8 Creative Lighting Solutions for Food Prep

Lighting can be a real doozy when you’re assembling your dream kitchen. Not only do you need to make sure that key food prep and cooking areas are well lit, but you also have to create a balance between the fluorescents and LEDs so many planning boards require and the softer light sources you desire.

They key to finding this balance often lies in choosing fixtures that not only brighten your prep spaces but also draw the eye away from can lights, fluorescents and LEDs. Here are eight creative ideas for lighting your prep space, no matter what your style.

LSA Architects

Oversize pendants with solid shades direct light directly onto this island, offering plenty of light for slicing and dicing. By directing light toward the center of the island, this cluster also softens and diffuses the focus on the eating area, making it ideal for both ways this space needs to function.

Kim Smith Photo

A staggered mix of delicate pendants and industrial Edison bulbs delineates the breakfast bar from the sink area here while ensuring that no morsel of baked-on food will escape being washed off.

Marshall Morgan Erb Design Inc.

Can’t see the fixture? Look again. It’s cleverly mounted in the center of the pot rack just below the level of the rack itself, ensuring that hanging pots won’t block the light when this home chef takes advantage of the island’s butcher block.

Keystone Millworks Inc

A mix of lighting sources anchors multiple prep spaces in this traditional kitchen. Traditional sconces break up a majestic oversize backsplash and light the counter below, while lantern-style pendants help anchor the island and light the second sink.

Mina Brinkey

The family who owns this home has six hungry boys, making the kitchen a high-traffic area. They worked with The Home Depot’s design team to create a kitchen with plenty of snack-making space lit by a long row of pendants from Blue Moon Trading Co.

Mina Brinkey

In the same home, the soft light diffused by the pendants’ wire shades does double duty on the other side of the island, where a breakfast bar provides additional seating for this large family.

See more of this warm, eclectic home

Mim Design

This huge dome pendant provides ample soft lighting for this prep-space-meets-seating-area. It suits this home’s minimalist, modern decor perfectly, creating a simple focal point by contrasting the countertops’ sharp edges.

Innenarchitektur-Rathke

An elongated vent hood with built-in lighting makes this ultramodern space shine. Placing nonfluorescent downlighting lower than ceiling level helps to diffuse and soften the light while still keeping the prep space bright.

Tara Bussema - Neat Organization and Design

An angled roof created a particular lighting challenge in this Southern California home. The solution: midcentury-inspired Pele pendant lights hung over the kitchen island …

Tara Bussema - Neat Organization and Design

… which create a focal point to draw the eye away from the track lighting that’s doing the heavy lifting.