Hello Guys, so today we are talking about Lightening up your Kitchen. When it comes to the element of design, lighting is life; it is like the oxygen that allows a space to breath. Okay, not literally oxygen, but lighting is as important as every other element of interior design. Let me put it this way, it is as important as you need oxygen to breath. Yes! Good lighting changes and transforms a space and as a top interior design and facilitator at the best interior design training school in Lagos, I deemed it necessary to train my students on the importance of light and shade to make a room feel comfortable to give it a dramatic and atmospheric feel.

At the top Interior Design School in Lagos, Nigeria, Simplinteriors School of Interior Design and Entrepreneurship, we ensure that our students broaden their knowledge about interior design and lighting is not left out. It is important to understand the various types of lights, and the role they individually play when it comes to interior design projects. Let me give you some scenarios on lighting. Let’s say we want to highlight an artwork on a wall, what you have to do as a professional interior designer is to get a downlight to hit the artwork. What you are doing here is drawing people attention to that artwork and projecting the essence of the artwork in that area which is to accessories the space.

In Nigeria, until recently, I will say lighting is often an underestimated part of our homes and businesses. Most individuals just build their homes and do not use proper lighting to give it the aesthetically pleasing results. Besides having a huge impact on aesthetics and functionality, it can also have profound effects on your mood, emotions, and wellbeing. This means having the right lighting in your home can help increase productivity and relaxation. That is one of the topics we teach at the top Interior Design School in Lagos, Simplinteriors School of Interior Design and Entrepreneurship.

Today you will be benefiting from what I teach my students when it comes to kitchen lighting. Let’s start with the few types of lighting we have: Ambient Light, Task Lighting, Accent Lighting, Pendant Lighting. So, grab your writing materials and let’s get to it.

1: AMBIENT INDOOR LIGHTING: In Interior Design, ambient lighting is intended to light up a room in its entirety. This means it provides a uniform level of illumination throughout the space independently of other lighting sources. Here I can tell you that its purpose is to ensure safe and easy traffic, as well as to create an overview of the room. The ambient light ‘bounces’ off the walls to illuminate as much space as possible. Let’s move on to the Kitchen. The kitchen is one of the most important spaces in a home; it has become the center of homes. It is essential to install the right lights in the kitchen not only because it brightens up the kitchen area but, it also adds to its personality and overall look when used correctly.

2. TASK LIGHTING: Like the name itself, task lighting, it is a smaller more concentrated light mainly used when you are working. Task lighting is meant to help you see; it is often called office lighting. You can find it on office table for reading and writing. In the kitchen for cooking activities. Used by tailors for sewing and many other things. It helps naturally to stimulate your brain. The contrasting light allows you to be more alert and concentrated. This will help you see more details as you work, creating higher quality results. That is why many businesses choose to use task lighting in their offices.
3. ACCENT LIGHTING: In the Interior Design Training schools in Nigeria, students are also taught accent lighting. Accent lighting are used for wall washing, artwork, bookcase displays, pieces of furniture, collections and the general architecture of their homes. Outdoor accent lighting is when you highlight parts of the architecture of your home or yard. This is very popular during the holidays, especially Christmas. Accent lighting is one of the types of lighting that creates a very sophisticated atmosphere. It evokes feelings of meaning and importance to the images it displays. This lighting type is used a lot for museums, historical buildings and art shows.
4. PENDANT LIGHTING: These are types of lightings usually known as suspenders, and often installed as a single light fixture hanging from the ceiling. The light hangs from a cord, chain, and sometimes a metal rod to fix it in one position. Pendant lighting is great for your kitchen and even bathrooms. However, choosing the best pendant lighting for your kitchen can be difficult, as there are multiple variants. Now let’s narrow it down to choosing lights for your Kitchen. (our focus is on pendant lighting). [To be continue in our next post]