There's a reason so many people spend so much money setting up their kitchen and that is because for most the kitchen is the hub of home activity. It's also a room that gets perhaps the most use both during day and night times so it's a room where getting the lighting right is crucial.

Modern kitchen lighting is a world away from the harsh fluorescent strip lights once so prevalent in kitchens. These days you can select from low-voltage, recessed spots and track lighting, dimmer controlled wall sconces, elegant pendants and LED's in every guise imaginable. The problem now is deciding from the bewildering choice available what works best for your situation.

The best kitchen lighting designs pay attention to the multipurpose nature of kitchens and aim to also work on different levels by blending different kinds of lighting. These are commonly assigned to specific lighting groups: task, ambient and mood lighting.

The category termed "mood lighting" by the way is an amalgamation of what is often otherwise termed feature or decorative or accent lighting. The essential idea is simply to arrange for each of the different groups of lights to be controlled by their own switches (for preference dimmer switches) so that the balance between them can be adjusted.

Ambient light is at its best when it is also highly unobtrusive. Its function is to provide a soft, overall background glow and let the more interesting lighting fixtures take centre stage. Low-voltage 12v recessed halogen spots (or more commonly these days, LED) are ideal for this purpose.

Eventually of course the business of preparing food comes into play and with it the issue of effective task lighting. The layout of most kitchens is such that working surfaces are never properly illuminated by even the best ambient lighting (basically you always create your own shadows). The most common solution is to simply place LED or other low-voltage lights beneath wall units so as to cast light directly on the work surface and not spill over elsewhere.

The purpose of mood lighting is to create atmosphere, for example chic pendants set above a dining area or up-lighters above cabinet tops or spots that emphasize certain items in the kitchen. Low voltage or LED lights installed inside glass fronted cabinets or set into a plinth are other examples.

The growing use of LED lights in modern kitchen lighting design is pretty much a whole new topic itself. These remarkable lights emit hardly any heat, cost a fraction to run and are light in weight, highly robust and extremely versatile. They are also adept at providing either task, ambient or mood lighting and help create a stylish and elegant look in any kitchen.

If you liked this article then you might also be interested in this further article looking at new kitchen lighting ideas.

It's well established that of all the rooms in a typical home, the kitchen sits metaphorically at the centre (which perhaps explains why so much money is spent on kitchens). It also tends to get a great deal of use throughout the day and night which means that ensuring the lighting is just right is a key factor.

The stark fluorescent strip lights that were once a common feature have no place in the world of contemporary kitchen lighting, which offers a wide variety to choose from. Recessed spot lights, tracks, dimmer controlled pendants, wall sconces, low-voltage and of course LED lights in all manner of guises now mean that the problem today is simply narrowing the choice down to a suitable set for your particular kitchen needs.

The best kitchen lighting designs pay attention to the multipurpose nature of kitchens and aim to also work on different levels by blending different kinds of lighting. These are commonly assigned to specific lighting groups: task, ambient and mood lighting.

This latter category (mood lighting) encompasses aspects of what lighting designers often term as accent, feature and/or decorative lighting. Anyway, the essential trick is to put each of the main groups onto separate circuits and preferably with dimmer switches so as to be able to modify the relative balance.

Ambient light is at its best when it is also highly unobtrusive. Its function is to provide a soft, overall background glow and let the more interesting lighting fixtures take centre stage. Low-voltage 12v recessed halogen spots (or more commonly these days, LED) are ideal for this purpose.

Sooner or later of course you will want to actually prepare food in your kitchen and this is where task lighting can make or break things. No matter how good your ambient light is, the layout of working areas in a kitchen almost always result in shadows and dark spots. An effective means of providing good task lighting is fitting low voltage, or these days LED, lights below wall units to maximize light on the work surface and prevent unnecessary glare.

Mood lighting is simply a means to create whatever ambience you want for your kitchen. Examples include angled up-lighters hidden above wall units or spot lights to accent particular features or maybe eye-catching pendants dropping over a dining area or setting low-heat low-voltage (LED's are perfect) lights into glass fronted wall cabinets or a plinth even.

The growing use of LED lights in modern kitchen lighting design is pretty much a whole new topic itself. These remarkable lights emit hardly any heat, cost a fraction to run and are light in weight, highly robust and extremely versatile. They are also adept at providing either task, ambient or mood lighting and help create a stylish and elegant look in any kitchen.

If you liked this article then you might also be interested in this further article looking at kitchen lighting ideas.

There's a reason so many people spend so much money setting up their kitchen and that is because for most the kitchen is the hub of home activity. It's also a room that gets perhaps the most use both during day and night times so it's a room where getting the lighting right is crucial.

Modern kitchen lighting is a world away from the harsh fluorescent strip lights once so prevalent in kitchens. These days you can select from low-voltage, recessed spots and track lighting, dimmer controlled wall sconces, elegant pendants and LED's in every guise imaginable. The problem now is deciding from the bewildering choice available what works best for your situation.

A noticeable aspect of good kitchen lighting design is the way it operates on different levels to mirror the way that kitchens themselves often serve many purposes. This is typically accomplished by grouping lighting into distinct types (ambient, task and mood) and then blending these groups to achieve different effects.

