Which light fitting for the kitchen?
A well-thought-out kitchen light fixture guarantees conviviality and safety in the room. Its efficiency makes the kitchen very practical and comfortable. But, between the majestic look of a chandelier, the originality of a multiple pendant and the ambience provided by spotlights, the choice becomes difficult. The kitchen is a real living room that deserves good lighting, and the choice of luminaire is essential to achieve optimum results whether in the form of kitchen pendant or fixed luminaire. This guide will help you find out which type of luminaire to choose to light this room effectively. But before we get to the heart of the matter, it proves necessary to know the basic rules for optimal kitchen lighting.
The basic rules for choosing the right kitchen lighting
Kitchen lighting follows certain rules that you shouldn't overlook. Knowing these rules will help you choose the right fixture to light this room. Nevertheless, it's important to remember that certain cases may be exceptions to these rules, depending on the characteristics of the kitchen.
Multiplying light points
The kitchen requires several light sources. Moreover, this is essential for large kitchens or kitchens that open onto the living area. In fact, you need to install one light to illuminate the whole room and another to illuminate a well-defined area. Want to add a decorative touch to your kitchen? Rely on good mood lighting.
Choosing the right lighting for the kitchen isn't easy, because nowadays this room goes beyond its purely functional aspect. It must be user-friendly, practical and comfortable.
Good to know: general kitchen lighting excludes dimmed lights. It needs a light source powerful enough to illuminate the whole room, without leaving areas of shadow. However, the light must not dazzle the eyes.
General lighting
The choice of general kitchen lighting must take into account the room's configuration. If it's long and narrow, Hang pendant lights and Bala balancing lamps are a very good choice. These luminaires feature several lamps that effectively illuminate the entire room. For a square or U-shaped kitchen, you can opt for a ceiling light or even a chandelier.
The recommended wattage for main kitchen lighting is 300 lux per m². As for color temperature, it should vary between 2,700 K and 3,500 K.
Good to know: if you have a small kitchen (minimalist style, for example), you can opt for a single light source. However, make sure that the luminaire provides optimum lighting for the room. This doesn't prevent you from installing accent lighting to illuminate storage or optimize interior decoration.
L’éclairage fonctionnel
Generally speaking, kitchens need functional lighting. Some areas, such as the worktop, sink, cooktop and storage areas, need to be well lit. Favor fixtures that emit light between 4,000 K and 4,500 K (cool white) to ensure visual comfort when you're preparing your succulent little dishes. As for the intensity of the light, this depends on the color of the kitchen, particularly the targeted area.
For the worktop, for example, install a fixture that diffuses an even white light. If it's on a central island, Hang pendant lights and Bala cable lights are great for illuminating it. What's more, you can adjust their length to suit your needs. As well as being effective, these fixtures are highly decorative. With a worktop that borders the wall, opt for LED strip or recessed spotlights. Is your worktop located under tall furniture? The latter can be used to support lighting fixtures. A dark worktop requires more or less lighting, as its color absorbs the light diffused by thebulb.
LED strips are a very good choice for lighting the inside of furniture. As for tall furniture, spotlights on rods are the most recommended.
If your kitchen has a dining area, you're spoilt for choice when it comes to the type of light fitting suitable for this area. You can opt for a Bala pendant or a Hang pendant, which stand out above all for their colorful, designer electric cords.
Good to know: for optimum results, you need to maintain a certain distance between the targeted area and the multiple suspension. Thus, to illuminate the dining area, the fixture should be between 55 and 60 cm from the space to be lit.
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Decorative lighting
Decorative lighting remains optional, but highly recommended, especially if you have an open kitchen or a large galley. It provides a link between the main lighting and the functional lighting to create a convivial atmosphere and bring a better mood to the room. Reason why it shouldn't be too powerful, nor too glaring. In addition, subdued light is permitted.
