Kitchen islands have gone from being a “nice to have” to a “must have” in kitchens across the country. Not only are they a sign of a well-equipped kitchen, but they add valuable workspace to the kitchen, allowing families to easily come together to prepare meals and spend time together.
However, traditional kitchen lighting was not necessarily designed with kitchen islands in mind. Often times the lighting is directed to the kitchen counters by recessed lights or there is just an overhead light that tries to cover the entire kitchen with a flat light level that really isn’t that great for preparing or enjoying food.
If you’ve recently installed a kitchen island, have a portable island on wheels, or are thinking of doing a major remodel to add an island, you should seriously consider kitchen island lighting.
The type of kitchen island lighting you use depends on the kitchen you have, its style, and the shape of the kitchen and the island in general.
One of the popular choices right now in kitchen island lighting is to go with lighting built into a pot rack. This does double duty, giving you a place to hang your pots and pans, as well as lighting so you can prepare food without worrying about cutting yourself with a chef’s knife because you can’t see what you’re doing.
If you don’t want to get an illuminated shelf, you can go for ceiling mounted lighting. While some homeowners like “can-style” recessed lighting that mounts flush to the ceiling, others prefer to use it during lighting as they can target multiple workspaces, not only adding the light you need, but also adding drama, especially if you use dimmer switches on all lights.
If you have a larger kitchen island, you may want to go for a chandelier style. This gives you a single kitchen island lighting option that allows maximum coverage with the fewest lights. This can reduce visual clutter and give your kitchen a much cleaner look.
Once you’ve selected your lighting, you’ll need to make sure it’s placed in the correct location. In many cases, like recessed lighting, you have to do some minor kitchen remodeling, including drilling holes in the ceiling, so you need to measure twice and only cut once.
For a single kitchen island light fixture, it must be centered on the island. If you have a mobile island, make sure it is centered in the room before you start deciding on the location of the light junction box.
Recessed lights, on the other hand, need to be evenly spaced but still cover the entire island. The good news is that determining the ideal lighting location is a fairly simple process, as chandeliers, recessed lights, and even pendants are easy to install and most lighting solutions come with good instructions.
Some of the new design ideas include the use of pendants instead of a single fixture or even recessed lighting for the kitchen islands and dining room table. Mini pendants are also popular and some of them have very retro accents that make them look like something out of a house that used gas lighting in the early 20th century. Rustic styles are also popular as they are purposely aged or with leather accents. These can add real warmth to the kitchen and add the little details that really make the space look complete.
Finally, some designers are producing lighting that looks more like home outdoors. This type of kitchen island lighting gives your home the look of a classic country inn or a hidden estate in a quaint European city.