This latter category (mood lighting) encompasses aspects of what lighting designers often term as accent, feature and/or decorative lighting. Anyway, the essential trick is to put each of the main groups onto separate circuits and preferably with dimmer switches so as to be able to modify the relative balance.

Ambient lighting is most effective when it is most unobtrusive. Its purpose is to establish a soft background platform for the other, more noticeable lighting elements. Recessed low voltage halogen, and increasingly LED, spotlights are excellent at providing the right kind of soft overall illumination required.

Sooner or later of course you will want to actually prepare food in your kitchen and this is where task lighting can make or break things. No matter how good your ambient light is, the layout of working areas in a kitchen almost always result in shadows and dark spots. An effective means of providing good task lighting is fitting low voltage, or these days LED, lights below wall units to maximize light on the work surface and prevent unnecessary glare.

Mood lighting on the other hand is all about creating an atmosphere by, for example, placing up-lights atop wall cabinets or hanging elegant pendants over an eating area or angling spotlights to pick out selected elements. Other examples include using LED or regular low-voltage lights inside a glass fronted cabinet or set into a plinth.

LED's for kitchen lighting almost deserve an entire topic unto themselves. They produce almost no heat, cost next to nothing to run, are extremely durable and lightweight, and are incredibly versatile. LED lights can be used for task, ambient and mood lighting and always introduce a contemporary sparkle to any kitchen.

To find out more, check out also this article that looks at LED kitchen lights.

The latest generation of domestic LED lights are ideal for many kitchen lighting applications. They run cool, deliver crisp bright white light and best of all cost ten times less to run than conventional lighting.

The break-even point on the purchase cost can be as little as one year and usually well inside two years, and from day one you can expect to see your electric lighting costs drop to a tenth of their current levels.

But that's not all. LED kitchen lighting opens up new possibilities beyond the reach of conventional incandescent lighting. Because they give off no heat and are so small, miniature LED light fittings are perfect as display lighting and inside glass cabinets, or can be recessed into shelves to illuminate items above or positioned under cabinets to shine light onto surfaces below.

These diminutive LED spotlights can be both surface mounted or recessed and are frequently also packaged in flexible strips which can be used to accent plinths and so on. As with all types of LED lighting these pose no risks as regards ultra-violet or infra-red radiation (halogen lamps are score especially badly on this point), consume very little energy and particularly in the case of 12v low voltage LED lighting are quite safe.

It's no exaggeration to say that LED strip lighting might almost have been designed specifically for kitchen lighting. It is typically made in 300mm lengths (the standard unit of measure for all modern kitchen units and appliances) which can be linked together as required. The individual strips are covered in a translucent protective waterproof sleeve that also diffuses the light uniformly.

LED strip lighting systems are highly versatile and have found uses providing accent lighting in all manner of places. In the kitchen it's quite common to see them used to pick out coving's and plinths for example, or installed as work surface lighting underneath shelves and cabinets.

It is possible to purchase LED strip lights in both flexible and rigid form; either way they are very lightweight and quick and easy to install. If you have a polished finish on your kitchen floor then plinth lighting using either individual LED mini spots or strip lighting looks great and creates a really contemporary look.

Indeed, the range of effects available with LED kitchen lights is seemingly endless. Not only can you use it to accent features or create wall wash effects (particularly effective against reflective tiles), but you can embed them inside things and even install them to the insides of cupboards and drawers, using sensors that detect when the door is opened or closed.

When all is said and done though, the best advice is to select just those few lighting design ideas that you find most appealing and which work well in combination, and try to avoid "kid in a sweet shop" syndrome. LED kitchen lighting can really lift the look of your kitchen and you don't need that much to get the effect you're after.

Great kitchen lighting design typically utilises a large amount of lighting (which means more than just installing a few extra ceiling roses). Kitchen lighting needs a variety of types of lighting for different areas and purposes. The absolutely worst way to illuminate a kitchen is using bright fluorescent ceiling strip lights. They're certainly very bright - but also flat, cold and guaranteed to give you a headache into the bargain.

The most obvious issue with having central ceiling-rose fittings in a kitchen is that they produce dark spots, most noticeably where you cast your own shadow onto work surfaces. A solution seen in many kitchens involves fitting halogen down lamps in a uniform pattern across the ceiling then adding task-specific lighting for workareas, hobs and so on.

This solution works reasonably well, but does have its own downsides: halogen lamps operate at extremely high temperatures, don't last very long, and are without rival as the most expensive means of lighting a kitchen. Some 90% of the cost of incandescent lighting (of which halogen is an extreme example) is the electricity they use.

This one fact helps explain the growing popularity of cool, super energy efficient LED kitchen lights. For mains powered lighting you simply replace all existing GU10 halogen lamps with equivalent GU10 LED lights. For low voltage systems, you first replace existing 12 volt transformers with a smaller number of constant voltage 12 volt LED drivers (each can power a number of light fittings) then replace MR16 halogens with LED light bulbs.

