These days with open plan living, your kitchen has become a space where you do more than just cooking; it’s where the family gathers for meals or a quick snack, where you entertain guests, sort your mail, work on your computer and even do some creative hobby work. Rightly called the ‘heart of your home’, your kitchen is a space that inspires and comforts and supports your family’s health and happiness. So it’s important that the lighting you choose can adapt to all your varied needs effectively.

• Like most of the main rooms in your home, layering your lighting in your kitchen delivers the biggest benefits. Choose a combination of ambient, task and feature lighting (also called accent lighting).
• Work surfaces like your kitchen island bench should be brightly lit to minimise shadows and provide sufficient illumination for safe food prep.
• Downlights are great ambient and task options over a bench, as they cast a wide spread of light and reduce ‘hot spots’ on the surface. Hot spots are caused when the light is concentrated in one area resulting in unwanted reflections and glare – especially with reflective surfaces.
• Linear pendants are also great choices as task lighting. They provide a bright, even spread of light along the length of the island bench. Some even have wave or voice/touch-free technology, so you can control the brightness and the colour of the light without having to touch anything – so convenient when your hands are messy or wet.
• Non-linear stylish pendants installed on their own, in pairs or clustered at different lengths add a stunning effect to your kitchen and also provide good illumination. Clear glass pendants are unobtrusive and generally provide a good amount of shadow-free light. Frosted glass is even better, as they reduce glare, and provide a more ‘distributed’ light. If you have low ceilings, flush mounts are perfect for ambient lighting.
• Another ambient light to consider is a 2-in-1 light and exhaust fan. The built-in light provides sufficient general illumination and has the extra benefit of an exhaust fan to expel odours and moisture. While this wouldn’t replace the range hood fan, it’s a great back up for those oops moments – burnt toast, accidental dinner cremations, and baking mishaps.
• Feature or accent lighting is used to create or highlight features in your kitchen adding to the ambience. This includes spotlights to highlight a corner with your favourite artwork, decorative pendants or strip lights inside and under cabinets and under the kitchen bench. Strip lights inside cabinets help to spot ingredients easily while toe-kick lights under the island bench creates an illusion of a floating island.
• A great way to achieve flexibility with your lighting is to use smart pendants and globes which are dimmable and allow you to change colours and colour temperatures according to your routine. This way, you can customise your ambience throughout the day for general living, task lighting and unwinding.

If you’re looking to give the ‘heart of your home’ a much-deserved makeover, simply follow these styling ideas and explore our range of kitchen lighting on our website. If you need professional advice, speak to any of our lighting specialists in-store or set up a one-on-one consultation with one of our expert lighting designers.