When most people begin to draw up their dream kitchen, the price tag is often the last thing that is looked into, and can often be the first reason that any sort of renovations are scrapped or thrown onto the back burner. With the holiday season upon us, finding a way to spruce up your kitchen before guests come to your home can be stressful and quite expensive if you’re looking to have renovations done at the last minute. Luckily, Cabinets Direct USA has put together this resource of great ways to add lighting to your kitchen, providing a new, modern look that will leave your kitchen warm and welcoming as guests come to celebrate the holiday season in your home.
1. Don’t Break the Bank with Stick-on Lights
Many manufacturers make hockey puck-style lights that can be stuck anywhere in the kitchen that you’ll want to add some extra lighting. Simply peel off the adhesive backing and stick it to the underside of a cabinet to provide extra lighting on countertops, or to a dark cabinet full of pots and pans. These types of lights are super budget friendly, with a three pack of lights running around ten dollars.
2. Repurpose Extra Christmas Lights
Icicle lights and colored strands of lights need not apply here. LED rope lighting is an ideal lighting source to use in certain parts of the kitchen to give a unique look to the space. LED rope lights are easy to attach to corner surfaces, such as cabinet toe kicks or above upper cabinets to give a soft note of white light that looks like it was a custom insert while the kitchen was being built out. LED rope lights usually come in four foot strands, and can be found for twenty to twenty-five dollars a strand.
3. Swap Out Old Ceiling Fixtures
Most ceiling fixtures that are found in homes simply shine light straight down from beneath the fixture. If your budget has a bit more room in it, check out an adjustable ceiling fixture that has multiple arms that can each be adjusted by hand to point light towards where it’s needed most. IKEA makes a model that has six individual arms with an individual bulb on each that can be adjusted to focus light to the parts of the kitchen where light is needed most. The IKEA Tived light is available for seventy dollars and can easily be mounted in the place of an existing fixture.
4. Be Bold with an Eye-Catching Lamp
If your kitchen has plenty of room, but inadequate lighting, a lamp can add a unique look to the room and providing lighting in a space that may be suffering. While most lamps are quite large and can take up a significant amount of space between the base and the lamp shade, lamps designed for office use or kid’s rooms tend to be much smaller and can fit in the space between a countertop and cabinets, giving a unique look to the space that brings a splash of color and a new spin on the style of your kitchen.
5. Make the Switch to Pendant Lighting
Many older kitchens come equipped with out of date lighting fixtures, like recessed lighting or flush mounted ceiling lights. If you’ve recently renovated the kitchen with new cabinets or countertops, these lighting fixtures will stick out like a sore thumb against the updated look of the space. Pendant lighting is a great alternative to changing out these older fixtures, and can provide a boost in lighting in certain spaces and give a sophisticated, streamline look that will blend right in with your updated kitchen fixtures, appliances, and surfaces.
With these tips in mind, finding a way to spruce up your kitchen before holiday guests come to visit can be a breeze, and much less stressful than finding a contractor to come in during the busy holiday season. Cabinets Direct USA wishes all of our customers, clients, and partners a happy and healthy holiday season!