LED pendant lights can be used in several ways in your kitchen. Some of the most common areas you’ll see Kitchen ceiling lights are:
- Over a kitchen island to serve as task lighting
- Over a breakfast bar, commonly with more than one hanging light
There are three types of lighting commonly found in kitchens. These include:
- AMBIENT LIGHTING. This is the main light source and can be achieved through the use of pendant lights and chandeliers.
- TASK LIGHTING. Task listing is good for illuminating shadowy areas that need more illumination to navigate. They can also be lined up in the form of pendant lights above a counter or breakfast bar.
- ACCENT LIGHTING. These are any other pendant lights you want to hang elsewhere to enhance the appearance and atmosphere of the room.
If you want ambient pendant lighting, space the pendants throughout the room or cluster smaller pendants close together. Generally speaking, the larger the area you want to light, the larger the light should be. That said, small pendant lights are perfect for sink areas.
For task lighting, op for a pendant that has an open top such as a drum shade to reduce the harshness of the light beneath. If you choose opaque shades, it will offer a softer glow, while translucent glass shades will reduce any glare. Use a pendant with a light-diffusing shade to eliminate any unsightly light circles.
To help you to determine the right size for your kitchen pendant lighting, follow these steps:
- Measure the width and length of the island or breakfast bar
- Use the new width and length and add them together to find the best width
Figure out how many pendants you should have hanging from the ceiling by:
- Measuring the length and width of the island or breakfast bar and adding them together
- Take away 12 from the total and then divide by any number from the allowable width
- Divide that answer by two to find the number of pendants that can be hung
Determine how far to space the pendant lights by:
- Measuring the length of your island, breakfast bar or table
- Choose how many pedants you want to hang and then add 1 to that number
- Divide the length by the number found in step 2 to find how much space should be between each light