Skylight over kitchen island??

last month

We are looking to install a roof lantern into our existing kitchen extension and moving the kitchen layout about as well. We want a large lantern (looking at 3m x 1.5m if possible) to maximise the light in, as the kitchen is northeast facing and we have a pocket of darkness towards the hallway.
The lantern will end up going directly over the kitchen island (it is perpendicular tonthe island in orientation) - approximate location of skylight marked by the red box. The yellow highlighted area is where the ceiling is higher as well. Not sure how we can go about getting pendant lights to work and look good, if at all, or if we should go another way by track lighting/cable lighting instead? Or anything else that comes to mind that could work?
I don't want to split into two lanterns because I'd rather not compromise on the natural light, which is already minimal. Just after some thoughts on how best to make do with the lighting?
The kitchen would be along the wall at the top of the plan, have added in a visual as well if that helps. Thank you!
P.s. have posted this question on my other account as well, posting here for reach as much as possible!

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last month

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Comments (23)

Isla Cherry
last month
Very tricky indeed. I think the lighting for over the island is going to have to be the steel cable track lighting as you do not have a lot of fixing options. If you repositioned the rooflight turning it through 90deg you would have more options for pendants over the island if you wanted them. Having a rooflight over an island is not always ideal. If you had two velux's instead you would have the area between them for lighting. Look for loads of examples on Houzz of what you are proposing and see how other people have solved this dilemma.
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A good lighting showroom should be able to help you with this - there will be lots of options and your choice is likely to depend on your anticipated use of the island or specific areas on it. Different bulbs and fittings will give different spread of light which, in turn, will be further affected by the height of the bulb above the working surface. As you won't want to be working in your own shadow you will most likely want a wide lighting angle so it will be a nearby bulb, not the one above you, which gives your task lighting. I'm not sure where you're based but Thompsons Lighting in Larne, Co Antrim (www.thompsonslighting.co.uk) are very helpful and knowledgeable.
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It really depends on how high your ceilings are and the type of look you are going for. Will they make a statement or are they purely functional? I'd usually go for pendants with fixed shades because I'm usually committing to a style and I've chosen something I truly love. However, you can get some beautiful glass shades from places like made.com . Industrial style pendants from https://www.industville.co.uk/collections/ceiling-lights-lampshades Or something elegant from https://idyllhome.co.uk/collections/pendant-light - I hope this helps.
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PRO
RELM Interiors Ltd
last month
Hello, try to find something like the light on the photo.
G Andrews
last month
https://www.litewave.co.uk

I cannot comment on the company, but if you look at the website they do roof lighting lantern led strip light kits to go around the inside of actual window lantern in a full spectrum of colours including the bright white, warm light etc.
Another idea for you to ponder and it may help solve your conundrum if you have this with down lighting in the rest of your kitchen.
163 hrd
last month
I have an almost identical arrangement in an also north east facing kitchen extension, with glass doors and perpendicular, large roof light. It is perfectly fine in the winter but with summer comes an amount of light so great that we lower the blind below eye level before going to bed. If not, the glare is unbearable until the sun moves beyond the doors. It does not solve the glare from the roof light, so we had to have UV film installed on that. So… be careful what you wish for. it is also extremely hot in the summer.
PRO
Lighting Guru Ltd
last month
This is a very tricky lighting situation. Takes a lot of time to find the right product, but there are some options (not many though!). If you can relocate the sky light so it is not centred over your island, I would do that. You'll need light on the island, not just in the evenings, but on dark, dreary wintery days. I work as a residential lighting consultant, feel free to reach out to me directly if you want to have a conversation beyond this comment - you can find my contact details on my website: www.lighting-guru.com . In the meantime, I enclose some lighting product ideas for inspiration. (they're a bit on the expensive side though - you may find comparables on discount lighting websites - or I can look for you as your consultant but can't guarantee I'll nail it!) Hope this helps! (or move your sky light ;) ...)
PRO
Chestnut Interiors
last month
An exciting project, you can use ceiling rose with flex and hook to direct the light where you need. Another option is angled down lights within the recess of the lantern and as other posters have noted a bar fixing is also possible.

