How high should pendant lights hang over a kitchen island?

Hang the bottom of the pendants around 70 to 80 cm above the worktop. Medium pendants usually sit 60 to 90 cm apart, centre to centre, with the end pendants at least 30 cm in from each end of the island. Taller ceilings and larger shades may need adjusting.

What colour temperature is best for kitchen lighting?

Warm white, between 2700K and 3000K, suits most home kitchens. 3000K gives crisp task light without feeling cold, while 4000K can look clinical in an open-plan room. Keep the same colour temperature across all your kitchen lights so they match.

Where should spotlights go in a kitchen?

Position spotlights above the front edge of the worktops, around 40 to 60 cm out from the wall cabinets, so light falls in front of you as you work. Add more over the island and sink, then fill the centre of the room only as much as the ambient light needs.

What is the best under-cabinet lighting for a kitchen?

LED strip in an aluminium profile with a diffuser gives the most even light, with no dots reflected in a glossy worktop. Fit it towards the front of the cabinet, choose a CRI of 90 or above and wire it to a switch so it works with the rest of your lighting.

Do kitchen lights need to be IP rated?

Kitchens don't have the formal zones that bathrooms do, so standard fittings are fine for most of the ceiling. Close to the hob and sink, where steam and splashes reach, an IP44 or higher fitting is a sensible choice. Your electrician will advise on any fire-rating your ceiling needs.

When should I plan the lighting for a new kitchen?

As early as possible, ideally before first fix. Once the layout is agreed, a lighting plan sets out where every cable, switch and driver goes, so pendants line up with the island and under-cabinet lights have somewhere to connect. Changing it after plastering costs far more.

How do I light a kitchen with a roof lantern or glass roof?

Hang a pendant from the centre of the lantern and set spotlights into the flat ceiling around it. LED concealed in the lantern upstand or along beams adds a soft glow at night. For glass roofs with steel beams, a bespoke mounting may be needed to hang pendants safely.

Kitchen Lighting

Kitchen extension with brass sputnik pendants under a roof lantern, lit by Lightplan

BY ROOM

Kitchenlighting

Kitchen lighting ideas and design advice from our lighting designers, from island pendants and spotlights to under-cabinet light and scenes.

Plan your kitchen lighting Shop kitchen lights

The hardestworking room

A kitchen is lit for more jobs than any other room. Bright, shadow-free light for chopping and cooking, softer light for eating together, and something gentle for the evening, often all in one open-plan space.

Good kitchen lighting design plans for all of them. It starts with three layers of light, each on its own circuit, placed around the worktops, island and table rather than in a grid across the ceiling. This guide covers how our designers approach it, with the measurements and details that make the difference.

If you are planning a new kitchen or an extension, talk to us early. The best results come from a lighting plan agreed before first fix, while cables can still go exactly where they are needed.

Three layersof light

Every well-lit kitchen is built from the same three layers. Planned together and switched separately, they let one room do everything.

Modern kitchen lit evenly by ceiling track lighting

Ambientlight

The general light that fills the room. Usually recessed spotlights or track, sometimes a ceiling light or a cove of hidden LED. It should be even and comfortable, and always on a dimmer.

Linear LED pendant lighting a kitchen island worktop

Tasklight

Focused, brighter light where the work happens: over the island, along the worktops, at the hob and sink. It comes from in front of you, so you never cook in your own shadow.

Cluster of glass bubble pendants dropping from a kitchen roof light

Accent andfeature light

The light that gives a kitchen character. A statement pendant, lit glass cabinets and shelves, or a glow beneath the plinths that doubles as a night light.

How manyspotlights?

The most common question we are asked about kitchen lighting. Most kitchens need around 150 to 200 lux of general light, with brighter task light over the worktops and island on top.

Enter the size of your kitchen for a starting point on how many downlights to use and how bright each one should be.

Kitchen length 4 m

Kitchen width 3 m

A guide only, for the general light. In a real plan the downlights follow the worktops and island rather than a grid, and we work it out for every kitchen.

