Kitchen Lighting in the Log Home

Kitchen Lighting in the Log Home

Along with the bathroom, the kitchen is probably the most “functional” room in a house. Since the layout of a kitchen is dictated by its function, with little floor space to spare, lighting in the kitchen must be accomplished by wall or ceiling mounted fixtures. Complicating matters, more types of light sources are required in a kitchen than other rooms. While a bedroom or living space may only need ambiance lighting so you can see in the dark, a kitchen also requires task lighting to help you prepare food and clean up afterwards. If you are looking at designing appropriate lighting for the kitchen in your log home, here is a guide to several types of lighting.

Natural Light

​While electric lights are a must in any kitchen, planning for appropriate natural light is a very important first step when designing a kitchen. For decades, the standard has been that a lone window is situated above the kitchen sink. While this no doubt makes doing the dishes a more enjoyable task, having only one source of natural light on one wall makes for pesky shadows and weak natural light. If you are just designing a home, consider siting the kitchen in a corner where it can have windows on two walls. This will provide more even light with fewer shadows, and make working in the kitchen a much more appealing prospect.

Recessed Lighting

Recessed lighting is a great way to provide ambient light to an area without making the lights the focus of a room. In terms of light spacing, the general rule is that the lights should be placed half the ceiling height apart from one another. For example, if the ceiling is eight feet high then the lights should be four feet apart. If you wish to provide more light to an area of the kitchen where you prep food or cook, then you can make the lighting more concentrated. Since recessed fixtures concentrate heat, make sure to use bulbs with an approved watt rating and only use CFLs and LEDs approved for recessed fixtures.

Track Lighting

While old track lights were unattractive, newer designs can be quite stylish. These types of lights can be used to light whole areas or concentrate light where it is needed most. Unlike recessed fixtures, track lights remain cooler and are thus friendlier to LEDs and CFLs. New models can be digitally controlled, so each light can be individually dimmed to get the illumination level just right.

Pendant Lights

If you need to illuminate a freestanding area, like an island, then pendant lights work very well. This type of lighting is extremely popular, since the pendant design can be personalized to match the space and your style. Functionally, these lights are great for illuminating a table or other small area without drastically increasing the light levels throughout the room.

Under-Cabinet Lights

Most prep work occurs on countertops, but the cabinets and your own body will block light from overhead fixtures. Under-cabinet lights are great at removing shadows under cabinets and providing illumination for your work space. LED lights are perfect for this task lighting, since they have a neutral color spectrum, consume very little power, and can be bought in strings of emitters that provide even radiance.

We certainly hope we have helped shed some light on how to pick the right lighting for your log home kitchen.  If you have any questions about the homes featured or would like to get started on a custom log home design of your own, please contact Real Log Homes to learn more.

More From the Real Log Homes Archives