A Guide to a Kitchen Island Lighting
How to Light a Kitchen Island
Learning how to light a kitchen island is a key component to making your kitchen functional and beautiful. The kitchen island is the center and typically the focus area of your entire kitchen which is why lighting is so important.
There are so many ways to light a kitchen island and the lighting choices can be even more confusing and overwhelming. Like any other home lighting project, it is important to develop a plan on how you want to light your kitchen island first and then select the fixtures.
This guide will take you through the types of lighting, the best bulbs to use, the installation height, and much more.
Kitchen Island Size
The size of the kitchen island is one of the determining factors in how to light a kitchen island. The kitchen island is as much of a functional space as it is one that provides a special look and feel. This is where you will be preparing your meals. Chopping with sharp knives on cutting boards requires plenty of light. Some people even sit at their kitchen island on a stool doing monthly bills. Whatever it is, you will need enough light to get the job done.
Another benefit of providing the proper lighting over your kitchen island is to highlight your island counter top.
The size of the island plays a big part in determining how much light you will need directly above it. A rule of thumb is to provide anywhere from 35-50 lumens per square foot over your island.
Types of Lighting for Your Kitchen Island
You can get lost in all the choices to light your kitchen island. There are so many options to consider but your first choice needs to be one of the three below. Keep in mind that you should always have recessed lighting as your base and primary lighting for your kitchen in general. Many of the kitchens from the past had one light fixture in the center of the room. What we had back then were poorly lit kitchens. Select one of these three to light your kitchen island:
– Pendant Lights – Pendant lights are the most popular and also the most versatile of all kitchen lighting options. The versatility comes in the following ways:
Number of lights is not limited to that of a chandelier
Ability to adjust the height
The fixture can also be decorative
Some of the versatility related to the number of lights is also tied to the size of the pendant light. You can go with two larger pendants that provide most of the lumens you need, or you can go with more smaller pendants that are providing fewer lumens each but collectively deliver the amount of light that you need.
Kitchen island pendant lights: When choosing pendant lights for your kitchen island, consider both design and more importantly the amount of light they will be able to deliver. Make sure the light source is directed downwards towards the counter.
– Linear Chandelier: Linear chandeliers are becoming popular and can be used to light your kitchen island. The styles are anywhere from vintage to modern. Installation is easy in the sense that you will be wiring just one fixture rather than multiple with pendants.
One of the limitations of a linear chandelier is the ability to cover a larger kitchen island. However, if you have enough bulbs providing the lumens needed, then you should not be sacrificing the light needed for your island.
Something to remove from your shopping list is any linear chandelier for your kitchen island where the bulbs are facing upwards. You don’t want to be lighting the ceiling. Your choices and focus on the one where the bulbs are pointing downwards.
– Recessed Lighting Only: You may not want any pendant lights or linear chandeliers over your kitchen island. This may be especially true if you have low ceilings. In that situation, pendant lights over your kitchen island will end up looking out of place. Not only that, but the light will not be disbursed well.
Another consideration is to go with recessed lighting only over your kitchen island. If designed properly, this method can be extremely effective. In this scenario:
– Lay out your recessed lights initially to provide adequate light throughout your entire kitchen without special consideration for a kitchen island.
– Add smaller recessed lights directly above your kitchen island
– Put those smaller kitchen island recessed lights on their own switch with a dimmer
– Each of those smaller lights should have more lumens (per light) than the other recessed lights in the kitchen.
This method will do a few things for you:
– It will provide a heavier lighting accent over your kitchen island when needed.
– It will provide adequate task lighting for your meal preparation
– It will allow you to create additional mood lighting in the evenings. Imagine turning off the main recessed lights in your kitchen. Turn on your under cabinet lights. Then, turn on the recessed lights right above your kitchen island but dim them down to a low level.
Read our next article to know what is the best lighting for over a kitchen island.
