When designing your kitchen, it’s all too easy to focus on layouts, worktops, and cabinet colours. But there’s one element that often gets overlooked – lighting. Even the most beautifully designed kitchen can feel cold, clinical, or straight-up lifeless without carefully planned and well-thought-out lighting choices.
Lighting doesn’t just illuminate a space, it adds personality and atmosphere that can’t be achieved with decoration alone. Whether you’re cooking, hosting or simply relaxing, having the right lighting in your kitchen makes a whole world of difference.
We’ll explore some creative and practical kitchen lighting ideas to help you strike the perfect balance between style and functionality. From subtle under-cabinet lights to bold statement fixtures, we’ll show you how to bring your kitchen to life with thoughtful lighting design.
1. Add Lighting Underneath Cabinets
Under-cabinet lighting is a quick win when it comes to improving your kitchen. By adding focused lighting to the underneath of your cabinets, chopping vegetables and reading cookbooks becomes a lot easier. Forget about working in your own shadow or struggling to see under dim overhead lights.
However, functionality isn’t the real reason that under-cabinet lighting is on this list. These lights contribute massively to the overall ambience of the kitchen, creating a warm and cosy glow that softens the space, especially in the evening. Subtle LED strip lights or discreet puck lights both provide a good amount of light to boost your kitchen’s atmosphere.Â
Under-cabinet lighting is a small change that can make a big impact, transforming your kitchen from purely functional to inviting and atmospheric.
2. Experiment with Low-Hanging Lights
Low-hanging lights are a brilliant way to make a bold statement in your kitchen, especially if you have a larger space. These lights work perfectly (if done right) over kitchen islands or dining areas, drawing attention to key focal points while adding a touch of sophistication.
Besides their aesthetic appeal, hanging lights are incredibly practical delivering targeted illumination exactly where it’s needed – over you and your guests when you’re talking or over you and your family when you’re eating. They also help create a sense of depth in the room, breaking up open spaces and adding layers to your design.
The best thing is, there’s tons of choice when it comes to which style of light you want. From old-school pendants to striking oversized fixtures, low-hanging lights come in a million different forms – it’s up to you what style you want.Â
Just remember to keep the proportions of your kitchen in mind and think twice before you put a low-hanging industrial-style light in a coastal or cottage-style kitchen.
3. Light Up Open Shelves
Open shelving gives you the perfect excuse to play around with lighting while adding a bit of charm to your kitchen. Leaving your open shelving sat dim and dark is a waste of an opportunity to add a bit of life to your space.
Strip lights can be a sleek and subtle way to brighten up your shelves, ensuring your favourite pieces are always on display and easy to find. They can provide soft, even lighting that adds character to the entire space without feeling overwhelming.
If you’re after something a bit more fun, try experimenting with decorative lighting. Quirky lamps or novelty lights can add some personality to your shelves and the rest of your space. With a few light-up bits and bobs, you can easily make your shelves feel less like storage and more like a design statement.
4. Experiment with Smart Lighting
Smart lighting has massively improved the ways we illuminate our homes. With features like voice activation, colour-changing bulbs, and custom lighting schedules, smart lighting has created far more versatile and useful ways of lighting (and therefore designing) a space.Â
One of the best things about smart lighting is how seamlessly it adapts to different tasks and environments. Bright, focused, functional lighting can all of a sudden transform into a warm, ambient glow for evening relaxation, all with a tap of your phone.
Since the release of the Philips Hue in 2012, colour-changing bulbs have been one of the most useful tools for designing a space. Either with a remote control or with your phone, you can change a room’s primary lighting to any colour imaginable. Even if you want standard bright lighting in your kitchen, it might be worth picking up a colour-changing bulb just to have the freedom of changing your lighting on a whim.
With its combination of practicality and modern innovation, smart lighting adds a touch of sophistication to your kitchen, making it a space that works as well as it looks.
5. Maximise Natural Light
Natural light is one of the best (and easiest) ways to brighten up your kitchen, making it feel more spacious, natural, inviting, and energised. To make the most of what you already have, keep your windows unobstructed. Heavy, clunky curtains or blinds can block precious sunlight, so opt for lightweight alternatives that let the light flow freely while maintaining privacy.
If you’re looking to bring even more sunlight into your kitchen, maybe consider installing skylights or additional windows where possible. These can flood the space with natural light, reducing the need for artificial lighting during the day.
Small changes like rearranging furniture to avoid blocking windows or choosing reflective materials for surfaces can also amplify the effect of natural light. By embracing what’s already there, you’ll not only enhance your kitchen’s aesthetic but also save on energy costs.Â
Remember that natural light is a timeless design feature that never goes out of style and is all too easy to overlook.
6. Play with Styles
As we’ve established, lighting isn’t just about functionality – it’s an opportunity to express your kitchen’s personality. Choosing the right style of lighting can completely transform the look and feel of the space, turning it into a design statement that reflects your taste.Â
Industrial fixtures with their exposed bulbs and metal finishes, are perfect for creating a modern, edgy vibe, while oversized pendants can bring a sense of drama and scale to larger kitchens. For something a little more classic, a chandelier adds elegance and a touch of luxury, even in unexpected places like the kitchen.
These styles do more than just light up the room; they act as focal points, drawing the eye and tying together other design elements. Make sure to choose a style that works well for your overall space and make sure to keep all elements of your design consistent (unless whacky, maximalist designs are your thing).Â
Here’s a list of common kitchen styles for you to look into, most of these have their own unique lighting style that you might want to experiment with in your own kitchen:
Â
7. Cabinet and Drawer Lighting
Cabinet and drawer lighting is a simple, underused feature that brings both practicality and style to your kitchen. Internal lights make it almost effortless to find items, especially in deeper or darker spaces where things can easily get lost.Â
It’s a practical feature, sure, but it’s also an opportunity to add to the overall look of your kitchen. Whether you’re going for modern and minimalist or warm and inviting, this type of lighting blends perfectly into any design.
8. Toe-Kick Lighting
Toe-kick lighting is a simple yet effective way to enhance the base/floor of your kitchen. Adding soft, mild lighting beneath your cabinets creates a sleek look that makes the whole room feel more polished and modern.
This low-level lighting doesn’t just look great, it’s fairly practical too. It gently illuminates the floor, making it easier to navigate your kitchen at night without needing harsh overhead lights. Granted, toe-kick lighting shouldn’t be too bright, but there should still be enough light so that it’s easier for you to navigate your kitchen at night.Â
Toe-kick lighting is truly one of the most underused and overlooked ways of adding a bit of sophisticated design to your kitchen. Too many people focus only on lighting the ceilings that they forget about the floor.
Lighting might not be the first thing you think of when designing your kitchen, but it’s definitely one of the most important. Whether you’re making the most of natural light, adding practical touches like cabinet lighting, or experimenting with something a bit more creative, the right choices can completely transform how your kitchen looks and feels.
Take some time to think about what works best for your space and how you use it. A few well-placed lights can bring out the best in your design and make your kitchen a space you love to show off. So, what’s the first lighting change you’re going to try?