Recessed spotlights around a kitchen extension with sputnik pendants in the roof lanterns

Kitchenspotlights

Recessed spotlights are the backbone of most kitchen lighting, but a grid across the ceiling lights the floor and leaves you in shadow at the worktop.

Follow the worktopsRun a line of spotlights above the front edge of the worktops, roughly 40 to 60 cm out from the wall units, so the light lands where you work.

Space them evenlyAbout 1 to 1.2 m apart suits most ceilings. Halving the ceiling height is a good starting point, so a 2.4 m ceiling suggests 1.2 m spacing.

Choose low-glare fittingsDeep-set or anti-glare downlights hide the bright source from view, which matters in open-plan rooms where you look up from the sofa.

Check the ceilingFire-rated downlights are needed where the ceiling forms a fire barrier, such as under a bedroom. Your electrician will confirm what applies.

Copper pendants over a kitchen island with under-cabinet LED lighting the marble splashback

Under-cabinetlighting

If you only add one thing to a kitchen, make it under-cabinet lighting. It puts bright, even light right onto the worktop and makes a splashback glow.

LED strip in a profileA continuous line of light with no spotty reflections in a glossy worktop. Set it towards the front of the cabinet so it lights the surface rather than the wall.

Wired into the planHidden drivers and a switch on its own circuit, rather than plug-in sticks, so it comes on with the rest of the kitchen.

Plinths and cabinetsThe same LED beneath the plinths or inside glass cabinets adds a soft accent layer, and a low glow for late-night visits.

See made-to-measure LED profiles

Three pendant lights hung over a kitchen island

Islandpendants

Pendant lights over a kitchen island are often the first thing people notice, and the easiest to get wrong. These are the measurements our designers start from.

HeightHang the bottom of the pendants around 70 to 80 cm above the worktop: low enough to light the surface, high enough to see across the room.

How manyTwo or three medium pendants suit most islands. Odd numbers often look more natural on a long island, pairs on a shorter one.

SpacingAllow around 60 to 90 cm between pendants, centre to centre, and keep the end pendants at least 30 cm in from each end of the island.

Or one linear lightA single linear pendant around two thirds the length of the island gives even task light with a cleaner look.

Colour andbrightness

The details that decide whether a kitchen feels welcoming or clinical, and how to control it all.

Kitchen island and dining area in the evening with pendants and warm, dimmed lighting

Colour temperatureWarm white around 2700K to 3000K suits most homes. 3000K is a good all-rounder for task light; cooler 4000K can feel stark in an open-plan room. Keep every layer the same so the light looks consistent.

Colour renderingChoose LEDs with a CRI of 90 or above. Food, timber and stone look as they should, and you can tell when the chicken is cooked.

BrightnessAim for softer ambient light, around 150 to 200 lux, with brighter task light of 300 lux or more on the worktops. Layers on dimmers let you set the balance.

Circuits and scenesPut each layer on its own circuit, then set scenes for cooking, dining and evening. With lighting automation, one press does it all.

Brass sputnik pendant hanging from the centre of a kitchen roof lantern

Extensions androof lanterns

Glass roofs, roof lanterns and vaulted ceilings make a kitchen extension bright by day, but leave few obvious places for light at night. There is often no ceiling to recess into, and steel or timber beams can rule out standard fixings.

We plan around the structure. Pendants centred in each lantern, spotlights set into the surrounding flat ceiling, LED concealed along beams or within the upstand, and where nothing standard will fit, a bespoke mounting that does.

See the Reading conservatory kitchen

Kitchenswe've lit

See all our projects

Brass sputnik pendants in the roof lanterns of a Reading kitchen extension

Readingconservatory

Recessed spotlights, brass sputnik pendants centred in two roof lanterns and a linear light over the island, in one lighting plan.

See the project

Multi-ring pendant hanging across the steel beams of a Marlow kitchen extension

Marlowring light

A modern multi-ring pendant for a glass-roofed kitchen, made possible by a mounting base designed for three slanted steel beams.

See the project