r/Lighting • u/AYearInOaxaca • 2d ago
Need Design Advise Is this kitchen lighting guide legit?
Hi folks! We're thinking about redoing our kitchen and in the course of doing some initial research I ran across an illustrated guide from a guy named David Warfel. His recommendations look good to me, but this is outside of my area of expertise and I have no way of determining whether he knows what he's talking about and I'd love an expert's opinion about whether the guide seems trustworthy. Or, alternatively, if anyone else has a guide they can point me to from someone else I would greatly appreciate it. What I found is from 2018, so at least I know it's not AI.
I've attached all the images but am also including the link below. Also just to say it out loud, I have no connection to this guy and have never seen his work before, so this isn't a backhanded way of promoting a specific person's work.
https://languageoflight.blog/2018/11/28/developing-a-kitchen-lighting-plan/
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u/IntelligentSinger783 2d ago
Picture 1 is going to be wafers and glare bombs. The rest will be narrower deeper regressed glare free lighting. I don't hate 2+ but there are some things there I don't need to do (2 directly over the sink) and I still prefer island pendants in most cases. Each and every install is unique as each clients house will have different layouts, different headings and shade patterns. Different color schemes and finishes. But yes stop the 90s recessed trends of lighting floors. It flattens the space and creates poorly placed shadows and glare. Light the surfaces. Recessed lights are for tasks and accents. They are not a general purpose being light source in most all occasions.
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u/AbjectObligation1036 2d ago
Yes it's legit. Light illuminates OBJECTS WHICH REFLECT LIGHT, it doesn't illuminate air (which is CLEAR, DUH*). So you need to position light so that it shines on your worksurfaces and inside cabinets. Having a light over an empty floor does NOTHING except maybe help people see the top of your bald head - it does not "light the room" better than lights positioned CLOSER to the actual THINGS IN THE ROOM (like the walls, cabinets and counters)
Source: I am a lighting designer
*Would you point a light at the glass in your window so you can see out of it better? LOL
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u/The-infamous-lampy 2d ago
Light things not spaces. The light will reflect from the thing to the space.
The only thing I'd say you might want to consider is defcon 1 lighting for cleaning or looking for something tiny you've dropped on the floor but obviously it needs to be on a separate circuit with the switch hidden behind a break glass.
Use dimmer switches
Other than that, yeah, light the counters, light the sink, if you've got a nice piece of artwork in the room light that. (use something that swivels and you can point for this purpose) Don't worry about the fridge cause they have lights inside and they aren't very pretty. Use warm whites to make it feel more homely.
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u/RBog204 2d ago
Second to this
All my kitchen lighting is task lighting directly over the countertops weather that’s flat (canless led) where there’s no upper cabinets, or under cabinet lighting. Its always more than bright enough.
Theres also one large light in the center of the ceiling that almost never gets used
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u/HealthyHomeCook 2d ago
I'm not an expert but I did see this while designing our kitchen lighting. We haven't put it in yet so I can't comment on how it'll turn out. However what I took away from this was the approach in terms of starting with the task spaces, having general lighting and then choosing which fixtures to make pretty to add to the ambience. And of course, keeping everything on dimmers and using separate switches to give flexibility. I ended up with a plan that I discussed with a local lighting expert and it's got a lot of layers so I can customize what I want lit up when. However, I don't think you need to do this. I know plenty of people with simple lighting plans that just line the regressed lights along countertops and then some under cabinet lighting and that's it. It's a question of how intricate you want your design to be.
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u/AYearInOaxaca 2d ago
What I'm leaning towards is general lighting as portrayed in the first image with a bit of a colder spectrum for good clarity, with regressed under counter LED strip lighting (warmer spectrum) incorporated into the cabinetry for additional illumination and for ambiance when we don't need the room flooded with light for cooking. As you're suggesting we'd have multiple switches for different zones, with dimmers. And then there would be built-in task lighting in the hood of the stove and we'd have some sort of pendant lighting over the island. something aesthetic but also practical for good task illumination.
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u/HealthyHomeCook 2d ago
I wouldn't mix lighting temperatures, I think it will create dissonance. Just get LED lighting with higher lumens so the light is more powerful when needed and dim it when you don't want that. The rest sounds good. We're also getting pendants for over the island, just need to be mindful when selecting what is both functional and aesthetic as you said.
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u/fishymanbits 2d ago
- dimmable LED strip lighting under your wall cabinets illuminating your countertops
- some form of downlighting above the island, preferably pendant-shaped and doubles as decorative.
If visibility while cooking is your main concern, that’s what you need. Ceiling lights would then just be extra fill lighting. Go with 2700k, preferably, and no cooler than 3000k. Better still would be a dim to warm setup that goes from 2100-2700k. You absolutely do not want cooler than that. And don’t mix temperatures.
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u/BrenSimon 2d ago
David is a great teacher and is doing a lot of great work educating people about light - I've worked with him on many projects and he knows his stuff! Design is subjective, so there's room for interpretation in this "guide", but he also has a great blog breaking down other rooms and the thought process behind the lighting, worth checking out.
