Modern kitchen island lighting adds style, color, texture, and character to your space. Trendy island lighting comes in all types of sizes and shapes, giving you every opportunity to insert pizzazz into your kitchen.
How do you find the best lighting for your kitchen island? Get inspired with stylish options that add contrasting colors, cohesive design, and just the right pop of flair that makes your kitchen uniquely yours and memorable.
Read on to glean ideas ranging from minimalist clear glass globe pendant lighting, to industrial black metal dome lights that add boldness to your space.
Why You Need Kitchen Island Lighting
Task Lighting
Your island is a workspace for daily tasks like meal prep (and homework). Without task lighting, you could set yourself up for less productivity, and even accidents—with your paring knife. Illuminate your island with the right fixtures, and your efficiency (and alertness!) will increase. You’ll find your island even more inviting when it’s well-lit.
An Element of Design
Kitchen island lighting isn’t just about increasing function. It’s also about rounding out your lighting scheme and adding a gorgeous design element that creates an unforgettable focal point in your space.
Types of Kitchen Island Lighting
Pendant Lights
Trendy pendant lights are the most popular task lighting in today’s modern kitchens. They shine directly down, bringing your light source closer to where you need it most. They complement a wide variety of kitchen designs, giving you plenty of room to add personalized style to your island area.
Recessed Lighting
If you desire a consistent line of illumination throughout your kitchen, recessed lighting is a suitable alternative. They deliver task lighting with a more subtle approach.
Another option is to combine recessed lighting with pendant task lighting over your island, delivering a dramatic sense of style to your pendants as you emphasize their uniqueness by shining your overhead recessed lighting on them.
Linear Chandeliers
If you have a long, oversized kitchen, and you want to bypass pendant lighting, make a statement with an elongated rectangular chandelier over your kitchen island. It just may be the perfect accent for your lengthy space. Oozing with personality, linear chandeliers are a fantastic selection for kitchen island lighting.
How to Find the Perfect Kitchen Island Lighting
1. Determine Your Style
Select lighting that fits your kitchen’s overall flair. Are you loving the rustic chic farmhouse feel, do you prefer traditional elegance, or do you crave a sleek, minimalistic modern vibe? Let your pendant lighting enhance your design with the perfect pop of color, unique geometric shape, or complementing size that gathers just the right amount of attention from your family and friends.
2. Find the Best Shape
The shape of your pendant lights will influence how much visual weight they add to your kitchen. Balance a minimalistic kitchen with a more substantial pendant, and couple a busier kitchen design with a simple pendant shape. Geometric shapes are trending, but that doesn’t mean you can’t choose a more elaborate shape if you desire a more formal aesthetic.
3. Pick the Right Size
The size of your pendant lighting should fit your space. Draw back on size if you are dealing with limited space. Help yourself to generously sized pendant lighting if you have high ceilings and a substantially sized island.
4. Choose the Ideal Number
Small islands (up to five feet long) handle one or two pendants well. Large islands (six feet and longer) can take up to three pendants. The “rule of three” says that things arranged in odd numbers are more memorable and appealing than things arranged in even numbers. Three pendants are pleasing to the eye.
5. Get the Perfect Finish
Decide where you want the focal point to be: the island itself or its lighting. If you want the lighting to stand out, choose a contrasting finish that gives you just the right amount of visual interest. If you want the island to draw more attention visually than your task lighting, then choose fixtures that blend in with your space.
6. Hang Lighting at the Best Height
Pendant lights should hang 12–20 inches under your eight-foot ceiling. For every additional foot of ceiling height, add three inches to the length of your pendants. Hang lights with equal distances between them, and leave a margin of six inches from the end of your island with no lights hanging.
Imagine Your Dream Kitchen Lighting
As you embark on upgrading your kitchen, take time to dream about the finished product. As you do, picture how each element will impact the others in your fabulous space. Think about how the various materials, textures, shapes, and sizes of lights will add the perfect touch to your kitchen.
What is it your kitchen needs to make it stand out? Let your task lighting begin to create the modern style you’ve been desiring. Here are some popular picks:
Clear (Glass) Globe Pendants with Metal Hardware
This simple island task lighting scheme offers a light feel that blends perfectly with a minimalistic kitchen design.
Industrial Metal Dome Pendants
The bold industrial look of metal domes adds just the right amount of trendy visual interest to a classic kitchen space.
Geometric Metal Shapes
When you choose pendant lighting in trendy geometric shapes, your kitchen takes on a midcentury modern feel that delights.
Your Dream Kitchen Awaits You
You deserve to have the kitchen of your dreams. At Lakeside Renovation & Design, we listen to your ideas, discuss your concerns, and develop solutions to make your home the functional, beautiful space you desire.
Enhance your lifestyle by creating an open concept kitchen, design the ideal layout for your needs, and add an attractive island with gorgeous task lighting to complement your overall design. Learn more about our kitchen remodeling services today!
