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karkster

Alternatives to recessed lights in kitchen??

karkster
11 years ago

Hello!

My eyes are bulging from all the reading I've done over the last couple of days about kitchen lighting!! I'm sooooo ready for some HELP!!

It all started with the lighting plan we received from our architect as part of our kitchen remodel. We have two rooms that will blend into each other (just separated by ceiling header)....one 11'L x 9'W and 10'L x 9'W, both with 9'6" ceiling height. Both areas have cabinets on both sides.

The plans call for (8) 4" recessed lights in each area, two rows of (4) lights evenly spaced, about 30" apart = 16 lights total in the two areas. It looks like A LOT of recessed lights to me!!!

My first thought was to simply reduce the number of lights to two rows of three so six lights instead of eight in each area..... perhaps changing to 5" cans instead of 4" just in case!

However, now I'm questioning the use of can lights in general!! They seem to be in almost all new kitchens I've seen to one degree or another so I hadn't even questioned their use. The uncluttered, clean look that is lauded sounded like the right move. I'm now thinking I don't really like the look of all those holes, even when you use white trim that helps them blend in, and I'm sick and tired of seeing them. I don't want our kitchen to look like every other kitchen remodeled within a certain time frame.

Having said that, I want our kitchen to be functional and not go to the opposite extreme of design over function. Bottomline question.....how about using a nice, unique overhead fixture in the middle of the primary area (one with sink)for the overall lighting? If we install undercounter lighting, would that be enough for the general lighting? Or should we still consider a few cans unless they'll just appear to be 'thrown in?' I'm not sure a fixture in both areas would look right, so we might need to succumb to recessed in the other area. Or, if we stick to the cans, should we cut down on the number of them as 16 in that amount of space seems like overkill?!

I know a lot of this is personal preference but any feedback, ideas, photos! would be great.

Thanks SO MUCH in advance for any assistance!!!

Comments (11)

  • Fori
    11 years ago

    I'm no lighting pro and don't look to me for decorating advice but...

    I like central fixtures. I think you'd at least want one in each area, regardless of your can situation. Then the undercab lighting sure. But for task lighting, cans or pendants (depending on spot) are probably a good idea depending on the layout. I like a good spotlight over the sink, for example. A can would work or something more interesting.

    I'm sure if you posted your layout you'd get some specific ideas. But you don't need cans if you don't like cans!

  • bill102
    11 years ago

    With lighting, less is more.

    Withou knowing your kitchen plan it is hard to give advice. Maybe if I share what I am doing in mine, it will help. The room is large, 25'x13' with nearly 42 linear feet of counter. The layout looks the the letter J from above. In one corner a powderroom takes a 5'x6' chunk out of the rectangle. That leaves 7'6x6' for a butler's pantry/bar. There is just enought room for an ice maker, wine cooler and booze storage.

    In the kitchen, (still on the drawing board) I had the the electrical engineer cut all the recessed cans that he drew to light the center of the room. Why light where you walk. Enough light will spill over from the cans lighting the counters. Those cans are right over where a persons stands while standing at the counter working. Under cabinet lights will fill in any shadows. Over the kitchen table will be a glass/iron hanging fixture -- think glass bowl with electric lights in it.

    All lights will be on dimmers. By adjusting the dimmers ond /or changing the lamp's wattage i will get the light levels I am looking for.

  • angie_diy
    11 years ago

    I second Fori's advice, namely, at least one fixture in each area. Use hanging or semi-flush. My concern is that for a 20'+ span, two fixtures are not enough. Therefore, you may even consider finding a fixture that would work on or near the header in the center. For example, a hanging fixture that you can "swag" to the bottom of the header. WIth 9.5' ceilings, that may work out fine.

  • gregincal
    11 years ago

    We have 9' 10" ceilings in our kitchen. Our current kitchen is all lit with pendants, and we're keeping it that way after the remodel. Personally I feel that recessed lighting is great for 8' ceilings, but for tall ceilings it's nice to have something to break up all that vertical space. Every other room in our house is lit by hanging fixtures.

  • dodge59
    11 years ago

    I would post this on the lighting forum.
    There are several experts over there, and one has posted
    (Paraphrasing) that the can lights are some of the most inefficient lighting you can choose, pendants are apt to be much more efficient.

