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continued from Kitchen Lighting (part 1)
If you need to replace or augment existing ceiling fixtures, but you don’t want to remodel
to add additional power sources from the ceiling, consider track lighting or
attractive monorail lighting systems. These systems produce excellent light (bright, crisp, white light with near
perfect color rendering abilities) that may be directed easily to illuminate surfaces some
distance away. They accommodate track heads for directional light as well as a wide variety
of attractive blown glass pendants to suspend as accents over bar or island areas.
Use dimmers on all overhead lighting circuits. Dimmer switches are well worth the money.
In addition to extending the life of difficult to change overhead bulbs, they allow the
mood of a room to be shifted from practical ‘cleaning time’ to functional ‘preparation time’
all the way to ‘intimate dining’ at the touch of a button. If your kitchen made use of
fluorescent fixtures, you will definitely need to add dimmers as fluorescent fixtures are
not dimmable so they will be absent.
Under Cabinet and Over Cabinet Lighting
As practical and often beautiful as kitchen cabinets are, they are a serious obstacle to
the lighting designer. They protrude over critical work surfaces and create shadows on the
walls and corners above. Ceiling mounted lighting fixtures, even versatile track lighting
systems, cannot adequately light the counter tops below cabinets. Under cabinet lighting
is a simple, effective and inexpensive way to rectify this problem. There are few excuses
not to have under cabinet lighting in a kitchen.
Under cabinet lighting not only provides plenty of light for preparation tasks, it is
useful as low level overnight ambient light source as well. Gone are the days of fluorescent
under cabinet lighting. There are a variety of new options that use
halogen lamps to maintain that warm, inviting feeling that every kitchen should have.
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