In addition to the primary lighting used in your kitchen, you have incredible ways to highlight certain areas or items in the kitchen simply by using special kitchen accent lighting. Even in small kitchens, accent lighting can change the look and ambience of the room, when the right lighting is chosen and it is placed in the right location. We wanted to provide you with some ideas as to how you could add kitchen accent lighting to enhance the overall appearance of this one room of the home.
• Cove Lighting – The first type of kitchen accent lighting we wanted to address is most commonly known as “cove” lighting. With this, a strip of low-voltage lighting would be used as a means of lighting up the interior of a cabinet, display case, the underneath area of cabinets, on shelves, etc. Indirect accent lighting such as this makes it possible to create a soft illumination in a specific area of the kitchen. If wanted, cove lighting can also be purchased with a dimmer so at night, it could be used as a type of night light, great if you tend to get up for something to drink during the night.
• Wall or Artwork Lighting – If your kitchen is designed with beautiful artwork or perhaps one particular wall on which you have a collection of plates, mirrors, or other items, then you could use wall or artwork lighting that would be used to illuminate that particular area, or even one specific item. Typically, kitchen accent lighting of this type is used in a larger kitchen but it could be for virtually any kitchen in which something special needs to be shown off.
• Mini-Pendant Lighting – You might also consider kitchen accent lighting in the form of pendant lighting. The best areas for lighting of this type are over the kitchen sink or a center island. Pendant lighting is a great addition in that it provides addition illumination that could be used for task work, as well as adding a decorative element. Today, thousands of options exist for pendant lighting, many with unique, colorful, and hand-blown glass that is simply gorgeous. Unlike standard pendant lighting, the difference is that the glass and bulbs are much smaller. Because of this, they accent the kitchen and area where used rather than stand out as a focal point.
• String or Rope Lighting – If your kitchen cabinets have open space above, string or rope lighting would make the perfect type of accent lighting. You could purchase lighting of this type in a variety of design options so the lighting actually becomes a part of the overall kitchen appearance. For instance, if your kitchen were designed with a Tuscany or French theme, you could add a beautiful string of lights in the shape of grapes, embellished with leaves. In this case, glass grapes in green and purple would produce a soft glow above the cabinets but also add to the decorum. However, string or rope lighting could also be installed beneath the cabinets. In this case, the light would offer a little more illumination on the countertops but again, without producing too much light.
• Interior Cabinet Lighting – You might also consider interior cabinet lighting, which is designed for open-face cabinet designs. As an example, if your cabinet doors have mesh, glass, Plexiglas, or are completely open, lighting of this type would be a great way to display a beautiful set of dishes that would otherwise go unnoticed.
• Combination Lighting – Finally, you could always incorporate several different types of kitchen lighting to create a certain mood. For this, simply consider all of the options mentioned and then choose two or more to add to the overall kitchen design. .
