Your home is a constant process in personalization and upgrades. As life and family fluctuates, so does the home you live in. Over time, it’s understandable that a house would need to conform to fit the family and truly become a home. Often times, this process leads to a major kitchen remodel.
Most of the time, a kitchen remodel means gutting out the old to make way for everything new. It’s easy to get caught up in the planning for major new additions like a stainless steel refrigerator or sparkling new granite countertops. These items are great on their own and will definitely bring your kitchen up to modern speed, however, it’s important not to overlook the details that can really define your kitchen as uniquely your own.
Lighting schemes in the kitchen can make a significant impact on the atmosphere that’s created within the space. Similarly, lighting tends to affect the way other major kitchen features appear. From morning until night, the lighting in your kitchen changes with the shifting sun. Depending on what colors you choose to use, shades and undertones can appear altered in different lighting. Taking this into account allows you to construct a kitchen lighting design that perfectly balances natural and artificial light alongside the aesthetic appeal that fun lighting fixtures can provide!
Lighting tracks
Installing personalized lighting tracks throughout your kitchen can brighten up the space at will. Parallel lighting tracks can create a very modern effect with single bulb attachments. If it’s a loft look you’re going for, track lighting can fit the bill. If you’re looking for a softer lighting effect, try a curvy track that follows the contours of primary kitchen features. This technique allows for lighting to be placed in a balanced format throughout the entirety of the kitchen instead of concentrated in the center of the ceiling.
Lamppost tops to bring the outside world in
A softer lighting scheme can also be created by bringing outside inspirations in. Dimmed, luminescent lamppost toppers can easily be added to your kitchen as light fixture covers. Create a midnight in Paris scene right above your own kitchen island by adding these features to the bulbs that already exist. These will be particularly dramatic in the evening shedding a very specific glow instead of a harsh fluorescent light.
Wine bottle light shades
Lighting and brightening up your kitchen can be just as much about creativity as efficiency. The right lighting has the potential to make the best come out in your kitchen colors, creating a dramatic and beautiful effect in the end. If your kitchen has granite countertops with bold undertones, colored light fixtures could be the way to go. Light filtered through colored glass tends to play in interesting ways off of the natural tones found in granite–causing a warm feeling in your kitchen design.
Furthermore, it might be that the perfect colored light fixture is ready and waiting in your home. Empty wine bottles in a variety of shades can be re-used as light fixtures in your kitchen. While they pull in the culinary theme to the decor, they also allow for unique shades of light to be reflected throughout the space.
Under cabinet lighting
Sometimes getting just the right type of lighting in your kitchen is more about strategy than central location. While it seems logical to replace the central lighting first, it may be that your kitchen just needs a little bit of well-placed, strategic lighting to bring out the best in the space. Under cabinet lighting is a great way to set a mood in your kitchen, and highlight granite countertop colors that could be overlooked with lighting in a centralized location. Under cabinet lighting expands lighting options the length of cabinets and creates more of a warm glow rather than a harsh light at night.
Kitchen island skylights
While artificial lighting can be personalized to your kitchen, there’s nothing like working with natural light to bring out the best in the space. Skylights placed above your kitchen island are going to allow natural sunlight to flow in at varying degrees and angles throughout the day. This is going to cause a unique play on granite countertop colors as well as paint hues on the walls. While skylight can add a touch of drama to kitchen’s that have cathedral ceilings, they can also create the appearance of increased space in kitchens that are built with lower ceilings.
Stainless steel chandeliers
Creating personalized lighting schemes can be a matter of implementing the unexpected. If it’s an ultra modern look you’re aiming for, bright lighting and stainless steel appliances are going to create the edgy, vibrant feel that keeps family and friends talking. Adding a few stainless steel chandeliers will not only add to the modern touch, but keep lighting fresh and bright as it reflects off of the material it’s surrounded in. Easy to pair with accent colors, yet maintaining its modern look, stainless steel isn’t likely to ever go out of style when it comes to lighting techniques.