Depending on the room configuration, you can install one or more light points to create the desired ambience. The choice of luminaire is also essential to optimize the result. As it is a decorative element, this lighting must not weigh down the interior decoration, nor compromise the effectiveness of the main and functional lighting. In this case, it must benefit from a well thought-out location.
So, you can install a multiple hanging light along the wall or skylight to enhance furniture and interior decoration. For this, you should opt for a fairly discreet model like the Hang and Bala hanging lights. These come in a range of colors, and you need to bet on the right one to avoid decorative faux pas. You can also install wall sconces on either side of the room. LED strips under tops and furniture provide a highly decorative effect and can be used as accent lighting. The choice is yours!
The choice of material
The choice of material should not be taken lightly when choosing a light fixture for your kitchen. In fact, your selection criteria should not be limited to color temperature or bulb wattage.
Kitchen lighting fixtures are available in many materials, they can be made of glass, crystal, aluminum, PVC, metal, fabric...
A true utility room, the kitchen is prone to moisture and dirt, especially grease deposits. Thus, light fixtures that resist soiling are highly recommended. In addition, they need to be very easy to clean and maintain.
Good to know: in the kitchen, dirt is easily deposited on furniture and accessories including light fittings. Lighting fixtures with fabric or paper shades are highly susceptible to dust and grease deposits.
On the other hand, glass, metal, PVC and aluminum models are highly recommended. For this, the Industrial Cage lampshade is an excellent choice. It matches perfectly with the Bala and Hang pendant lights. Designed in aluminum, it adopts an industrial style and stands out for its clean, simple lines. Furthermore, this model comes in several colors. Matte black is recommended to enhance the industrial design of your kitchen. However, models in pastel pink or blue are preferable if you need to tone down the coldness of your interior design.
Safety standards for kitchen lighting
It proves necessary to know the safety standards governing kitchen lighting in France.
Electrical installations in the kitchen are regulated by standard NF C15-100, which came into force in August 2016. To ensure the safety of a home, including the property inside and the people occupying it, electrical standards in France are particularly strict. They mainly concern low-voltage installations.
In terms of electrical installation, the kitchen presents a few special features. The reason is simple: it's the second most accident-prone room in the home. Flammable products and sharp equipment are added to the many electrical outlets and appliances found there.
According to the NF C15-100 device, the kitchen must have at least one light point on the ceiling and another to illuminate the sink. Thus, the installation of general lighting and functional lighting in the kitchen proves to be a legal obligation.
Concerning switches, their location must respect certain distances, between 90cm and 180 cm from the floor. Furthermore, you must place an electrical socket at a maximum distance of 130 cm from the main switch.
Good to know: installing an electrical socket above or in the immediate vicinity of the sink or stove is strictly forbidden.
Saving energy in the kitchen
Enjoying optimal lighting in the kitchen while saving energy is entirely possible. It all comes down to the choice of luminaire and its location.
The kitchen requires good brightness, i.e. lighting of at least 300 lux/m². In addition to the two mandatory light points in the kitchen, you should be aware that there are other areas that require optimal lighting. These include worktops and cooktops. However, it's worth remembering that as the number of light fittings increases, so does the home's energy consumption.
Fortunately, to save energy, several solutions are available to you. Bala or Hang hanging lights compatible with low-energy LED bulbs supplied by Hoopzi will make excellent functional or mood lighting. These bulbs are available in several wattages and color temperatures. As well as being economical, they are highly decorative.
Good kitchen lighting based on room characteristics
The choice of luminaire and bulb for lighting the kitchen must also take into account the characteristics of the room. Whether it's open, painted white or something else, there will always be solutions that provide optimum brightness.
In principle, the main lighting should be combined with one or more light points. And the choice of luminaire is crucial to achieving the right brightness and lighting ambience in perfect harmony with your interior decoration.
What light fixture for an open kitchen?
The advantage of the open kitchen lies in the fact that the kitchen invites itself into the living area. This makes the choice of lighting fixtures less restrictive than with a traditional kitchen.
