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Kitchen Lighting Ideas

Illuminate interior spaces for cooking, dining, and cleaning with these kitchen lighting ideas, that provide clever ways to enhance a design and make the space more usable. Whether it is using kitchen lighting to craft decorative displays, or using lights to make small areas feel spacious, this kitchen lighting inspiration is packed with creative ways from customers and our design experts to bring this part of the home to life.

1. Decorate a display

Take glass cabinetry one step further by adding fitted lights. These bright accessories open up the inside and illuminate the cupboard contents to create an attention-grabbing feature.

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1. Decorate a display

Glazed door-fronts are an excellent way to create a visual feature, and introducing lights inside helps catch the eye. @ourfirsthome116 has introduced cabinet lights in glass-fronted cupboards, opting for warm colour to break up their dark palette. This draws attention to the contents, transforming it into an eye-catching display that breaks up their run of wall-mounted cabinetry.

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2. Shine light on surfaces

Brighten up work surfaces with a variety of carefully-placed light fittings. Surfaces in tight corners and compact areas need plenty of light to be both practical and easy to use.

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2. Shine light on surfaces

Whether it is countering shadows or maximising open areas, there are plenty of options for keeping every surface easy to see. @inside_clydesdale is a source of inspiration, as they have used a combination of under-cupboard lights and ceiling-mounted lighting to illuminate food prep areas. This means there will be plenty of light to make it clear and easy to use.

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3. Feature statement floors

Light up stylish floors by fitting plinth lighting to kickboards. These fixtures make the area much more visible, allowing statement floorboards to take centre stage.

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3. Feature statement floors

Plinths are an all-too-often neglected area that can be used to flood floors with additional light. Get inspired by @ourblenheimhome, who have used plinth lights to grab attention to their wood-effect flooring. This counters their clean and simple white colour scheme with a textured look, while the plinth fittings draw focus to this stylish feature.

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4. Brighten up big spaces

Make sure an open-plan room keeps a spacious feel with a number of light fittings. This stops any dark spots from absorbing light and detracting from a roomy atmosphere.

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4. Bright up big spaces

Introducing long tape LEDs across kickboards and under cupboards can brighten shadows that lurk over countertops, cooking equipment, and floors. These slim tapes keep these darkened areas well lit without introducing any visual clutter. This lets the lights shine through and ensures that large areas remain full of light at all times.

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5. Illuminate cutlery

Put a stop to frantic rummaging mid-meal by fitting bright lights within cutlery storage. These strips light up every inch of a drawer to make grabbing a utensil fuss-free.

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5. Illuminate cutlery

Cooking and meal prep can often be a hectic experience. Cutlery organisers can help make things less of a rush, and adding built-in lights takes things one step further by illuminating shadows inside. This makes every single utensil clearly visible and easy to grab in a hurry, and transforms mad-dash cooking from stressful into a well-oiled routine.

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6. Diffuse frosted fronts

Even out the semi-transparent appearance of frosted glass with interior lights. This makes it easy to see what is inside and breaks up long cupboards, while still concealing the interior for a tidy look.

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6. Diffuse frosted fronts

Glazed fronts are a great way to add visual variety to long runs of cabinetry, and frosted glass strikes a combination between minimalistic and eye-catching. Placing lights behind these glass panels keeps the neat-looking benefits of frosting, while making the contents visible when turned on for a seamless combination of clean and clutter-free.

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7. Go spacious with gloss

Gloss finishes are great for reflecting light and creating a more open feel that is free from shadows. Lights make the most of this shiny surface by making sure no areas are covered in darkness.

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7. Go spacious with gloss

Great for small spaces, gloss cupboard fronts bounce natural and artificial light around a room to stop it feeling closed in. @rchomeatnumber2 have embraced the gloss concept and taken it one step further with ceiling-mounted lights. This approach makes the most of high-shine finishes by bouncing light off every surface which counteracts their dark-grey palette. This has made their compact cooking area feel brighter and full of light.

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8. Warm up white tones

Create a cosy feel by pairing a crisp white colour scheme with warm-coloured lights. While white is a great tone for achieving a spacious atmosphere in compact areas, adding warm lights helps it feel less clinical.

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8. Warm up white tones

When designing smaller rooms or corner spaces, careful colour considerations are crucial. Bright colours make for a spacious feel, but it is important to achieve a balance. Take inspiration from @homelifebyemma who have used warm white ceiling lights to counter the bright white tones of their cabinetry and counters. This approach means their colour scheme still opens up the small space, while the warmth of the light stops the white palette being overly clinical.

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9. Balance out bold schemes

Counter dramatic palettes with natural-coloured, crisp downlights. Pairing multiple light fittings with intense shades is a great way to keep things vibrant and stop a bold tone overpowering the room.

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9. Balance out bold schemes

While embracing the trend for dramatic colours is excellent for achieving an on-trend interior, they need to be paired with brighter tones to keep the room feeling open. Lighting is an excellent way to do this, and @ourdollyhouse has done a great job striking a bold and bright look with light fixtures throughout the room. By using downlights across the ceiling, it illuminates every inch of the area for a dramatic decor that still feels spacious.

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10. Highlight handleless

Add an illuminating finish to pared-back designs with lighting strips. These sleek lights run under work surfaces and above door fronts, helping to accentuate a linear look.

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10. Highlight handleless

A handleless design offers a minimalistic look, and fitting strips to cabinetry light up the linear style of this layout. Long runs of countertops and drawer units are an excellent place to neatly place these seamless fixtures. By creating an uninterrupted stream of light from one end to the other, they enhance this stripped-back style.

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