Kitchen Lighting
More than any other room in the house, it's vital that you get your lighting just right in the kitchen. The reason for this should be obvious - you don't want to be working with sharp knives in the dark!
But while direct lighting over the oven and food preparation area is important, the options available to add mood to your kitchen are numerous.
You'll need to make sure there is task lighting over our cooker or hob, as well as next to your sink and worktops. Downlights are probably best for this.
But the whole kitchen area should be lit too, and this is where a little creativity can be used to great effect. A single droplight or a cluster of lights over the kitchen table or breakfast bar can be functional as well as attractive, and the ambient mood such an array produces can be most attractive.
As well as this ambient light, though, there's a lot to be said for accent lighting. This is a more focused light, used to highlight various features of your fitted kitchen. Illuminate your cooker alcove, cabinets or other features. If you have any art on the walls, it can be brought to life with a spotlight.
But it needn't end there. Dimmer switches can be used to alter the mood - from the sultry and romantic to the purely practical - and under-cabinet lighting can give a little extra character to the room.
The bottom line is, don't feel the need to stick to one particular type of kitchen lighting. Try mixing it up a bit. You might end up with your favourite mood lighting, and stick to that, but at least the option will remain open to create a new mood for your kitchen. The sky really is the limit.