If you’d like some more help with your project I’d love to tell you about my monthly Renovation Room Membership.

Good luck!
PRO
James Poore Lighting Design
last month
There are still a few questions needing to be answered, the main one being is your kitchen island going to be a "working" area? If it is then we need some good light with a strong spectral range and good colour rendering for optimum visual acuity when carrying out tasks such as chopping and food prep etc.

The next thing to think about would be thinking about the layers and the different roles that this space will play, one moment its a kitchen, next its a dining area, then it might be a party/social space and then it might be somewhere to chill out. So the lighting has got to work really hard, you want the lighting to create zones for the various functions, but, also pull all the spaces together when you want to.

We would suggest maybe thinking about introducing a lighting detail into the lantern itself as well so that its not a black void at night.

Think of introducing a few independent circuits to create the layers of light and the zones, add some control to these which can either be basic rotary dimmers or a simple control system to set the levels depending on mood/use (this can even be wireless these days to reduce complexity)
Payal
26 days ago
Hi everyone, thank you so much for your comments, suggestions and insights! We've been reading them as they came through, apologies for not responding earlier as we were in build AND processing mode!

We have decided to keep the skylight as it is in terms of size and orientation as that was the best for the space. We are looking at the Korniche roof lantern with sunshade technology to protect from UV - may not sort a glare issue, but we can only tackle that once we get to use the space better.

In terms of lighting, we decided on 4 circuits for our different zones (kitchen, additional kitchen task lighting, dining and snug/sofa area). As the lantern will be above the island, we need to make this up with task lighting, so have decided to put 4 wall spotlights in the lantern wall/recess, and we can tilt them to face/suit our needs. We'll have spotlights around the lantern on 3 sides. However, all our spotlights will be the dim to warm LED spots, which will allow us to use the space as task lighting when needed, and tone it down to something more cosy :) this is in 3 zones at least. The 4th zone is the additional kitchen task lighting (cabinet strip lights and lantern lights), which are only really needed for task lighting purposes so okay to not be dim to warm function, but if we can dim them normally then that could be ideal too.

I've added a (very rough) sketch for how our lighting circuits will be laid out, and will update with pictures if that helps too in future once all installed!
PRO
Lighting Guru Ltd
26 days ago
Would love to see pictures of it installed!! Both during the day & how it looks lit at night, that would be amazing. Thanks for sharing. I respect how much thought you’ve put into your lighting and I’m sure it will pay off. :)
Payal
26 days ago
Thank you so much! It's our first rodeo, so definitely motivating to hear that we are doing something right :) hopefully it works! I'll be back with photos for sure when complete :)
HU-827384917
18 days ago
Hi Payal your lighting zones have been really useful to see as we are planning an extension of pretty much identical layout and I was wondering what your room dimensions are as was hoping that the width would be enough for a wall of kitchen on left, island in middle and dining on right, same as your pic. Our width will be 5548 inside and the other way will be 5569.
PRO
James Poore Lighting Design
18 days ago
It’s important with an open plan kitchen where there are other functions occurring in the same space to be able to isolate off the kitchen task lighting from the ambient or feature lighting.

If you are installing a plinth lighting detail and possibly an over-cupboard soffit lighting detail to have these separately dimmed on their own circuit so you can turn them on when you sit down to eat or chill to draw the eye away from the kitchen work surfaces so you are not staring at cooking detritus!

By turning other lighting off in the kitchen area and tge plinth and/or high level (over cupboard) lighting details on you put the worktops etc in to effective negative space.
Payal
Original Author
18 days ago
Hi James, thank you! That's what we'll be trying to incorporate - the ability to turn task lighting off while keeping the ambience otherwise. We don't have plans for plinth lighting currently, and have open shelves instead of wall cabinets otherwise which is where we are planning for LED strip lights. Hopefully it works!

