Modern Kitchen Design

Some Kitchen Lighting Design Tips

The kitchen today is the busiest room in the house and kitchen lighting is probably the most important element in kitchen interior design.

Since the kitchen is now being used as a home office, a homework area for children as well as a gathering area for friends and family good kitchen lighting is very important. The right kitchen lighting is able to create just the right atmosphere for entertaining.

Selecting just the right kitchen lighting can be a simple process. You first need to identify the main areas of the kitchen that need sufficient lighting. With specific tasks over the range or cook top, you can use an energy efficient fluorescent tube along with a standard range fan, or a recessed down light in the general area of the stove. One or two track lights over the sink area can provide the correct amount of illumination that would be needed for washing dishes and scouring pots and pans.

For the sink, and countertops a combination of track or recessed lighting, and under cabinet lighting will be to achieve best results in lighting up the countertop and creating a work area that is well lit and free of shadows. Mount the lights as close to the back of the cabinets as possible to avoid creating glare and off the work surfaces. Try to select energy-efficient fluorescent fixtures that will cover at least two-thirds of the of the counter's length.

For the breakfast area a good overhead light is useful since this area is also frequently used for reading. For more kitchen lighting ideas you can consider such lighting systems as chandeliers to high-tech flexible track lighting with decorative pendants. With a dimmer switch these ceiling-hung fixtures will produce adequate task lighting for family activities. You can also lower the light for entertaining.

When considering kitchen lighting design it is important to create muliple layers of lighting including ambient lighting, accent lighting as well as decorative lighting.

Examine the amount of space and try to imagine the opportunities that you have in considering different categories of kitchen lighting design to create an inviting and livable space.

Ambient Lighting - This is the general light in the room. This type of kitchen lighting is needed for all casual activities. This can be achieved through the use of reflected light for different surfaces. An example of this is track lighting.

Task Lighting - An example is under-cabinet lights since they make excellent task lighting. This kind of kitchen lighting is commonly achieved with small light sources using higher and more focused levels of light with a combination of under cabinet lights and overhead lights that are strategically located. This type of lighting will be mostly found in closets, pantries, cabinets, or drawers.

Decorative Lighting - This type of kitchen lighting can add sophistication and color to a space.

Down Lighting - Down lighting is energy efficient and consists of small aperture cans in the ceiling. They can produce a longer lamp life, minimize glare and produce a bright crisp light.

Low Voltage Track and Mono Rail Lighting - These lighting systems can offer an interesting and more flexible type of lighting and are easy to install. They can be hand-bent and shaped to provide architectural interest. Low voltage lighting dims more easily and lights decorative objects and surfaces dramatically.

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Money-Saving Tips For Kitchen's Decoration
If you want to renovate the kitchen, but can't find suitable kitchen supplies: the products with good brands are expensive and the cheap ones have poor quality. This makes many consumers worried: how they can buy good kitchen supplies without spending much money. Is there any tips? After consulting many professionals, here I share some money-saving strategies with you.

Money-saving strategy 1: buying higher-quality kitchen supplies = longer duration = saving more money

The reason why kitchen supplies' prices vary from each other in the market lies in the quality. The manufacturing costs of high quality products are inevitably higher than the low-quality ones. However, usually many consumers can't see the internal differences with the naked eye, so I suggest purchasing well-known brand kitchen supplies, because the effective volumes, environmental certifications, design concepts and after-sales service are more secure and duration will be longer.

Now let's make a comparison: a set of kitchen supplies costs only $500. After two or three years, various problems appear; another set which costs $2000 can be used for dozens of years without any big problem. Which is cost-effective? However, I still must remind you that the products with very low prices can't have high quality while the ones with high prices may not have high-quality. You need to learn more professional knowledge or invest more about the brand's market reputation.

Money-saving strategy 2: buying kitchen cabinet + range hood and cooker + sink and faucet can enjoy the economical prices

Some consumers believe that buying kitchen cabinets in a professional kitchen cabinet company, buying range hoods in the electronics store and buying sinks and faucets in a hardware store to combine them is cheaper. In fact, this method is not necessarily cost-effective, because separately purchasing often can't enjoy the best discounts from the vendors and you have to pay an additional installation fee to the kitchen cabinet companies. Therefore, it is better to buy the kitchen cabinet, range hood, cooker, sink, faucet and other kitchen accessory products together, which can not only save time and energy (in a sense, it is another way of saving money) but also can acquire the best discounts from the vendors.

Money-saving strategy 3: seize the opportunities of promotions and group purchase

High-end brands products are the preferred choices for kitchen decoration because their quality and after-sales service is undeniably good. But the prices are naturally very high. What you can do? This requires consumers to pay more attention in their daily life. Actually, the prices of these brands are not invariable. In order to increase the sales, they also carry out some activities to promote their products from time to time, such as providing some offers in the term of concessions package or group purchase. Maybe the prices given in the promotions will not be very low, but you also can save a lot of money compared to the original prices.

Even if the vendors do not carry out such promotions, you can also create opportunities. With the well-developed of Internet, you can organize a group purchase for a certain brand. Then you can negotiate with the vendors and the vendors will not belittle the power of it. Now you just need to wait for the concessions.

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