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Kitchen Lighting: How to Showcase Your Cabinets with Light

Your kitchen is the heart of your home. It’s where everyone gathers and where memories are made. So naturally, you want a beautiful, welcoming kitchen. Cabinets make up a big part of your kitchen’s overall look, so it’s important to accent them with the right lighting. Here’s how to showcase your cabinets with light.

Make Use of Natural Light

The first way to showcase your cabinets with light is simply to make use of natural light. If your kitchen has windows, a skylight, or a glass door, don’t cover them up! After all, the natural light they provide offers a beautiful way to showcase your cabinets. So, either leave windows uncovered or choose sheer window treatments that still allow plenty of light to come through.

If your kitchen doesn’t have any great sources of natural light and you plan to remodel, consider adding some strategically placed windows. Even small kitchens typically have places windows or skylights can be added, and it’s well worth the investment to add natural light to your kitchen.

Layer Your Lighting

It’s important to understand the three main types of lighting in your kitchen. Each has a role to play and layering them gives the best results. That’s why you should include ambient, task, and accent lighting to showcase your kitchen cabinets.

The first layer, ambient lighting, is soft, warm light that extends throughout your kitchen and typically comes from overhead fixtures. Next, add task lighting to illuminate workspaces, like countertops and kitchen islands. Finally, accent lighting is perfect for illuminating specific areas or objects you want to display. Accent lighting is perfect for showcasing China cabinets, highlighting design elements, or spotlighting countertop decor.

Pay Attention to Spacing

Exactly where you place your lighting matters more than you may think. For example, pendant lights are a beautiful way to showcase kitchen islands. And LED light strips are perfect for under-cabinet lighting. However, both types of lighting may result in a glare if they are spaced incorrectly. And that’s particularly true for glossy surfaces, such as marble or granite.

Fortunately, there’s an easy solution. Simply spacing lights correctly reduces glare and shows your cabinets in the best light. For instance, pendant lights should be centered above features like kitchen islands. However, they should not be closer than 2.5 feet from the surface of the island. Similarly, LED lights should be placed between one and three inches away from the front of the cabinet to avoid excessive glare on the countertop below.

Choose Warm Tones

Not all lighting is the same. Both your cabinets and your kitchen as a whole look better with warm lighting. Thankfully, it’s easy to choose the right lighting by looking at color temperatures.

A color temperature between 3500K and 4100K is perfect for ambient lighting. That’s because it’s bright enough to illuminate workspaces, like countertops, while still appearing warm. In contrast, it’s best to choose a color temperature between 2700K and 3000K for accent lighting. This range brings a warm, beautiful light to the inside of cabinets. It’s also perfect for lighting countertops below overhead cabinets.

Take Advantage of Custom Options

One of the biggest perks of installing custom kitchen cabinets is getting everything exactly the way you want it, including lighting. So if you want to add lighting to the interior of all your cabinets, you can do it. Can’t wait to highlight the ornate details on your European style cabinets? Consider it done!

The sky is the limit when it comes to designing and lighting your custom kitchen cabinets. So be sure to discuss your ideas with us during the design process. We’re happy to accommodate your wishes and to work with other professionals, such as electricians, to make your cabinet dreams come true.

Ready to get started on your dream kitchen? Contact us today for a free estimate or to begin the design process.

 

 

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kitchen island with chairs
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Explore These 10 Creative Ways to Brighten Your Kitchen

Your kitchen is one of the most-used rooms in your home. So it should be a welcoming place you enjoy spending time in. But too often, kitchens are dull, dim, and drab. Fortunately, it’s easy to bring in a little light. Explore these 10 creative ways to brighten your kitchen.

1. Include a Mirror

One of the easiest ways to brighten your kitchen is to include a mirror. Mirrors reflect light, so strategically placing one near a window instantly brightens your kitchen. Plus, it gives the illusion of a larger space, too. Just remember to choose a stylish mirror that goes well with your kitchen’s decor.

2. Use Natural Lighting

The more natural light you can let into your kitchen, the better. So take advantage of all the windows and skylights you have. If possible, leave windows bare to enjoy maximum light exposure. But if you aren’t comfortable with bare windows, open your curtains or blinds as often as possible to let the light in.

3. Install Pendant Lights

If your kitchen seems too dim, there’s an easy fix. Install pendant lights. These low-hanging lights are the perfect way to brighten your kitchen. Since they are physically closer to you than recessed or overhead lighting, they give your kitchen the appearance of being brighter.

4. Change Your Lightbulbs

One simple way to brighten your kitchen is to change your lightbulbs. It’s important to be sure you use the right bulbs for your fixtures. That’s because exceeding the allowable wattage is dangerous. However, changing your lightbulbs to the maximum wattage your fixtures accommodate quickly brightens your kitchen.

5. Light the Space Under Your Cabinets

All too often, homeowners overlook the space under their cabinets. But lighting up that space instantly brightens your kitchen. And that’s especially true if your countertops and appliances are reflective. So purchase some under-cabinet lights. Or opt for custom kitchen cabinets with built-in lighting. You’ll love the difference it makes!

6. Get a New Backsplash

Your backsplash has a bigger effect on your kitchen’s appearance than you may think. A dark backsplash adds to the dim effect in your kitchen, while a light or colorful backsplash brightens it. Alternatively, choose a metallic backsplash that reflects light to brighten your kitchen even more. Silver is an excellent choice.

