Choosing your lighting: the basics<\/h2>\n
Obviously one of the key factors in choosing lighting for any room will be the size and scale of the room itself. It might be the deciding factor, for example, in just how grand a chandelier centrepiece is in the dining room, or how extensive a set of cabinet downlights is in the kitchen.<\/p>\n
However, that is a universal principle that applies in any room, and so doesn’t need special consideration here. Suffice to say, the larger and more attention-grabbing a lighting fixture is, the more space it needs around it \u2013 ignore that rule of thumb and you’ll overpower the room instead of illuminating it.<\/p>\n
The same counts for brightness, although with the kitchen being typically one of the brightest rooms in the house you’ve got more room for error. That said, it’s a cardinal sin to under-illuminate a kitchen, so especially if you’re thinking of cabinet downlights make sure they’re close enough together and there’s enough of them (if there’s no other lighting in the room) to light up the entire kitchen.<\/p>\n
New home kitchen \/ diner lighting ideas<\/h2>\n
There’s a wide range of kitchen \/ diner lighting products to choose from in the Lyco range. Here we highlight some of the most popular options available, and some of our personal favourites, to give you a sense of the choices available:<\/p>\n
Retro style pendant: timeless class<\/h2>\n
Elstead Provence Rise and Fall Ceiling Pendant Light – Polished Nickel<\/a><\/p>\n This classic adjustable rise and fall pendant is the perfect multifunctional kitchen\/diner light, bringing together old-world charm and class and contemporary styling complete with polished nickel finish.<\/p>\n View range here<\/a><\/p>\n Nothing gives a new build kitchen that ultra-modern look like LED spotlights, and the Fireguard LED7 range comes in various colour\/warmth combinations so you can create just the right look for your kitchen. They’re available in fully dimmable form, and are IP65-rated and fire-rated for both commercial and domestic applications. Plus, the high-performance LEDs mean just 7W of power output matches of a 50W halogen for light output, but with an 80% energy saving.<\/p>\n View our range of cabinet lighting here<\/a><\/p>\n Cabinet downlights provide focused illumination on a specific area and are really simple to install, so it’s easy to see the appeal. In the case of the Aurora Mica LED Cabinet Light, you get the added advantage of a white light that’s rated for 50,000 hours and uses far less electricity than any standard light bulb. These LED lights can be surface mounted or recessed and come with 2m of cable included. You will however need an LED transformer, which is sold seperately.<\/p>\n View our range of cabinet strip lights<\/a><\/p>\n If you’re willing to put in a bit of effort and apply a bit of creativity, flexible striplighting is a clever and highly versatile way of lighting your kitchen \u2013 or any other room in the house, for that matter. Each 5M Flexi Strip incorporates 300 LEDs, and can be cut every 3 LEDs to suit just about any application. The strips are flexible and the LEDs come with a 120-degree beam angle, making it an ideal discreet lighting solution for shelves, alcoves, kick boards, cabinets… just about anywhere you can think to put them, in fact. We’ve chosen to highlight the \u201cdaylight\u201d colour option here, but strips also come in warm white<\/a>, and blue<\/a>, as well as an RGB colour changing<\/a> option.<\/p>\n If you’re connecting multiple strips together, or want your Flexi Strips to be dimmable, you’ll also need an Inline Amplifier. Last of all, a pack of Link Leads\u00a0will come in handy should you wish to reconnect your cut LED strips.<\/p>\n New builds come in all shapes and sizes, which means specific lighting requirements for the kitchen\/dining room area can vary greatly \u2013 and that’s not even accounting for the vast spectrum of personal taste.<\/p>\n The options we’ve shown here represent some of the more popular new build lighting options available, but of course you could also go for fluorescent or LED solid striplights, as well as halogen or other variations on the lighting types we’ve covered here.<\/p>\n Just remember that while room size might be the first thing you notice about any home, the right lighting to showcase that room is equally important, whether you’re looking to have a house valued for selling or renting, or are fitting a property out ahead of moving in yourself.<\/p>\nDimmable LEDs: high-tech kitchen lighting<\/h2>\n
Cabinet downlighting: low energy, little effort<\/h2>\n
Flexi striplighting: fun, decorative and versatile<\/h2>\n
The right lighting for new builds<\/h2>\n
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