Easy Kitchen Lighting Ideas To Brighten Your New Kitchen

Whether you’re in the throes of a kitchen refit or merely looking for an interiors refresh, your choice of Kitchen lighting can make all the difference. Far from just an afterthought or simply a practical addition, your lighting can transform a kitchen space and provides all kinds of creative opportunities for interior design. We’ve collected all of our favourite kitchen lighting ideas in one place to deliver that bolt of inspiration and help you add the perfect finishing touches to your new kitchen vision.

1. Kitchen Pendant Lights

This classic kitchen light idea guarantees incredibly stylish results every time, no matter the style or layout of your kitchen. Simple yet striking, a kitchen pendant light can be hung as a single, standalone lamp or arranged in a group with multiple pendants for a statement feature. 

This grouping of pendant lights is also a highly effective way of creating kitchen island lighting features, which is another perfect kitchen lighting idea for those lucky enough to have a kitchen big enough for a kitchen island. Simply arrange 2, 3, 4 or more pendant lights centrally in a line above your kitchen island to draw the eye and create a stylish focal point. 

Tip: If you’re installing multiple pendant or island lights, it is well worth seeking the help of a professional to help make sure all your lights are equally spaced and hung at the same height.

2. Rise & Fall Lighting

These ingenious lights give you all the style and sophistication of pendant lighting ideas with one big additional bonus: Flexibility. Perfect for busy, multifunctional kitchens (particularly kitchen-diners), rise and fall lighting designs allow you to raise and lower your lights with ease, whenever you need to. The higher you position the lamp, the wider the spread of light will fall across your kitchen. You may wish to lower the lamps for mood lighting or accent lighting, while you can raise them to create ideal, bright task lighting and the feeling of more available space. 

3. Copper Collectives

If you’re looking for kitchen lighting ideas to apply across the entire room as a coordinating style, copper is the perfect way to go. As a highly traditional metal found in kitchens of old (think glowing copper pots and pans), copper kitchen lighting is the ideal choice for transforming your kitchen into a warming and traditional-yet-contemporary space. Try grouping different lighting styles in copper, which could include ceiling pendants, wall lamps and even floor lamps if you have a dining kitchen space, and watch as the coordinating metallics draw your kitchen together as one stunning space.

4. Exposed Cables

If you’re seeking kitchen lighting ideas to create more of an industrial, minimal feel, then fittings with exposed cables are just the ticket. Yet another variation on highly-popular kitchen pendant lighting ideas, exposed cable designs quite literally consist of a light pendant hanging from a bare cable flex, which would traditionally otherwise be encased in a decorative metal trim or another form of disguise. 

You can find pendant lights with bare cables, or you can simply buy bulbs on long cable flexes which can then be wound around poles, beams or exposed metalwork for a unique, industrial feel with a contemporary twist. 

Tip: Make sure any structures you plan to hang your cable lights from are sturdy enough to support this; always ask a professional if you’re not sure.

5. Hidden Lighting

If you’re looking for additional kitchen lighting ideas that add ambience and style less conspicuously, it’s time for you to try out some LED strip lighting. Self-adhesive and easy to cut to any length, strip lighting can be placed inside glass cabinets, beneath wall cabinets or at the foot of floor-based cabinets to add a stylish glow with no visible source. Perfect for adding mood lighting at parties or simply for lighting bijoux kitchens with less available space, strip lighting comes in plain white light and colour-changing light options for maximum customisation.

6. Adjustable Spotlights and Track Lights

Spotlights and track lights are the perfect choice for kitchen lighting if you want to take a no-fuss, no-frills approach without compromising on style or that high-quality finish. Spotlights are smart, sophisticated and timeless, making them the perfect long-term kitchen lighting idea that won’t fall out of fashion or need updating. 

You can opt for individual spots, which can be mounted on walls or ceilings and angled to face any direction you require. Alternatively, you can install kitchen track lights featuring 2, 3 4 or more individual spots along a main track, which allows you to cover multiple areas of your kitchen with your lighting as well as creating a modern, central light feature.

7. Kitchen Chandeliers

Going for grandeur? How about a chandelier to set the tone? A chandelier makes the ultimate statement kitchen lighting idea for creating a genuinely striking kitchen design. Providing you have sufficient space and ceiling height to accommodate the width and drop length of your chosen chandelier, these elegant lighting designs can transform a kitchen in an instant. Especially perfect for dining kitchens, kitchen chandeliers can provide a central design focal point while adding a beautiful, bright light to your space. 

Not a fan of traditional crystals and glass? No problem. Chandeliers come in plenty of contemporary and alternative styles, too, so you’ll always be able to find a look that fits your vision.

8. Big Bulbs

Our final kitchen light idea is perfect for those who love a vintage vibe. Oversized bulbs with large filaments are proving to be quite the timeless, never-fading trend, and are incredibly easy to add or remove from your kitchen lighting setup as you see fit. Vintage bulbs mimic the rich glow and oversize style of the original Edison bulb while using modern LED technology to keep them energy-efficient and long-lasting. 

9. Cabinet Lighting

Whether you use your kitchen cabinets or if they’re for display purposes only, adding kitchen cabinet lighting will help illuminate them in all the right ways. Choose small, warm spotlights to place inside your cabinets and let the light bounce off the glass in all the right ways. By incorporating different coloured glass, you will add a unique flair to the room once they’re lit up by these cabinet lights.

10. Chic Light Shades

Accentuate the full kitchen with a glamorous kitchen light shade that will catch everyone’s eye. Let it hang over your kitchen island or dining table and make it the focal point of the whole room. Not only will a big light like this illuminate the full space it will look good doing it. Chic light shades make a fashion statement and will modernise whatever look your kitchen is aiming to achieve.

