The modern kitchen is the most versatile room in the house. Therefore, properly organizing its lighting is an important task. Light in the interior of the kitchen - what do experts advise about this? What should be the right lighting in the kitchen? In the article we will also consider design options for the lighting solution of the kitchen with a photo.

With the help of well-placed lighting devices, you can literally control the space: make a small kitchen visually larger, emphasize the necessary details, shift accents, divide the room into different zones.

In the kitchen, you will have to work with several lighting options at once:

• general lighting,
• work area lighting
• dining area lighting.

Each of them has its own requirements. The design of the lamps, the color and material of their body can be chosen according to the style of the kitchen - hi-tech, classic or rustic.

Everything is visible from above

Speaking in the dry language of professionals, two types of lighting are usually used in any area - upper and lower (for the kitchen, the word “working” is often chosen).

The first is primarily a ceiling chandelier or lamps mounted in a false ceiling.

Usually this option is suitable for general kitchen lighting.

However, many designers are against such a decision and advise using several sources: this is how you can achieve a uniform distribution of light, soft and at the same time bright.

Both fluorescent lamps with a warm emission spectrum and point turning light options are suitable. The latter are especially popular today. Placed along the perimeter of the ceiling, they visually expand the space.

You can also arrange them over the entire surface, creating the illusion of a “starry sky”.

Work First

But it's not the overhead lighting that plays the main role, especially in the kitchen. The lower one offers more opportunities to show imagination and achieve the desired result.

Moreover, if you have Khrushchev, then the light in a small kitchen can come, for example, only from dedicated functional areas. You can completely abandon the overhead lighting and "direct" the general light in the interior of the kitchen with sources for different areas: working, dining, etc.

So, we found out that proper kitchen lighting includes the allocation of work areas, since housewives cannot do without “working” light. To solve this problem, kitchen furniture manufacturers offer a special cornice with built-in light bulbs located above the hanging shelves.

But it is more convenient to place the lamps directly above the tables. These can be tubular warm white fluorescent lamps, halogen clothespin bulbs, the location of which is easy to change.

Above the sink, stove, bar counter, a sconce will also look good.

Dinner is served!

The dining table should be well lit.

This also applies to those sitting at the table. If he stands against the wall, one or two sconces, fixed at a height of about a meter above the tabletop, or lamps placed directly above the table, will help out.

And a table lamp with a dense lampshade will be a good decoration during evening tea parties.

The original solution is a floor lamp on a high arched leg.

Avoid sharp contrasts

Proper lighting in the kitchen depends on the power of lighting fixtures located in certain functional areas. The general illumination of the room is considered sufficient if, per 1 square meter, the power of incandescent lamps is from 15 to 25 watts. But the kitchen is a special case, the light in the interior of the kitchen should be sufficient for cooking and dining. Here it is necessary to maintain a total illumination of 75 W/m2. In the cooking area, this figure should be 100 W / m2, and in the dining room at least 50 W / m2. In addition, lighting should not cause sharp contrasts (transitions from light to shadow), glare and shiny surfaces, as this has a bad effect on vision. That is why the intensity of lighting must be selected depending on the color of the finish.

Kitchen lights don't have to be too fancy. And designers advise using colored light only as an element of decor.

Types of lamps

Incandescent lamps are still the most popular. They give a pleasant warm light and are used both for general lighting and furniture lighting.

Colored incandescent lamps are perfect for creating decorative effects,

and mirrored, emitting directional light, will help to fix a certain light accent (as in the photo - the light from the lamp advantageously highlights the picture hanging on the wall). However, the efficiency of incandescent lamps is quite low.

Halogen lamps emit soft white light and last much longer. If a reflector is added to a cold light halogen lamp, the illuminated objects will not heat up.

The most expensive lamps are fluorescent. They allow significant energy savings.
At the same time, their service life is 10 times longer than that of other lamps. They have excellent color reproduction, as well as a variety of shades - from warm white to daylight.

Light in the interior of the kitchen is of great importance. It is here that every day a woman spends a lot of time doing cooking, washing dishes, etc. And for many, the kitchen is a meeting place for the whole family in the evening for pleasant conversations during tea or a meal. That is why it is important to pay a lot of attention not only to design, but also to ensuring that the lighting in the kitchen is correct.