A Bright Idea For The Cooking Area

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Monday, November 24th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed

Here’s a thought for you - is the light in the cooking area sufficient for the purpose? Most of us do think about the lighting in the kitchen. But what about the cooking area specifically? The actual area where the cooking is done - the range, the oven, the cutting board - usually suffers from less than adequate lighting.

‘Proper’ illumination requires you to design the lighting system in your house with care. Tables, desks, and counter tops must receive shadow less light. In the kitchen, low-hanging cabinets tend to obstruct natural as well as artificial light. Since you can’t rearrange the larger items of furniture, the easier option is to put in under cabinet lighting units which give light directly onto the work area.

Getting cabinets with factory-fitted lights is a great way to get rid of dark zones, especially the one over the cooking area. You can get this done the next time you redo the kitchen.

If renovating is not in the cards, then you can alter the existing cabinets and fit them up with lights. If you are a DIY type, then go ahead, it’s an easy enough project. On the other hand if electrical fitting is not your cuppa, then you’ll have to call in an electrician to do the alteration. These lights are low-consumption types and will not add to the electricity charge appreciably.

An idea which merits consideration is to use those small lighting gadgets that you just press-fix on to almost any surface. You tap them to turn them on and off. Carrying their own long life battery inside, you don’t need to do a pin of work to implement this kind of lighting. They’re cheap, dinky, durable and easy to use. Just fix them against the underside of the kitchen cabinet over the cooking area and see them in action.

You don’t have to worry too much about the appearance of the under cabinet lighting units. The factory fitted ones come in recessed mounts. Even if you mount them on the bottom surface of the cabinet, they’re not going to be visible to the casual observer. But you will notice the light they shed!

Rewiring the kitchen for new lights depends on how much time you spend in the kitchen. If it is minimal or occasional, then you can put this project aside for a later date. Cooking over a dimly lit counter for any appreciable length of time, however, is a different matter, and this justifies the cost of putting up new lights as soon as possible. There are so many really low-cost alternatives to the standard lighting fixtures nowadays that budgetary considerations just pale away.

Once you appreciate the difference these additional lights make to the kitchen work area, you’ll quickly realize that there are many other areas in the house which could be brightened up with under cabinet lighting. So, what’s holding you back?

How you light the outside of your home is just as crucial as how you light the inside. To learn additional information about outdoor light fixtures go to www.contemporary-lighting-accents.com. You’ll learn about the various choices available including why low voltage outdoor lighting may be your best choice.

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