Kitchen Light Ideas

[mom31257]

Want to help me figure out some new lights? 

We have these 2x2 fluorescent, recessed lights that I would love to replace. The recessed area is finished, so I feel like that gives us options. These normally have a plastic panel over them.

Edited November 11, 2023 by mom31257

[mom31257]

More of the kitchen

Edited November 11, 2023 by mom31257

[Clarita]

Personally I would go recessed lights all the way, but I'm not the most creative when it comes to deciding lighting.

[Forget-Me-Not]

So if you pulled those boxes out, the area underneath is finished? 

I love your granite.  

[mom31257]

11 minutes ago, Forget-Me-Not said:

So if you pulled those boxes out, the area underneath is finished? 

I love your granite.  

They aren't boxes. It is finished drywall inside with a small frame at the bottom to hold the plastic sheeting. The frame would come down, and there would be a little painting and stuff to cover where the frame is screwed in. 

I love the granite, too! Thank you!

[gardenmom5]

Can you do can ligths?
if not - i did this in dh's office.  two kits, used 5w LED bulbs (on a dimmer). Just want to say - the rails are flexible, so you can bend them (within reason) anyway you want.
They also have pendant lights for over a bar area. 

Edited November 11, 2023 by gardenmom5

[freesia]

1 hour ago, gardenmom5 said:

Can you do can ligths?
if not - i did this in dh's office.  two kits, used 5w LED bulbs (on a dimmer). Just want to say - the rails are flexible, so you can bend them (within reason) anyway you want.
They also have pendant lights for over a bar area. 

We have something like these in my new kitchen but it isn’t enough light for me. So be careful you end up with enough light. 

[Forget-Me-Not]

1 hour ago, mom31257 said:

They aren't boxes. It is finished drywall inside with a small frame at the bottom to hold the plastic sheeting. The frame would come down, and there would be a little painting and stuff to cover where the frame is screwed in. 

I love the granite, too! Thank you!

Oh I see. I’d consider pendant lights then. It might be cute to paint the recesses a color up inside.

[mom31257]

52 minutes ago, freesia said:

We have something like these in my new kitchen but it isn’t enough light for me. So be careful you end up with enough light. 

Thank you! I definitely want to have enough light. 

[mom31257]

2 hours ago, gardenmom5 said:

Can you do can ligths?
if not - i did this in dh's office.  two kits, used 5w LED bulbs (on a dimmer). Just want to say - the rails are flexible, so you can bend them (within reason) anyway you want.
They also have pendant lights for over a bar area. 

I'd like something more decorative than can lights and would like to stay within those two boxes rather than do something across the whole ceiling. 

I do wonder if something like these would look good in our office! 

[mom31257]

55 minutes ago, Forget-Me-Not said:

Oh I see. I’d consider pendant lights then. It might be cute to paint the recesses a color up inside.

That sounds like a neat idea! 

[popmom]

I love your granite, too! And the backsplash. Very pretty.

This is tough. It is really difficult to get "pretty" and "enough work lighting". I have a pretty fixture over my island, but when I'm in there working--especially now the the days are short--I have to turn on my recessed/can lights. Is there a way that you can do both? Add one fixture for aesthetics and several can/recessed for task lighting? 

Edit to add: looking back at the pic, ideally you would take those can lights over your sink/counter area and make those decorative--pendant lights would be nice there. And then where the florescent lights were, you would somehow do can lights there. Is that even a possibility?

Looks like 8 foot ceilings? Is that right? You may not want pendant lights where you will be walking around. That's why I suggested over your sink where the current can lights are.

second edit: If it were me, because I am always on a tight budget lol, I would leave the florescents just as they are and replace the can lights with decorative pendants--and call it a day. 😉 I mean...in the grand scheme of things your florescents are not ugly if they normally have a panel over them that is flush with the ceiling. I'm guessing they look a little like sky lights. I have been in plenty of houses that had the standard long rectangular box mounted on the kitchen ceiling--not recessed like yours are. To clarify: your florescent lights are by far the prettiest I have ever seen in a kitchen. 🙂 They aren't obtrusive and they provide bright task lighting. 

What do you find that you turn on more when you are working in there? 

Edited November 12, 2023 by popmom
adhd. I keep thinking of a better way to say it lol

[mommyoffive]

21 minutes ago, popmom said:

I love your granite, too! And the backsplash. Very pretty.

This is tough. It is really difficult to get "pretty" and "enough work lighting". I have a pretty fixture over my island, but when I'm in there working--especially now the the days are short--I have to turn on my recessed/can lights. Is there a way that you can do both? Add one fixture for aesthetics and several can/recessed for task lighting? 

Edit to add: looking back at the pic, ideally you would take those can lights over your sink/counter area and make those decorative--pendant lights would be nice there. And then where the florescent lights were, you would somehow do can lights there. Is that even a possibility?

Looks like 8 foot ceilings? Is that right? You may not want pendant lights where you will be walking around. That's why I suggested over your sink where the current can lights are.

second edit: If it were me, because I am always on a tight budget lol, I would leave the florescents just as they are and replace the can lights with decorative pendants--and call it a day. 😉 I mean...in the grand scheme of things your florescents are not ugly if they normally have a panel over them that is flush with the ceiling. I'm guessing they look a little like sky lights. I have been in plenty of houses that had the standard long rectangular box mounted on the kitchen ceiling--not recessed like yours are. So yours are pretty nice compared to that. Does that make sense? They aren't obtrusive and they provide bright task lighting. 

What do you find that you turn on more when you are working in there? 

Agreed.  The only thing I might do differently is change the can lights to pendants and then the fluorescents with canned lighting.  But I am not good with decorating.

[gardenmom5]

2 hours ago, mom31257 said:

I'd like something more decorative than can lights and would like to stay within those two boxes rather than do something across the whole ceiling. 

I do wonder if something like these would look good in our office! 

It's nice to be able to move the lights *exactly* where dh needs them.  whether it be printers, the shelves/his computer, or the filing cabinet that has more shelves around it.  The wall to the left, has two 3'x5' photos he took (half a world apart, but go exceptionally well together.) and he wanted lights on them too.

[history-fan]

Here are some different ideas. I like the idea of painting the inside with accent color

 https://pin.it/4PPHxHz

[popmom]

I was in a house today that had a semi-flush mount decorative fixture in the kitchen. It made me think of this thread. 🙂

I could see something like that in those boxes. I wish I had taken a pic. 

[mom31257]

@popmom, thank you for all those thoughts! I'll definitely consider them. 

We have a textured ceiling that we think will be hard to match, so we are trying to do as little ceiling work as possible. We aren't handy at all, so we will have to pay someone to do this work. 

I tend to turn on the light over the stove and/or the can lights when I need more light. The fluorescent lights are a lot dimmer with the panels up. 

[history-fan]

@mom31257if you are looking to just get more light the bulbs come in different brightness and color tones. The covers can also be replaced with ones with that diffuse the light differently. 

[history-fan]

You can also switch the fluorescent bulbs with led bulbs/tubes