Bay Area Home Remodeling Including Bathroom and Kitchen Remodeling in Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Palo Alto ...

If your house is like many homes, you could probably use some better lighting. Proper lighting makes it easier to work, reduces eye strain, and can improve your sense of wellbeing – this is especially true in a room like a kitchen where we spend so much time cooking, eating, and entertaining family and friends. The truth is most homes were not built with enough lighting for everyday life. Inadequate lighting is one of the most common problems homeowners have in their kitchen – even if they don’t realize it. If you’re thinking about improving your lighting or remodeling your kitchen, make sure you work with a professional remodeler who can help you design the best lighting solutions for your home. Here are five of the most common lighting mistakes and

1. Too many recessed lights
Recessed lights are a great solution, but far too often, a poorly planned kitchen remodel or new home ends up with too many of them. Recessed can fixtures only light the horizontal surfaces and may not provide illumination over your room’s vertical surfaces. Illuminating the vertical surfaces is essential because it creates a reflection of light from the walls, helping to brighten your entire kitchen. Relying on only recessed lighting will result in more fixtures than you need and still not give you proper lighting.

2. Not enough task lighting
We’ve all been there – trying to work at a sink or stove that doesn’t have enough light. Ambient lighting is essential, but a kitchen requires task lighting in certain areas to be efficient. Otherwise, you’re likely to be working in your own shadow. Installing undercabinet lighting is one of the most straightforward task lighting solutions. Countless LED solutions can be crafted to accommodate your kitchen layout. Simple plug-and-go options are fine if you’re not ready to remodel. Contact us for more ideas for help with hard-wired options to make your kitchen shine.

3. Too much light
Overly bright lighting is almost as bad as not enough light – we humans are sensitive to light. Ask anyone who works in an office with harsh bright lighting, and they’ll tell you it can make you feel tired, nauseous, and cause headaches. In kitchens, granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances can reflect that bright light and cause even more glare. Adding controls to pre-existing lights, such as placing them on separate or dimmable switches, will go a long way towards creating a comfortable kitchen lighting layer. Use several tiers of ambient, accent, and task lighting to layer and balance the light for an optimal working space.

4. Improper lighting controls
As noted above, a properly lit kitchen should have three types of light: ambient, accent, and task. In many older homes, the kitchen lights are controlled by only one or two switches. Each type of light is for different purposes, so they should be wired on separate switches for the most efficiency. Think about how you use each area of your kitchen and plan accordingly. Adding dimmer switches allows lights to serve multiple purposes, such as a task light that becomes an accent light after meal preparation is completed.

5. Disproportionately-sized fixtures
A common lighting mistake is choosing one extra-large fixture that dwarfs the others in the kitchen. That oversize fixture may have looked great in the showroom, but it can be out of place in the average home. Having a too-large light can be as problematic as having a too-small light hanging over an expansive kitchen island. The general rule of thumb is to add the room’s length and width in feet, then pick a light that is the same size in diameter. For example, if the kitchen is 15 feet by 15 feet, then a light about 30 inches in diameter would be appropriate.