Kitchen, adding recessed lights. Ideas?

10 years ago

Hello Lighting Folks,

We are replacing the old ceiling fixture in our house with can lights as part of a kitchen remodel. I'm at a real loss on how to place the fixtures in the kitchen. I think I want lighting for the table and the counter areas on either side of the sink. However it'd be nice to have lighting for the pantry and fridge areas as well. Any tips on this? I've seen rules of 65 lumens/sf or 35 lumens/sf, which should I go with?

A couple notes

Kitchen is 16' 10" x 11' 4"
7.5' tall ceiling
White cabinets, white oak floor
We have a hanging light above the sink
Already have undercabinet lights

Here's a diagram of our kitchen, hopefully not too vague.

Also a fisheye pic of most of our kitchen, looking from the bottom door towards the sink

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Comments (4)

David
10 years ago
35 lumens per sq ft is a better guideline to get an initial estimate. I used it to get an initial estimate of the number of cans necessary (assuming no other lighting sources).

In reality, it matters more that your worktops are properly illuminated.

The following thread will have more details

recessed lighting guide
reluctantlawnkeeper
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks for the link! I will check it out.
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reluctantlawnkeeper
Original Author
10 years ago
So here's one pass at a plan, not sure how crazy I am about it. It looks a little too random.

According to the 35 lumens/sf and a 575 lumen cr4 I get about ~11 fixtures.
David
10 years ago
The middle row above the center of the room could be omitted. Or a flush mount/ semi flush mount fixture could be used.

Since you have UCL, you could reduce the number of recessed lights.

As mentioned in the linked thread, the final location of each recessed can will depend on
1. The location of the ceiling joists
2. The direction the ceiling joists run
3. Other obstructions above the ceiling board such as ductwork, plumbing, other structures.
It would be a good idea to have peek above before having the holes put in.