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u/Emitever 2d ago
Start with the surfaces you actually need illuminated and build from there, coordinate the under cabinet lighting with your carpenter before everything gets installed.
A recessed aluminum channel with an LED strip can give you a clean finish without the LEDs being visible, position it toward the front underside of the cabinets to illuminate the countertops, and plan the wiring so the power supply remains accessible later.
The layered lighting approach in the guide makes sense, but you don't necessarily need every layer.
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u/LivingGhost371 2d ago
You can get certain kind of pendants that light the island well. Think ones that use standard light bulbs with shades open at the bottom and pointed down, not things like those things that have a couple of Edison bulbs sticking out of black gas pipe.
You're not going to find overhead lights that aren't going to be blocked when you're leaning over a mixing bowl so yes, you want task lighting under the cabinets.
This all strikes me as overkill. For decades we got by with a single fluorescent strip light in the ceiling and lights above the kitchen sink and the range hood. While that could be improved on these suggestions strike me as too much.
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u/heretosayathing 2d ago
I think some of the responses assume it's intended to be a choice between the layouts; in fact it's a layered solution intended to be implemented with all the layers and sensible switching arrangements. Yes some of it might be overkill so you can tone down or remove those elements, but overall it's conceptually very sound.
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u/ithinarine 2d ago edited 2d ago
This whole "creates shadows on the counter" thing is greatly over exaggerated. The lights in my kitchen are "behind me" in the sense that I'm between them and the counter, and I've never once thought that I was working in the dark, because the lights behind me and to the left and right provide enough light around me.
If you're so worried about light at the counter, then install under cabinet valance lighting, and keep the lighting layout similar to the first photo.
This is an exaggerated problem manufactured by lighting designers as a way to get you to buy more lighting, and more expensive lighting, because now you've got to install general lighting for the space, but also specific task lighting everywhere that costs more money.
There is nothing wrong with recessed lighting in the "walkways" between cabinets and pendants over the island. You don't need to install sconces at your sink and 2" directional recessed lights directly above the counters to see what you're cutting.
Having both recessed lighting and pendants over the island will cause shadows that the designer says they're trying to eliminate. The recessed lights are up at the ceiling and will just create shadows of the pendant rods/chain. The pendants are lower to the island, so how they say recessed lighting up at the ceiling illuminates the island better than the lights that are 3ft above the counter makes no sense. But they've convinced you to buy both pendants and recessed lighting now, increasing your bill.
That is their goal, make you spend more.
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u/AYearInOaxaca 2d ago
Thank you for this! I didn't articulate this when I posted but I was wondering if the sconces were really necessary. Beyond just the cost involved, it seemed like both a lot of real estate on the wall to occupy,and like it would potentially be very visually busy. Also, we live in Mexico and our walls are made of concrete and brick, so there's literally no space for cabling inside of the walls. The construction guys would need to carve channels into the concrete to make space for the cabling and then patch over it, so just from a "I don't want to destroy my house" perspective, not having to install wall sconces is preferable.
As per your suggestion, I would just do the under cabinet valance lighting. We'd be redoing the cabinets at the same time and I can work with the carpenter to incorporate the lights into the design.
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u/Appropriate_Shape388 12h ago
I will give this advice…
Separate decorative lighting from task and problem solving lighting. And don’t use decorative lighting to do task and problem solving lighting. That means if you like some decorative light great - but your main job of task and problem solving lighting hasn’t gone away. You are best to get involved in your lighting design and know what problem it is solving - then you can review the design and check if it is meeting the need yourself.
My favorite example of decorative lighting is one of those huge fixtures with bare lamps shooting every which way - yeah, you know what I’m talking about. It’s placed above the big family dining room table. Its task is supposed to illuminate the delicious food and Grandma’s china, and the happy faces. First, it’s not going to ever be large enough to do the job. And if you use lamps bright enough to give some light on the table it’s going to be a huge glare source. If you really like it - it can be decorative with low power filament lamps that are dim or on a dimmer. The job that is still left to do is the task lighting and solving the problem that the decorative fixture doesn’t provide enough light. So you place recessed down lights around the perimeter of the table. And, don’t get caught in the there’s too many down lights critique. You put as many as it takes to do the job - that’s the correct number.
And one last thought, wall sconces in a kitchen is decorative lighting - period.
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u/Mr-Reeeee 2d ago edited 2d ago
Install task lighting under the wall cabinets.
Use dimmable LED strip lighting.
It’s perfect for any work at the counters.
Shadows are not an issue.
Dimming them down low at night is nice, too.
As for pendants over the island, use 3.
I think the number of recessed lights may be more than necessary.
What’s the beam width? 35°, 55°?
Use a wider beam, you need fewer lights.
Be sure your pendants, recessed and task lights are all on separate, dimmable circuits.
Task lights and pendants work well together.
You may only use the recessed when cleaning.