Kitchen Chandelier Lighting

Kitchen lighting is one of the most important elements in determining the overall look and feel of this high traffic area of the home.  Whether its entertaining the in-laws or a troop of girl scouts, the kitchen is one of the busiest rooms in the home.  But in addition to being such a high traffic room, the kitchen is also an area with varying lighting demands which will require a diversified lighting scheme that can accommodate the changing lighting needs.

Interior lighting is essentially comprised of three basic elements:  ambient, task, and accent illumination.  Providing the general illumination are ambient lighting fixtures, such as flush-mount or semi-flush ceiling fixtures, torchieres, inverted pendants, and of course—chandeliers.  

Because the kitchen is an area where most of us do a lot of entertaining and such a high traffic location, you will want to have an eye-catching ambient fixture to help focus attention and provide ample ambient illumination.  A chandelier is perfect for the kitchen because it helps beautify and illuminate while concentrating attention.  However, as you will find with any kitchen lights, the best chandelier will depend upon your lighting needs, the surrounding décor and design style of the home itself, and your own personal taste and budget.

One of the simplest mistakes made by most of us when trying to find the best kitchen light fixtures is to assume that we need to provide all illumination with one grand fixture.  Not only will this increase the likelihood of glare, it will also make dark spots more likely while still not providing enough task illumination for things like food preparation, homework, and other activities commonly performed in the kitchen space.  While you want a chandelier that will provide sufficient ambient lighting to warmly bathe the space with general illumination, it must be proportional to the space and not overpower it with too much lighting.

The amount of illumination typically required in rooms with 9 foot ceilings or less is equal to the square footage of the space multiplied by a factor of 1.5 Watts.  So, for a kitchen with dimensions of 15 X 20 (or 300 square feet), you will need roughly 450 watts of overall illumination.  Typically, you will want a chandelier that fulfills 50-60% of the overall lighting needs.  Thus, ambient kitchen lighting fixtures should produce approximately 270 Watts of overall illumination.  

A chandelier with 5-60Watt bulbs (or 300 Watts) will be just about perfect especially if it is complemented by some complementary wall sconces, buffet lamps, and possibly even pendants for island lighting needs.  These other fixtures need to be placed according to how you intend to use the space.  All areas where activities like cooking or homework are performed need to be illuminated with special task lighting fixtures.  

The complementary fixtures should be made in the same style and using the same or similar materials as the chandelier itself.  Not only will this help unify the space and create a stunning decorative effect, it will also add balance and depth to your lighting scheme and making the entire area feel more warm and inviting.  Chandeliers are indeed the most beautiful kitchen lighting fixtures but they must be chosen with care and properly accentuated with complementary fixtures to produce the most compelling decorative effect.