7. Add Some Color

A few pops of color can work wonders to brighten your kitchen. And best of all, you can be as creative as you like! Set out a few colorful canisters, choose bright light fixtures, or place lovely flowers in a brightly colored vase. Even a fruit bowl filled with a variety of fruits can add much-needed color to your kitchen.

8. Give a Nod to Nature

Adding natural elements to your kitchen is a simple, yet beautiful way to brighten the room. Place a few potted plants in the corners, add light wooden or wicker accents, and make use of glass vases that reflect the light. Other natural elements like stones, seashells, and water features also brighten your kitchen if they fit in with your decor.

9. Bring in a Bright Kitchen Island

Sometimes, all your kitchen needs to brighten it is a bold statement piece. And what better way is there to brighten your kitchen than by adding a bold new custom kitchen island? When you opt for a custom kitchen island, you get to choose the exact color you want. And with tons of available add-ons and accessories, you get the bonus of having additional storage and workspace in your kitchen. In fact, your new kitchen island might just become your favorite part of the kitchen!

10. Go Lighter

As beautiful as dark cabinets are, they don’t always work when you want a super bright, airy kitchen. So consider swapping out your old cabinets for lighter ones. Choose painted cabinets in light colors, like white or pastels. Or opt for light-colored woods like pine, maple, or ash instead.

Would you like to brighten your kitchen with custom kitchen cabinets or a custom kitchen island? We can help! Contact us today to share your ideas. Let’s make your bright dream kitchen a reality!

 

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led lighting-undercabinet-edgewood cabinetry

A Brighter Future for Your Home

When you think of some of the greatest inventions in the world, one that comes to mind is the light bulb. Now, one of the newest and greatest inventions is another light bulb: LEDs Bright Future lighting.

LED lighting is prominent is restaurants and theaters, creating a dramatic displays and color combinations. It’s even that blinking light on your cellphone. As the world leaves behind incandescent light bulbs, LED’s are the top choice for homes, landscape design, and more.

If you don’t already know, engineers favor LED lighting for a variety of reasons including but not limited to energy efficiency, flexibility, and programmability. LEDs can withstand various conditions while they can cast light in one direction without overheating. Designers choose LED over any other lighting for its long-lasting effects and enhancing architectural features.

If you’re looking to give your kitchen or bathroom a facelift, LED lights are the perfect solution. Infuse your home with LED lighting through wall sconces, office lighting, or by highlighting your kitchen backsplash.

Recessed ceiling lights are a primary source of room illumination in many kitchens and bathrooms. While other types of lighting have been used, using LEDs can last up to 20 years and are easily replaceable. This option is particularly beneficial for home owners with high ceilings.

To create an attractive translucent surface, light countertops from below with LED lights as they won’t heat up. This creates a dramatic accent effect in bathrooms. Under-cabinet lighting is an ideal application for LED lights for this same purpose.

If you have tray or indented ceilings, LEDs can be used to highlight these features in your kitchen, bathroom, or living room. For those with seemingly unreachable ceilings, monorail or cable lighting will give you look you want without stinting on style.

Choosing to put LED lighting in your home will save you on maintenance, operation, and energy as well as give your space an eye-catching look. Contact us today for more information on how we can give your home a brighter future.

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led strip lighting

LED’s Light the Way: Using LED Lighting from Hafele on Your Home’s Shelving

It’s true that LED’s light the way in more ways than one in both energy efficiency and what you can do with them for creative light displays.

You may not know that you can now buy specialized LED lighting to use on your cabinetry and shelving. Using flexible strip lighting and edge lighting from Hefele, you can create some fantastic lighting displays to highlight items sitting on shelves and cabinets.

Hafele sells Loox LED’s that we can provide for you through us at Edgewood Cabinetry. It’s an extra we love giving our customers to help bring an appealing aesthetic quality to the cabinets and shelves we build.

How can these lights help highlight items you have on display in your home? After we build some new cabinetry for you, these LED lights can highlight important items and create lighting effects you couldn’t do just a few years ago.

LED Strip Lights

These flexible strips can be made into different shapes to get into oblique angles in shelves and cabinetry. They’re perfect for highlighting an antique, a piece of art, or even dishes without shining a light directly on them. Lighting here can be more subtle and appear to be coming from a natural source.

The beauty of the strip lighting is that it can be embedded in tight spaces where no one can see the lighting source. It creates a magical quality to shelves and cabinetry and gives unique style in rooms where you want to highlight things for visitors.

Keep in mind LED strip lights can be used virtually anywhere, from living rooms to the bedroom, to even in stores within shelving. The flexible strips all come with mini LED bulbs so the bulbs will last for years without burning out.

LED Edge Lighting

Among other options, Hafele also provides edge lighting from Loox. These are great for glass shelving in both the home and in stores. When used in conjunction with reflective surfaces, you can play with more subtle lighting effects and in highlighting specific features on products. Proper and subtle lighting can improve the ability to bring out certain details in things you want to prominently display. Never underestimate the power of lighting on cabinetry and shelves since it can make a lot of items look better than they perhaps would with natural light (or no light at all).

Surface-Mounted Downlights

If you want a light to shine directly down on items sitting on your shelves, Hefele also offers downlights that can be mounted directly to the top surface of the shelf or cabinet. We can gladly install these so they’ll be fully integrated into what we build for you. The lights can also be used as an all-purpose light if you use a cabinet space to prepare food or for occasional reading.

Contact us here at Edgewood Cabinetry so we can incorporate this specialized LED lighting into the cabinets and shelves we’ll build for you. With our expertise, you’ll be able to enjoy our use of real wood in your cabinets and be able to save money with the efficiency LED lights always provide.

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