When installing LED spotlights there are 3 main areas to bear in mind, these being: brightness (or luminosity); colour temperature (whether the light appears cool and blue or warm and yellow); and beam angle (tightly focused or widely dispersed). It's a good idea to get as close as possible on these three areas to the qualities of the halogen lamps you're replacing.

It has become the norm to measure brightness according to wattage, but the wattage ratings for LED light bulbs are approximately 10% compared to normal incandescent or halogen bulbs of the same brightness. Accordingly you should look to replace a 35w halogen lamp with 3-4w LED and a 50w with probably a 5w LED.

Color temperature is used to measure how warm or cool a light seems. LED lights are available in a variety of white color temperatures (and also, colors) but since it has always been easier to manufacture blue LEDs, many cheap LEDs tend to have a cold/bluish tinge. Go for warm white (color temperatures below 3500K) for a reasonable approximation to the kind of white light normally associated with halogen lamps.

A narrow beam angle, say 45 degrees, makes any light appear tighter and more contained to a defined spot, whereas a much wider 120 degrees spreads the light out evenly, eliminating glare and "hot-spots". Quite possibly the best LED spot light currently available that acts as a straightforward halogen replacement is the Sharp Zenigata.

A critical component that determines how artificial light actually appears is not the light itself but the surface on which it is shining. To create a warm feel simply direct spot lights at warmly coloured areas (clay tiles, wood or just a wall painted in warm colours). If a dramatic effect is what you're after, try shining blue LEDs at either dark or reflective surfaces - blue LED light bounced off granite or steel can appear stunning.

Combine LED lights of varying characteristics with different textures and colours to produce a range of effects suited to individual zones in your kitchen. The are almost boundless possibilities, even before you get to playing with LED strip lighting to accent plinths, worktops, coving and more or less anything else that takes your fancy. As ever though, the best designs often emerge by limiting things to a handful or less of the most appealing ideas - but don't be surprised how stunning even small amount of LED kitchen lighting looks.

Really good kitchen lighting designs characteristically use a great deal of lighting - and we're not talking about putting a few extra roses on the ceiling Kitchen lighting requires all manner of different types of light to handle the requirements of many different zones. Just about the worst lighting solution for a kitchen is the use of bright fluorescent strip lights on the ceiling. Sure, they're unquestionably very bright - but cold, flat and likely to induce a headache in less time than it takes to soft boil an egg.

The most obvious issue with having central ceiling-rose fittings in a kitchen is that they produce dark spots, most noticeably where you cast your own shadow onto work surfaces. A solution seen in many kitchens involves fitting halogen down lamps in a uniform pattern across the ceiling then adding task-specific lighting for workareas, hobs and so on.

This certainly does the job fairly well, but is not without its own list of issues: halogen lights run at a very high temperature; they have a short lifespan; and they are without question the most costly solution as regards running kitchen lighting. A staggering ninety percent of the cost of halogen based lighting (and indeed, incandescent lighting in general) is the electricity they quite literally burn.

This one fact helps explain the growing popularity of cool, super energy efficient LED kitchen lights. For mains powered lighting you simply replace all existing GU10 halogen lamps with equivalent GU10 LED lights. For low voltage systems, you first replace existing 12 volt transformers with a smaller number of constant voltage 12 volt LED drivers (each can power a number of light fittings) then replace MR16 halogens with LED light bulbs.

There are 3 principal qualities to consider when evaluating LED spotlights, namely: luminosity (or brightness); color temperature (how blue and cool or yellow and warm the light seems); and light beam angle. Try to obtain as good a match as possible to the performance of your halogen lamps in these 3 areas.

It has become the norm to measure brightness according to wattage, but the wattage ratings for LED light bulbs are approximately 10% compared to normal incandescent or halogen bulbs of the same brightness. Accordingly you should look to replace a 35w halogen lamp with 3-4w LED and a 50w with probably a 5w LED.

Color temperature describes how cool or warm a light appears. LED lights are available in a variety of white color temperatures (and also, colors) but since it has always been easier to manufacture blue LEDs, many cheap LEDs tend to have a cold/bluish tinge. Go for warm white (color temperatures below 3500K) for a reasonable approximation to the kind of white light normally associated with halogen lamps.

The narrower the beam angle (45 degrees for example) the tighter and more spot-like any light will appear, while 120 degrees gives an even spread of light and eliminates hot-spots and glare. Arguably the best LED spotlight presently on the market as a direct replacement for halogen spots is the Zenigata LED from Sharp.

One of the key factors to how any artificial light appears is not so much the light itself as the surface it shines on. To warm things up, point spot lighting at warmly colored areas (terracotta tiles, natural wood or simply a warmly painted wall). Alternatively, create dramatic effects by for example directing blue LEDs at fairly dark surfaces - blue LEDs reflected off blue, green, granite and steel can look stunning.

Combine LED lights of varying characteristics with different textures and colours to produce a range of effects suited to individual zones in your kitchen. The are almost boundless possibilities, even before you get to playing with LED strip lighting to accent plinths, worktops, coving and more or less anything else that takes your fancy. As ever though, the best designs often emerge by limiting things to a handful or less of the most appealing ideas - but don't be surprised how stunning even small amount of LED kitchen lighting looks.