Shedding Light on the Kitchen Accessories

by Gabby Hyman
Face Your Kitchen Columnist

If you're either remodeling your kitchen, or adding or replacing kitchen accessories, don't forget to cast the best possible light on your efforts. There's no substitute for a solid, effective kitchen lighting design, so head down to a kitchen accessory or lighting design store and speak with a specialist before completing your kitchen makeover. Kitchen lighting design considerations:

• Ambient or overall lighting that illuminates the entire kitchen
• Accent or detail lighting that targets your paintings, ceramics, or china cabinets
• Task-oriented lighting that splashes light on kitchen accessories like stove tops, islands, cutting boards, pantries or work areas.

Consider Kitchen Lighting as a Key Accessory

In selecting fixtures, most kitchen lighting designers choose either compact fluorescent or incandescent lamps -- or employ a working balance of the two. Of course, you'll save energy and bulb life with fluorescent lighting. In recent years, manufacturers have "warmed up" the color of compact fluorescent lights. You may want to use compact fluorescent lights as accent or task lighting to spotlight smaller work areas and install incandescent bulbs to create a warmer overall scheme in your ambient light.

Why not consider dimmer switches as a fundamental energy-saving kitchen lighting accessory? They allow you greater control across a wide range of activities, as well as providing for attractive dimming for special occasions.

A kitchen lighting design schematic can help you with budgeting fixtures ahead of time as well as in assigning different lighting types, for example: under-cabinet fluorescent fixtures for work surfaces or recessed incandescent bulbs in the dining area. Remember, you spend a lot of your life in the kitchen, and some of that time will pass during winter or night hours. Lighten up!

About the Author
Gabby Hyman has written for print and online media for more than 20 years. He has created online content for eToys, GoTo.com, Siebel Systems, Avaya, and Nissan UK. He has also been a web consultant to the Governor of California. As an author of fiction, journalism, and poetry, Gabby is a former English professor for the University of Illinois, University of Alaska, and Old Dominion University. He holds an MFA in fiction writing from the University of Alabama.