How To Pick The Right Light Fixture For Your Kitchen
Whether you are redesigning your kitchen or building a new home from the ground up, lighting is an important design element that requires your full attention. Kitchen light fixtures may have seemingly negligible significance in comparison to countertops, cabinetry, appliances, and flooring. However, the right light fixtures do more than serve as a capstone for a beautiful room design. Hassett Designs is the Fort Wayne interior decorator that you can rely on to walk you through every stage in the kitchen design process.
Understand the Types of Kitchen Lighting
As you begin searching for the right kitchen light fixtures for your space, take a moment to consider the various functions for light in this space. Direct, overhead lighting will be used as task lighting. This is usually brighter light focused in a food prep area, over the sink, or the stove. Ambient lighting is relatively gentle, and it spans throughout the space evenly. Accent lighting, such as recessed fixtures, is often used to create an extra layer of personality in the space. The last major type of lighting found in most kitchens is decorative. While these fixtures add essential lighting, they are decorative in nature. These fixtures impact décor even when the lights are turned off.
Set the Right Mood
In many modern homes with an open-concept layout, the lighting in the kitchen will affect living areas, dining areas, and more. With this in mind, even pendant lights hanging over the kitchen island can have far-reaching effects throughout a large area of the home. Consider the effect of direct and indirect lighting on mood. Pay attention to the color of the light and any lighting patterns created by the fixture. Whether you want to create a relaxed and inviting space, a room with an energetic feel, or something else, the fixtures selected will directly impact mood.
Use Light Fixtures as Art
Recessed lighting, toe-kick lighting, and under-cabinet lighting throw off light that affects the design, but the fixtures themselves impact ambiance and interior design minimally at best. When fixtures are clearly visible, such as pendant lights, the fixtures become an essential architectural detail in the space. With this in mind, the style of the fixtures should enhance or elevate the kitchen’s design as well as the design in other contiguous spaces.
Pay Attention to Colors and Textures
Translucent fixtures will show the bulb inside the fixture. This can be muted with the use of colors and textures, so these elements can directly impact the intensity of the light and any colors and patterns that radiate from it. For pendant lights, keep in mind that the height, shape and support materials come into play as well.
Think About Energy Efficiency
Whether you hire an interior decorator to work on your kitchen project or you do the legwork yourself, the functionality of the light and the decorative impact of the fixtures must be reviewed in relation to one other factor: Energy efficiency. While the lightbulbs selected for use with the fixtures play a significant role in energy efficiency, the fixtures can also come into play. For example, fixtures with a motion sensor, a daylight detector or a dimming function may have a place in your kitchen.
Hire an Interior Designer
Selecting the right light fixtures for your kitchen design project is challenging, and it is only one of many important decisions that you must make. For many years, Hassett Designs has been helping homeowners in Fort Wayne, and surrounding communities beautify their spaces while also elevating the functionality of those spaces. Whether you have decided to hire an interior decorator or you are simply exploring the possibilities, now is the time to request a consultation with an interior designer at Hassett Designs.