For the main lighting, you can opt for colorful multiple pendant lights like Hang or Bala pendant lights. As well as being effective, they undeniably provide a touch of pep in your kitchen decor.
Depending on the room's configuration, the kitchen can also be used as a dining room. In this case, you can install a pendant light with an intensity or color dimmer above the dining table to create a visual separation.
What light fixture for a dark kitchen?
Installing several light points can compensate for the lack of light in your kitchen. We covered this in more detail in our article on lighting a dark room.
Of course, you need to install a ceiling light that's powerful enough without being too glaring. However, a single point of light is not enough to bring the right amount of light into a dark room, especially the kitchen. You must therefore rely on highly effective accent lighting in all strategic areas: worktop, hob, furniture... If the worktop is located below a tall piece of furniture, use this as a support for your spotlights or LED strips. You can also install hanging lights along a wall to bring a little light into the room while setting the mood.
Electrical appliances (oven, refrigerator, microwave...) can also contribute to the creation of a functional and comfortable kitchen. Some models light up when opened, so you don't have to install additional light sources to illuminate them.
Good to know: to improve the brightness of the room, you can also redo the wall paint and choose a brighter color. For this, white, yellow and pastel colors are highly recommended.
What light fixture for a windowless kitchen?
A windowless room requires a lot of work on lighting to achieve the feeling provided by natural light. Certainly, it needs a lot of artificial light to benefit from good luminosity. However, you should exclude fixtures that diffuse light that is too dazzling.
On the design side, avoid overly imposing fixtures such as chandeliers. The latter risk increasing shadowy areas in the room, which is already dark. On the other hand, privilege discreet models, such as LED strips, multiple suspensions (minimalist model) and wall sconces.
Daylight bulbs are also an effective and highly practical solution. What's special about them? They reproduce daylight. Their location must take into account the characteristics of the room. You can, for example, install them on a wall, along a worktop or behind a glass panel. Some models can be integrated into false ceilings to effectively light the whole room.
What light fitting for a white kitchen?
Very chic and easy to work with, the white kitchen has very few faults, and excess coldness is one of them. But by installing well-thought-out lighting fixtures, you can bring plenty of warmth to this cleanly designed room. At the same time, you can personalize it and give it character.
Before choosing the light fixture for your white kitchen, determine the characteristics of the room to avoid decorative faux pas.
If you have a contemporary kitchen, for example, you can invest in hanging clusters or a designer floor lamp. Nevertheless, you can add a little industrial touch to your interior to break up the coldness of your decor by adding a suitable accessory. For this, the CAGE lampshade for the Bala and Hang hanging lamps is an excellent choice.
Good to know: with a large white kitchen, the chandelier remains a lighting fixture of choice.
What light fixture for a small kitchen?
Make the most of your small kitchen by choosing lighting fixtures that are as designer as they are functional. In this context, you need to prioritize the worktop.
Whether you have a small square, U-shaped, L-shaped or long kitchen, you need to focus on the lighting of the worktops and cooktops.
With worktops and cooktops as well as a sink running along the wall, pendant lights, spots and LED strips are recommended to illuminate these areas. Ideally, opt for wall units if you have a long kitchen. They can be used to support the lighting fixtures. In this case, you should exclude pendant lights, as they may get in the way.
For a U- or L-shaped kitchen, the choice is wide. However, you should rule out overly imposing light fittings, which can impede circulation, absorb surface area and create shadowy areas.
What light fixture for a large kitchen?
With a large kitchen, the choice of lighting fixture is manifold. However, the chandelier is strongly recommended to highlight the assets of this room. In addition to its elegance and imposing character, it brings a traditional element to the room. Enough to personalize your interior decor.
You can use a ceiling light, wall sconces, spotlights or even pendant lights as main lighting, but the fixtures must perfectly cover the entire room.
Don't neglect functional and decorative lighting. However, if the entire kitchenis lit by a chandelier or large ceiling light, favor more discreet accent lighting to avoid weighing down the interior decoration.
L'Équipe Hoopzi
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