Kitchen Lighting

A kitchen needs two completely different kinds of light and most only have one. The ceiling fixture lights the room. It does not light the counter you're standing at — because you're standing between it and the counter, and your own body casts the shadow.

Ambient and task, in that order

Ambient is the ceiling layer: a flush or semi-flush mount, or recessed fixtures. It makes the room usable and it's what most kitchens already have.

Task is light aimed at a work surface from somewhere your body isn't blocking. Pendants over an island, a fixture over the sink, under-cabinet lighting along a run of counter. This is the layer that makes cooking easier and the one most kitchens skip.

If you add exactly one thing to a kitchen, make it task light over the main prep surface.

Island numbers

Height: bottom of the pendant 30 to 36 inches above the countertop.
Count: under 6 feet of island, two pendants; 6 to 8 feet, three.
Spacing: 24 to 30 inches between centres, at least 6 inches from the island edge.
Size: each pendant no more than about one-third the island's width.

A single linear fixture is the cheaper route if you have one existing ceiling box — three pendants usually mean three boxes and an electrician.

Colour temperature — the kitchen exception

Kitchens are the one room where the answer isn't simply 2700K.

If the kitchen is also where people eat and sit, which in most open-plan Canadian homes it is, stay at 2700K–3000K. Food and skin both look better warm.

If it's a closed prep kitchen, 3000K–3500K is defensible for seeing what you're chopping.

What you don't want is a mix — 2700K pendants over the island and 4000K under-cabinet strips is a common and visibly wrong combination.

Over the sink

The most-used spot in the kitchen and the one most often left dark. A single small pendant or a recessed fixture directly above the sink, at the same height rules as an island pendant, changes daily use more than any other addition.

From a Canadian company that cooks dinner in the dark most of the winter.

Frequently asked questions

How many lights does a kitchen need?

At least two layers: ambient overhead, plus task light aimed at the counter and island where your body would otherwise cast a shadow.

How high should kitchen island pendants hang?

30 to 36 inches from the countertop to the bottom of the fixture, spaced 24 to 30 inches apart between centres.

What colour temperature for a kitchen?

2700K to 3000K if people also eat there, which is most open-plan kitchens. 3000K to 3500K in a closed prep kitchen. Don't mix temperatures in one room.

Do I need a light over the sink?

It's the most-used spot in the kitchen and usually the darkest. A single pendant or recessed fixture above it makes more daily difference than almost anything else.

Pendants or a linear fixture over the island?

A linear fixture runs off one existing ceiling box. Three pendants usually need three boxes and an electrician — the difference is a few hundred dollars.