Kitchen & Dining Room Lighting

From a well lit kitchen to the option of providing mood lighting during a romantic dinner for two, the lighting that you select for your kitchen and dining room can instantly alter the vibe, atmosphere and mood of your preparation and dining plans. For many of our members who enjoy large open plan kitchen-diners, one of the top questions we get asked is how to create the right kind of mood for different times of day, without impacting visibility or having to switch between different settings. Our answer? A few clever solutions and on-hand tips and tricks.

The ideal lighting for a kitchen

The kitchen is one of the most important rooms in your house, home to meal preparation and often where we invite friends to sit with us over a cup of tea or a glass of wine. Ensuring your kitchen is well lit is key to making your life as easy as possible, with many modern homes seeking to bring as much natural light into the kitchen as possible – before relying on overhead bulbs for light when it gets dark outside. Above all, remember that the kitchen should ideally be lit from above to provide as much light coverage as possible, with one of our favourite options including a series of hooded bulbs overhead which can be pointed in different directions to control exactly where the light falls.

Lighting for an open plan dining space

An open plan dining space may well benefit enough from the light of the kitchen and other surrounding areas – so much so that inputting yet another source of artificial light may be unnecessary. If that is the case, invest in a few tabletop candles to really set the mood for your next date night or dinner party, and rely on light from further afield to fill your dining space with light which does its required job without becoming overbearing. If you do decide you need lighting specifically in your dining space, remember to ensure that the lights you choose are not too bright, and ensure they compliment the rest of the open plan space. Preferably, neutral lights or plain dimmed bulbs can look great – and are available across more lighting retailers and department stores. And if in doubt, head to the lighting showroom floor of your local department store to see how they look in situ. TOP TIP: If you do head for a showroom, remember that in these places you are seeing your chosen light amongst the colour and grandeur of all the other lights on show. Will that plain bulb look as welcoming and on-trend once hanging on its own in your own home?

Lighting for a smaller dining room

If your dining room is separate, you will need dedicated lighting – and that means getting the right tone, the right type of light, and the right positioning. The best option is a light which hangs above the table in order to flood the table with light, though you will need to ensure the light is hung so as not to get in the way of guests sitting and standing up at the table, and it needs to be bright enough to see your food without completely ruining the mood and making your dining room feel like a canteen. One way to control the lighting is with a dimmer switch which allows you to adapt the intensity of the light according to the occasion. To discuss and install this in your home, speak to a dedicated electrician as it will require specific bulbs and wiring.