Kitchen Lights

[Grets]

Hi
I have a small old cottage with lovely exposed beams, one thing that needs changing is the awful flourescent strip light in the kitchen (amongst dozens of other things, of course), the ceilings are low and the room small so not sure what would fit in or be best to replace it with, easily and without being too modern looking. Any suggestions, photos or websites would be appreciated!

 

[alison]

I've got the same dilemma exactly. As far as I've got is to think that lighting in the corners of the room, shining down and along the work benches, might make the room look bigger and get around the headroom problems at the same time. Would be keen to hear others' suggestions/experiences.

 

[pete32]

Hi,

We had the same issue, the only answer we found was wall lights there are some very nice wall lights available for cottages that will suit the period. Downlights are to modern and also against fire regulations in older houses due to the lime plaster etc so these are a no go.

Regards

pete

 

[Penners]

I think you'd be surprised at how easily a small, modern spotlight will fit into an old, beamed property.

Our kitchen has big oak beams, and we've used these lamps: http://www.ascolights.co.uk/gemini_wall_light_a_b.html

Kitchens with overall bright lighting can be a bit clinical. GU10 lamps give a lovely light, and the little spotlights allow you to "pool" the light in important areas, while leaving other areas less intensively lit. This gives a very intimate and welcoming atmosphere to the room.

I'm afraid I haven't got a photo at night with the lights on, but the one below shows a few of them in position, in daylight. You can now get low energy GU10's.

 

[MdB]

If you do use spots or downlighters in a low ceilinged room then be very careful on positioning. The kitchen in our caravan has two downlighters which are about 300mm above your head and are so positioned that your head casts a shadow on the worksurface you are working on. It's really annoying.

I am also interested in wall lights for period properties. If anybody has pictures, I would love to see them.

 

[Penners]

I am also interested in wall lights for period properties. If anybody has pictures, I would love to see them.

If you're aiming for a period look to your wall lights, then I think you have to specify the style and period of the property. For example, I suspect you would choose a very different design for a timber-frame Tudor cottage than you would for a Georgian town house.

 

[MdB]

If you're aiming for a period look to your wall lights, then I think you have to specify the style and period of the property. For example, I suspect you would choose a very different design for a timber-frame Tudor cottage than you would for a Georgian town house.

I doubt that there are too many people with a 20% 19C miners cottage, 40% 1970s extension + 40% 2008 block work with plastic windows, original beams / joists and some exposed stone work. It is basically a hodge podge of styles which we need to light with fittings that "look right". However, we don't really now what will work or not hence the general request. Your modern spots are as good a solution as any but due to the lack of ceiling height, they would have to go on the wall which I'm not sure would work as well. All our lights are supposed to be low energy versions (to get a £1200 heat pump grant from the government) which may restrict us somewhat.

 

[Penners]

Under those circumstances, I think I would aim for something as simple as possible, in order to get it to sit happily with the mix of periods of your property.

Perhaps something like this low energy wall light:

I found it on the following website, which has a huge range (I know nothing about the company): http://www.thelightingsuperstore.co.uk/category.asp?catcode=161

 

[Grets]

The ceiling in my cottage doesnt have a beam running across it presently, to get one the ceiling would have to come down, then spots put on that, wall lights would also mean a lot of work too. I guess the answer is, as usual in older properties, that there really is no easy fix to get the ideal look i want to acheive! I'm still interested to hear what everyone else has done though, it does give me some ideas!
Thanks

 

[Penners]

Actually, a low ceiling can be an advantage if you're using downlighter spotlights. If you use lamps with a moderate spread of light (say about 35 - 40 degrees) the beam doesn't have too much of a chance to spread before it reaches worktop height. This helps to give you the attractive "pooled" lighting effect that I was talking about above.

Here's a corner of the kitchen in our last house, which had a ceiling height of about 6ft 8in. It gives you a vague idea of what I'm trying to describe.

 

[Cloudscape]

During our rewire, I've had a few of these tucked in where you can't really see them:

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/FL7001BL.html

I like them because there's nothing to trap the heat around the bulb (causing heat build-up), although I do pay attention to where the rising heat will go. I may replace them when/if I find something better, but my electrician needed something quickly.

The spots are also available in chrome - the chrome ones almost disappear, by reflecting the colours around them.

I appreciate that modern-meets-old doesn't work for some people, but the smaller the lamp, the less obtrusive it is. Most modern lighting design is (sadly) pants.

 

[alison]

They look like a good option, and as has been pointed out, you can get low-energy GU10s. Can you move them on their stalks to point in your chosen direction though?

 

[Penners]

I'm sure that's a ball-joint, at the point where the lampholder joins the post, which would certainly allow the lamp to be pointed in most directions.

 

[Cloudscape]

You can't do more than 360 degrees (you'd twist the wires too far) - there's a limiter, very sensibly, to stop you doing so. But you can mount them any way up, or sideways. They are very 'pointable' and a 50w gives a nice pool of light at 4ft, and easily illuminates a 5-6ft wide section of wall across the room. Four lights given gentle room illumination (bouncing light off walls) in a 14'x10' room. You might need eight or more in a working kitchen. I plan to have something similar in the kitchen - probably a max of ten - but I will be able to switch them in groups, to vary the lighting, to suit what I'm doing in the kitchen.