    We are talking about the amount of light that is generated and actually gets into the kitchen, rather than the power consumption of different types of light, but rather than take my word for it, post on the lighting forum and get a "Real Experts Input"!

    Gary

  • FabFrugalJane
    11 years ago

    I also don't care for can lights but we do have 6 total in an open floor plan kitchen. They are supplemented by under cabinet lights and puc lights above the cabinets, plus pendant lights over the island.

    The link below has a before and after of our kitchen remodel (scroll down towards bottom of page) and the reason I put it in is so you can see the difference puc lights above the cabinets make. They are so inexpensive (5 costs about $30) and they really add a nice glow even when you don't want to have all the kitchen lights on.

    I really like the pendant lights on a dimmer switch so you can turn them up when cooking or down for ambiance. At night while we're in the adjacent family room, we'll usually keep the pendants, pucs, and maybe the under cabinet lights on.

    Over the kitchen table is a chandelier with 6 lights on a dimmer, again so you can crank it up or tone it down. We did take out one of the cans that was next to the chandelier since it looked strange there.

    Another source of light ambient light can come from inside cabinets with glass doors. You can install puc lights inside cabinets pointing down, but make sure to buy the right thickness of glass shelves for the weight it will hold and get cabinets professionally measured. These are great for storing glass ware since the light will shine right through. They're incredible in a narrow butlers pantry!

    A neighbor of mine took it one step further and had her cabinets custom made by a cabinet maker. She designed them to look like furniture, lining them with mirrors and added heavy duty glass shelves, plus seeded glass doors. Photos of this are on the same link under the custom cabinets tab, and she also used puc lights. She also took out the can lights and used a couple sets of old fashioned looking track lighting.

    Another thing to think about if you only have a few can lights and you want to give them a more old world feel is to buy a trim kit for them. I purchased some of these for our bathroom from Home Depot and they look like carved wood with about two inches of amber glass that curves inward.

    Also stove hood usually come with lights on it and ours is quite bright, with 2 each 20 watt halogen bulbs.

    One other thing that makes a huge difference is the colors you choose because warm colors will make the room feel brighter. For example: if you had dark cherry cabinets you would need a lot more light than someone who had cream colored ones.

    We had our kitchen cabinets painted a butternut squash color with a warm glaze over it, and also used warm colors on the walls and back splash. It made this kitchen with no windows really come alive.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Before and after kitchen remodel photos

  • sochi
    11 years ago

    As GreenDesigns suggested, we saw a lighting designer whose services were free as we bought the pots from his store. Honestly, I think we have WAY too many lights, but I also have to admit that we have great lighting in the kitchen (lighting was DH's department in this renovation).

    Despite thinking we may have too many lights, the cans really don't bother me. Probably because we mixed them up with other lights I really like (see pics below). I'm not a huge fan of pendants, but mixing it up with pendants is also a possibility. You may want to consider something like this.



    http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/followup.cgi

  • a2gemini
    11 years ago

    We are using layered lighting
    LED cans x 7
    2 decorative center lights
    LED UC lighting
    Chandelier in sunroom (well some type of hanging decorative light by Hubbardton Forge)
    LED over cab and shelf lighting in sunroom - cathedral ceiling in this area.
    Maybe pictures this weekend of the recessed lighting. Decorative lights will not be in for a couple more weeks!
    I thought I wanted 2700K but DH convinced me to go with 3000K can lights and so far, I like them!

  • blubird
    11 years ago

    We agonized over what type of recessed lights to put in and finally decided on 5 5" can lights in our small kitchen. In addition, we have 2 pendants over the island and LED undercab lights.

    In all honesty, in the almost 2 years since our kitchen reno, I think we've had our can lights on maybe 2 or 3 times. I love the LED lights and pendants for task lighting - the cans are really unnecessary for us unless we really want to light up the room.

    Helene

  • SaraKat
    11 years ago

    runway lights!! that's how I feel they look down our long hallway and on either side of the kitchen....it can get so complicated sometimes!!! I'm not a huge fan of the can lights though we have them in our house and find them useful.

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