HU - glad that our plan has helped somewhat! Our dimensions are similar, just a little smaller than yours. Width is ~5485 and length is ~5354. The length is broken up by a column that creates the extension, we are using this to break up our kitchen line (base units and worktop one side and tall cabinets on the other side), and to help zone out the rest of the space - if it fits! Attached below dimensions to help, I've flipped the image so it reads in the same orientation as the lighting plan from before which is why the numbers will read upside down!
HU-827384917
18 days ago
Thanks so much! May I ask what the dimensions of your Island are and how much walkway you’re planning between the kitchen units? We were planning on 900 so that we have as much room as possible for the dining and walkway the other side.. did you choose a bench to save space? What stage of build are you at? We start on Weds next week. Any photos would be great to see!
HU-827384917
18 days ago
I was so hoping we’d have room for a snug top left like yours - it looks like it is possible then fingers crossed!
HU-827384917
18 days ago
Sorry I meant top right for the snug!
Payal
Original Author
17 days ago
Our island is 2780 long, and I believe 920 deep where the bar seating will go, otherwise probably around 600 after the curve in the narrower section. We are doing this curve to give circulation space behind our sofa/snug as it could be a bit tight, you may not have this issue though! We're going to try keep 1000 for the walkway between units and island, I think this would be comfortable, and if we need we can reduce this up to 900 but I don't want to do that. I think of it in terms of not compromising on the practical ise of the kitchen area - as there will be multiple people passing between while cooking, I feel it's nicer to have that space instead. We are having to keep 800 from the island to the end doors/wall though, as we need to shift the island down as much as possible in order to give a decent circulation space between the island and the snug!

We would like to have bench seating for the dining area! It's something that will look into after the main stuff is done, I don't think space will be a problem otherwise. We are hoping to fit a little snug in - but will have to see one the kitchen goes in! Depends if we find the right sofa really to fit in there but we'll see :) We marked out dimensions on the floor using masking tape before any works started to get a feel and understand how the dimensions translate to real life.

Our extension was existing, done by a previous owner, so we only had the space we had to work with as we didn't want to do more in that regard. We’ve changed the flooring throughout the ground floor, added in a utility (actually made our existing open plan space a bit smaller!), will add in the skylight to bring more light in. And otherwise paint and all that kind of stuff, so nothing majorly structural. Hopefully if you have the ability to make it yours and have some space to play with, then absolutely go for it and I'm sure it will fit! Especially as you have a bit more length, your island can go a little further back and give you enough circulation space to the snug, which is our main restriction. How exciting that you start so soon though, wish you all the very best with it! I will post pictures soon once I get some :)
PRO
lumière
13 days ago
We work with Tom Howley Kitchens throughout the UK and are currently in the process of upgrading the lighting for the showrooms. We have over 3000 pieces in our collection from many brand designers including Ralph Lauren and Kelly Wearstler which offer statement lighting for kitchens and Islands. We would be happy to help you choose the perfect light for your space.
PRO
Tessy Roper Interiors
9 days ago
You can get creative by adding beams to fix the lights too or choosing creative lighting solutions such as this one.
PRO
Lighting Guru Ltd
9 days ago
Love that 👍
PRO
Expand & Build Ltd
8 days ago
Hi Payal, a skylight will elevate your space and add a touch of elegance, without a doubt. We renovated a client's kitchen and added a skylight with fantastic results as you can see here https://www.houzz.co.uk/photos/extension-project-contemporary-kitchen-london-phvw-vp~150513563
PRO
Bespoke Glazing Design
yesterday
Our specialists can show you different skylight options, answer any questions you might have and provide a no-obligation quote for you. Feel free to DM us your details. Looking forward hearing from you.