Lighting Advice

13 years ago

Hi,

Looking into different lighting options for an open kitchen/living room. Kitchen is roughly 12 by 6 and opens up into the living room which is roughly 14 by 14. The ceiling height is 8 ft so cant have anything hanging. My contractor recommended recessed lighting or a single flush to the ceiling fixture in the living room and one in the kitchen. I could also have a floor lamp hooked up to a switch for the living room.

Is recessed lighting worth the extra price? Aesthetically is it that much better/high end looking? Does it provide much better light than a single fixture in the middle of a 14 by 14 room? Also, my apartment is within an old NYC townhouse. I am going for a transitional feel, not too modern, not too traditional. Would like to somewhat keep the integrity of the apartment.

Thanks!

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Comments (14)

PRO
Custom Home Planning Center
13 years ago
last modified: 13 years ago
I'd start with up lite crown. The current (last 6 moths) LED are 60 to 100% brighter and use line voltage as the chip type emitter s do the conversion without the need for transformers. I buy on ebay. Search wholesale led bubs and strip lights. The ones with the little chips showing are the ones you want. There are also crown molding which is specificly designed for this application and can be searched as well. Note: the pictures show the old style led's as the new ones are just now getting into the market. So think brighter. Also GE has a new flat panel LED light fixture that I'm looking forward to using.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Image+up+light+crown+molding&qpvt=Image+up+light+crown+molding&FORM=IGRE

http://www.comlight.com/products/commercial-fixtures/ge-commercial-fixtures/lumination-led-luminaires-troffer/
PRO
The Mine
13 years ago
Hey Stephen! We (and other Houzzers) could probably give you a better read with some photos, but going on what you've told us we think you could definitely achieve sufficient lighting and a transitional feel with flush mount fixtures while also saving a little dough. Recessed lighting is great, but it doesn't seem like it would be necessary in the space you've described. If you decide on a floor lamp, be sure to consider torchieres/uplights ( http://www.atgstores.com/torchiereuplight-floor-lamps_94.html?&option0=optionA=193995|10369~Valu) that cast light upward, but we think two transitional-style lights ( http://www.atgstores.com/transitional-flush-mount-ceiling-lights_448_s15.html?) would add more character and still give you plenty of light. We hope this helps and wish you luck!
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Stephen Kussack
Original Author
13 years ago
Attached are two images. The wall between the living room and kitchen has been partially removed (maybe 3 feet) and the kitchen is now open to the living room. Also, the countertop is extended into the living room a little with a small breakfast bar. As you can see, there is old track lighting in the kitchen that I need to replace with some sort of lighting as well.
Stephen Kussack
Original Author
13 years ago
The first picture is the view from in front of the fireplace. The second picture is the view from the door leading outside. Thanks!
PRO
The Mine
13 years ago
Thank you for posting the photos, Stephen! We're sticking to our story, especially if one of your goals is to save money. You could also use a portion of what you save to get creative with supplemental lighting like lamps. You could also replace the track lighting with something a little more low profile of the ready-to-install variety ( http://www.atgstores.com/track-lighting-kits_252.html?linkLoc=topnav) if you wanted to keep the functionality intact. We've attached some images to give you some ideas there, but using these would depend on your overall plan. Good luck - the space looks great!
Stephen Kussack
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for the input.

For the living room, I was concerned that a ceiling flush light would be too in your face, as the ceilings are only 8 ft high. Not sure what your view on that is. Not sure if recessed would be better. Do you think the best option would be a floor lamp that could be turned on by a switch?

Also, I was concerned that track lighting does not give off even light in the kitchen. Would a ceiling flush light be a better option? What would you put over the breakfast bar? My contractor is suggesting 3 recessed lights in the kitchen, one of them directly over the breakfast bar area. He also is suggesting recessed lights throughout the living room.
PRO
The Mine
13 years ago
Hey Stephen! We think either route will take you where you want to go. We believe there are plenty of flush mounts that have a sleek enough profile to accommodate an 8' ceiling, but recessed lights (or lamps) will obviously free up space. We've posted some images of flush mounts with heights less than 5" to give you an idea of what may work best. We would agree that what you may gain in functionality with track lights can sometimes be lost in even lighting, and if you have no need or intention of ever adjusting them, then you likely don't need them.
charleee
13 years ago
What a beautiful color pallete you've chosen! For lighting, I can tell you we have recessed lighting in the living room and it's worked out very well for us. There's no worry of playing 'hide the cord', or only plugging the lamps in an area where there's an outlet.

The one thing I do wish we had was a dimmer switch, that would make a great difference.
Stephen Kussack
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks for the input. These pictures are old pictures and the place is currently being gut renovated, so the beautiful pallet was chose from the past owner!
charleee
13 years ago
Well! If you didn't say something, no one would know, and you could have taken all the credit!!!! hehehe

Oh, and if you do get a flush mount, avoid the boob light, ok? [houzz=
Country - Cottage Sage Ridge 13 1/2" Wide Indoor - Outdoor Flush Mount Ligh · More Info
]
elcieg
13 years ago
ATG, I had a low ceiling problem in the basement when we did it over. I got a "snake light", I think it is called. I can only find one here on houzz, but could something like this work for Stephen?
Padova Residence · More Info
PRO
The Mine
13 years ago
Hi, Judy! We call those "monorail" lights and we think they're really cool! But, we'd be concerned about the clearance issue. Stephen has 8' of room, which means anything that drops down more than 6" might get tricky, especially when you think about when you're waving your arms around. All those game nights without charades could get a little stale. Even so, we never want to count anything out!
charleee
13 years ago
I love those snake/monorail lights! So cool!....Bobbi
Stephen Kussack
Original Author
13 years ago
Attached are some photos taken of the kitchen/living room area after the renovation. You can see the lighting I went with. Three flush to ceiling lights in the kitchen and one flush to ceiling light in the living room. Also, there are led lights under the wood shelving in the kitchen.

Thanks for your input 6 months ago!