Home & Kitchen Lighting Fixtures

In your home, each room has its own unique personality, function, and purpose. Some spaces, like the kitchen, have become so multifunctional, their identity is now hard-to-define. The best way to describe a kitchen may be the age-old, yet still meaningful saying that calls it the heart of a home. Everyone loves to gather there. It’s where meals are made, memories are shared, and life is lived.

For the past two years, most of us have spent a lot of time at home. You and your family may still be working, learning, and shopping mostly from home. All this at-home time results in a very busy kitchen. During a typical weekday, there could be multiple activities happening in your kitchen all at once – cooking, studying, video calls, and other countless tasks. If your kitchen has an island with seating, that’s where everyone seems to be.

All this extra hustle and bustle causes extra wear and tear. That’s good, though, because it reveals what you need to update to make the space better. For instance, if your kitchen always appears dim, or way too bright, the entire space could use a lighting redesign. If this is the case, pendant lights are a brilliant solution. They’re considered multipurpose lighting, which is perfect for a multifunctional kitchen.    

Home & Kitchen Lighting Fixtures

There are some big decisions to make when you start shopping for new kitchen ceiling lights. Before you buy or install anything, it’s important to have a basic idea of how many lights you need, and where you want them placed. If you currently have fluorescent or incandescent lights in your kitchen, now is the time to replace them with energy-efficient LEDs. You should consider dimmable bulbs, and bulbs with customizable color temperatures. These types of bulbs allow you to control the lighting, and set the mood you want.

When it comes to fixtures, pendant lights can do more for your space than recessed lighting. A few well-spaced pendants are an excellent light source, and a stylish focal point. Place them throughout the room, or over specific work areas, including kitchen islands, sinks, bar spaces, and elsewhere. Pendants are a hardworking, do-it-all light source. This is because they can be used for ambient, task, and accent lighting – exactly what’s needed in kitchens for bright, well-balanced illumination.  

Keep Kitchen Areas Bright

Proper lighting is essential for every kitchen, regardless of the size or shape of the space. You and your family need to see clearly when performing tasks, whether it’s chopping vegetables, or writing an essay. Pendants keep work spaces bright by bringing the light source down, then directing it toward a specific area. 

One or two pendants above a countertop help you see better when performing common kitchen tasks, including meal prep, making lunches, rolling out dough, or reading a recipe. Pendants above an all-purpose kitchen island are an effective light source for the variety of things that happen there. This could be reading, studying, doing homework, playing games, or having a video conference call.  

Pendants come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, so it’s helpful to know what style works best for its intended purpose. If you need task lighting, choose a pendant that’s open at the top, so the light underneath isn’t too intense. For general lighting, any pendant style is perfectly fine, as long as they’re spaced evenly in the room, or above the work area. Keep in mind that pendants must hang from the ceiling. If you want direct task lighting for a countertop with overhead cabinets, a different lighting option may work best.

Choosing the right bulbs for your fixtures is also important if you want a bright, well-lit kitchen. LEDs that emit cool, crisp light similar to natural daylight are your best choice. These types of lights help people stay alert and focused. Research has shown that they’re good for mental health, too.

When daytime activities wind down, and evening arrives, you may want lighting that isn’t so bright. LED bulbs with dimming capabilities allow you to turn down the lights, and set the mood. You can create a relaxing, romantic, or quiet vibe whenever you feel like it.  

Save Valuable Space

When your kitchen is running at full capacity, with lots of people and activities, it can seem like the space is shrinking. Many kitchens have limited space to begin with, so it’s important to not lose any of it. Since pendant lights are designed to hang from the ceiling, they’ll never take any precious space from your countertops or floors. 

You need plenty of open counter space to do daily tasks. If you have small appliances and gadgets that reside on the counter, you don’t have much room for a task lamp. You also need enough floor space in the kitchen, so people aren’t bumping into each other all day. A floor lamp takes up valuable real estate, and is another thing to bump into – not great for a functional kitchen. Pendants are perfect because they hang out above everything. They stay out of the way, and give you all the space, and light, you and your family need. TCP’s LED Round Luminaire can be used as a pendant light or mounted directly to a surface. It uses 51% less energy than fluorescent alternatives, maximizing your space and your savings.

When it’s time to install your modern kitchen lighting, you’ll need to determine how much space you want between each pendant, and measure accurately. Here are some helpful tips measuring down from the ceiling, and up from a surface area. Generally, pendants should hang 12-20 inches below an 8-foot ceiling, then add 3 inches for each additional foot of ceiling height. If you’re hanging a pendant directly above a counter or island, leave a 28-36 inch space between the fixture and surface.    

Your Lighting Options Are Endless

Updating the lights in your kitchen has functional benefits, and aesthetic advantages, too. If you want hanging light fixtures to give your space character, look for pendants with an unusual shape, a fun color, or a textured finish. If less-is-more defines your style, think simple shapes, basic white, or clear glass. 

Don’t forget that a pendant’s size and shape affects the amount of light it provides. To help filter and direct light properly, a lot of pendants feature shades or drums made of fabric, glass, or metal. In regards to size, bigger pendants are ideal for larger spaces. This applies to kitchen island pendant lighting. Smaller pendants naturally work best over small areas, such as a sink, or desk surface. 

The fixtures you choose influence your kitchen’s style, while the LED bulbs you choose have a significant impact on function. With so many different types of bulbs, it can be a challenge finding the best ones for your space. Generally, the bulbs you select should best suit the pendant’s intended purpose, whether it’s for task, ambient, or accent lighting.     

To determine how much light your kitchen space needs, you should pay close attention to lumens when shopping for bulbs. Lumens measure the amount of light emitted by a bulb. Unlike wattage, lumens are the most accurate way to determine the output of light in a space because they measure overall brightness. On average, a typical kitchen needs 3,000 to 4,000 lumens for proper illumination.  

TCP Starlight LED Series Lamps

Right now, pendants are more popular than ever because they offer so much – functionality, versatility, and a ton of style. If you’re ready to replace outdated kitchen lights with something new, TCP has a great selection of innovative, and energy-efficient LED options. Because LEDs use less energy than other types of lights, you can look forward to lower utility bills soon after installation is complete.

The experts at TCP have designed a new light that would love to hang out in your kitchen. TCP’s Starlight LED Series lamps have a sleek, modern look, and can be used in a wide range of applications, from pendants to sockets. They have a long lifespan, up to 30,000 hours, plus dimming capabilities, and a variety of color temperatures, so you can create the atmosphere you want. Want to learn more? Click here for additional information about the Starlight and other disk lights from TCP.