11. Hanging Orb Lighting

Orb lighting creates a beautiful glow and instils a sense of ambience to any room. Installing orb lights into your kitchen will illuminate the space in both a practical and welcoming way. Ideal for kitchens that have a lot of natural light, orb lights complement it and help fill the darker corners the outdoor light cannot reach. 

12. Geometric Lighting

If you’re working with quite a bare kitchen such as a simple white one or one made up of neutral colours, your kitchen lighting can be a fun way to play about with shapes and patterns. Choose geometric-shaped lighting to contrast the simplicity of your kitchen design and add more structure to the room. Adding something exciting to a minimalistic look, geometric lighting creates a focal piece and highlights the beauty of the rest of the room.

13. Rustic Lighting

Perfect for achieving a chilled and welcoming tone for your kitchen, more rustic lighting choices makes everyone feel at home. Complement a variety of wooden kitchen tones and add an ambience to a mainly-brown kitchen design with a rustic style of kitchen lighting. Line up a selection of rustic lighting above your worktops and help those warm hues fill the space of the room, creating an almost farmhouse friendly, shabby chic atmosphere. 

14. Industrial Kitchen Lighting

Choose visible filament lighting for an industrial style kitchen. Pair with metal appliances (stainless steel, copper or brass) and basic kitchen designs to create an effortless look to the room. Match the cold looking metals with warm bulbs, and you’ll make the perfect balance to set the mood. 

15. Clustered Lighting

Best suited to a simple kitchen, clustered lighting can help fill up unused space in an aesthetically pleasing way. Hovering clustered spotlights above your workstation or kitchen island will utilise the overhead space of the room whilst brightening up necessary stations for practical kitchen use. 

16. Drop Lighting

Drop lighting for your kitchen will add a contemporary, eye-catching design. Not only will the lighting illuminate the space you choose, but it will also become an essential part of the kitchen’s overall look. Choose complimentary drop lighting that will hang low over kitchen islands or breakfast bars to create a modern, chic style. Drop lighting is available in a multitude of designs and colours and can be easily incorporated into a range of kitchen designs from monochrome, to white & gold themed, traditional or industrial.

17. Kitchen Lanterns

Add a hint of the old into your kitchen with kitchen lantern lighting. Whether you choose vintage-style, Victorian-esque kitchen lanterns, or a more modern, industrial design, kitchen lanterns can help make your kitchen feel much more homely. Lanterns add a glow to your kitchen that is both practical and warming for the whole family to enjoy. 

18. Minimalistic Kitchen Lighting

Minimalistic lighting is what you need when you want the kitchen to be the focal point of the room. Clear glass styles that help illuminate the space without stealing the spotlight are a perfect choice, as well as, kitchen lighting that is the same colour as the rest of the room and other styles that will simply blend into the design without contrasting it. 

19. Crystal Lighting For The Kitchen

All the fun of a chandelier but a little less flashy, alternative crystal kitchen lighting can add glamour to a range of layouts. Choose a range of small crystal lighting shades and sporadically place them within the kitchen or choose one leading crystal light; you make a range of looks with crystal lighting. Crystal doesn’t have to be vintage, match crystal kitchen lighting with more contemporary, clean kitchen designs and bring this style of light up to date. Ideal for adding glitz and glam to a more mundane kitchen, crystal lighting can be incorporated into any look of your choice.

20. Bold Box Lighting

Make a statement by installing box lighting into your kitchen. Maximise the use of space in your kitchen and go big to illuminate the full room. Use your kitchen lighting as the perfect extension of the room’s style. Install box lighting above your kitchen table or even kitchen islands and make sure where your family congregates is illuminated brilliantly.

21. Metal Lights

Match state-of-the-art kitchens with complementary metal lighting to complete the whole look. If your kitchen includes modern, clean-cut designs, then metal lighting will enhance the up-to-date look and add an extra shine into the mix. 

22. Statement Lighting

Statement lighting makes your kitchen lighting the central point of your kitchen design. Choosing quirky, unusual, and stand-out lighting options will make a statement and enhance a range of interior looks. Think big, bold pendant lights and large, eye-catching shades that will claim all attention as soon as anyone enters the kitchen. These big lights also help spread light to every corner of the room, brightening it effectively.

23. Illuminating Spotlights

Spotlights are a fantastic choice of kitchen lighting, and when you don’t hold back on the numbers, they can be the most illuminating choice too. If you have a wide kitchen ceiling, installing an array of spotlights across the available space will make sure the spotlights reach every bit of the kitchen and provide useful, practical light all of the time.

24. Focused Kitchen Lighting

Kitchens require good lighting to make tasks like cooking, cutting, grating and chopping safer. Focused kitchen lighting includes practical, functional lighting options such as kitchen top, cupboard lighting, over-the-sink lighting and much more. Choose useful spotlights or hanging lights to shine directly only a focused space to make using your kitchen a much safer environment, whilst still looking good. Combine stylish lighting with practical uses and get the kitchen lighting balance just right. 

25. Neutral Lighting

If you’re trying to create a relaxing, multi-tonal kitchen ambience, then neutral lighting is the perfect choice for you. Choose soft hues, easy-to-blend light shade shapes and subtle lighting that will become an integral part of your kitchen without ruining the neutral shades of the rest of the decor. Complement your dining tables and create a rustic, warm atmosphere that will welcome the full family home every evening. 

Update one of the essential rooms in your home in the simplest of ways. By following just one of our Kitchen Lighting Ideas, you can alter, enhance and transform your kitchen decor beautifully. Kitchen lighting can be both practical and stunning, and at Moonlight Design, we want all of our kitchen lighting range to help you achieve just that.