a kitchen must be properly lighted — and that involves more than just specifying stylish fixtures. A good plan blends lighting into the architectural and decorative details of the room.

Avoid glaring errors. The most common mistake is trying to light the entire room with one ceiling-mounted fixture. Recessed lighting, if installed in a generic grid, isn’t much better.

Plan for a layered look. No single light source can provide all the necessary light for a kitchen. A well-lighted kitchen layers and blends four different types of light. Every kitchen remodel should include the following:

Task lighting. It is the workhorse of illumination and provides adequate light for tasks such as chopping vegetables and reading recipes. Optimum placement of task lighting comes between a person’s head and the work surface, which makes lighting located below the upper cabinets so effective.

Ambient lighting. It creates a warm glow that fills a room, softens shadows and helps make people feel instantly welcome in a kitchen. If cabinets do not reach all the way to the ceiling, that space is a great spot for ambient light.

Accent lighting. It gives depth and dimension to a kitchen.

Decorative lighting. Whitehead likes to refer to this type of lighting as architectural jewelry. It adds sparkle to a space.

Dim the lights. As in any room in the house, the ability to adjust light levels in the kitchen is ideal. When cooking or cleaning up, a bright punch of illumination makes the job easier. For lingering over a meal and conversing, dimmed lights create great ambience.

Plan ahead. One last kitchen-lighting tip from Whitehead: “Even if you don’t have the budget for a series of pendants over the center island, at least install the three junction boxes (during the remodel),” he says. Then fixtures can be purchased at a later date and easily added to the kitchen.

Source: Mercury News