Lighting Plan for Open Plan Kitchen / Diner / Lounge

5 years ago

Hello,

I am trying to pull together my lighting plan for my builder. I've left it a bit late and they want it tomorrow, which is a bit unfortunate as I've not had the time for various reasons to think it through properly.

I'm trying to avoid a harsh grid of downlighters and would prefer something that is bright, but quite soft.

This is my layout - with only plug sockets mapped on so far.

I need to put a ceiling mounted extractor over the kitchen island. My idea was to build a box down from the ceiling 20cm or so to house the extractor and perhaps a few spotlights. I see that a lot of people build their boxes with a space at the top to put led lighting so it sort of 'glows' from the top.

I'd be really grateful for any thoughts or recommendations as to how I approach the rest of it. Not shown on the diagram are two roof windows about in-line with the desk, centered in the wall.

I was thinking:

- Box over island, extractor over hob, four downlighters, one in each corner of the 'box'. I'm not sure how workable pentant lighting will be with an extractor. Otherwise I would go for that.

- Bookshelves on the left: I was thinking of getting the electrician to wire in a cable that will eventually illuminate LEDs on the bookshelf.

- Above TV: thinking of some coving to disguise some leds to cast a wash of warm white down the wall. I was thinking however that it does somewhat restrict how you use that wall - putting any shelves, paintings etc might somewhat spoil the effect. Will have a lamp or two I suspect either side of the TV.

- Dining Table: 3x pendant lights. It is a bit tricky to figure out exactly where the pendant lights should go given that we haven't picked a dining table size/chairs etc.

- Kitchen: LED's on top of the cabinets and under cabinets illuminating the work surface. Wall mounted lamp over sink to provide light for washing up.

- Space between island and other kitchen units. My temptation is to put some downlighters here. Not sure if they should be angled towards the wall units?

- Space behind sofa and behind desk (where the roof windows are). I was thinking of putting a few downlighters here.

- Centre of lounge area: Not really sure about this bit. I can't imagine myself ever sitting watching tv with big ceiling lights on, or a bank of downlighters. I see some people go for a sculpted ceiling, against with a spill of soft light. That feels like quite a lot of custom work that we've not budgeted for. Interested to know thoughts.

Finally - Interested to know how people would propose we get all the lights wired up. I was thinking we might want a ring for all the soft lighting in the kitchen (cupboards, over-island). Another for all the soft lighting in the lounge (bookshelf, lamps by TV, anything else). Another ring for the pendants over the dining table. And then finally a ring for all the other spotlights that we fit which would be the always-on, really bright, but not that pretty mode.

Not entirely decided what will go along the wall by the dining table. Probably some sort of wall unit / bookshelf with a mix of books, ornaments, pictures. I guess more soft light built into the shelves, and maybe angles spotlights in the ceiling to illuminate it futher?

Grateful for any suggestions!

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Comments (4)

PRO
OnePlan
5 years ago
Be mindful of glare at eye level in lounge area - be aware you will need good lighting at island ie more than four LED’s !
Note your under cabinet lighting may well cause glare and reflection onto your worktop if it’s not Matt finish . And officially, for all things electric in a kitchen, this should be arranged with a part P certified electrician.
Jonathan
5 years ago
If it were me firstly I would have one switch for task lighting- I think your planned 4 spots in the island boxing is enough but would have them in a row. I would have an additional 4 in a row in the ceiling above the walkway between the island and the main run of kitchen cabinets plus an additional two behind the sofa (but put a softer bulb in these). I would have two in the ceiling above the sink as I think it is tidier than having a wall light. Don’t forget to put a few in the laundry cupboard too. Since your extension ceiling is sloped I would have inset spots that you can angle. Personally I think that when you use the desk you switch on a desk light.

I would have a ring of 3amp sockets so that you can switch on two table lights in the sitting area and two standard lamps in the dining area (or two table lights on a console table) and the LEDs above the bookcases. In my opinion you specify more than you need as you don’t have to plug something into every socket but the flexibility is useful.

Personally I don’t think you need the coving light in the sitting area and think the idea is odd in an area with sloping ceilings.

Next I would have additional kitchen lighting - I would have a run of LEDs under the base cabinets near the plinth and around the base of the island- these are nice to have on at night when watching TV as the kitchen is not fully lit but is light enough to navigate. Additionally I would have lights above and below the wall cabinets. I also like your idea of the boxing above the island having a shadow gap to conceal further LED strip lighting.

Pendant lights- I agree that you won’t want one in the sitting area. I think it is messy to have pendants over the island with the additional boxing. I would have one over the dining table and choose an oversized fixture later- ensure that this lighting flex is near somewhere strong enough to mount a ceiling light of some size.

Additionally I would have walk over lights in the floor near the garden doors. Remember these will reduce the focus of the garden at night- you might prefer to put these on the outside of the door to reverse the effect.

Don’t forget to specify at least one socket behind the cabinets/ under island should any of the kitchen cabinets include lighting- this is especially useful in pantry cabinets.
Don’t forget that you will likely need additional sockets in the laundry cupboard as you might well have a charger in there for a vacuum or drill. Personally I would have extra sockets around the desk and contain the router, you home answer phone, etc etc all in the same place. Don’t forget you can also get sockets that include a USB charger inlet. Since you are doing a plan for electrics don’t forget tv/ satellite aerial points.

You should also take this opportunity to consider outside lights and power- consider sockets outside for garden lights, outdoor heaters, awnings, water features, mowing the lawn etc.

LEDs unless you like decorating in very dark colours choose warm white lighting- a lot of strip LEDs can be adjusted to color match other lights in the room.

LEDs- Last time I sourced these I was disappointed with the quoted costs from the electrician- do your own research online about price. Pay attention to the lumen levels and consider if you want disable LEDs.

Boxing over the island. Choose your extractor before specifying the size of the boxing- I think the shallower extractors are deeper than the 20cm you stated.
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Mike F
Original Author
5 years ago
Thank-you very much for the replies, really helpful.

OnePlan: I hadn't considered eye glare when seated in the lounge. Would have been very easy to overlook so will consider that going forward. We are going with matt work surfaces, so hopefully OK on kitchen glare.

Jonathan:

- When you say "one switch for task lighting" - do you mean for the whole room? Or all the task lighting in the kitchen, all the task lighting (the pendants) in the dining area etc?

- Our roof isn't going to be sloped, so no issues there, but I'm don't in any case think we want the coved lighting in the lounge area.

- I'd consider walk over lighting outside, but budget won't stretch.

- I will look to incorporate all of your led suggestions.

I have made a plan now for the lighting and attempted to color code each 'switch':

Marked as "Soft (5amp?)" there are three areas for lounge, dining and kitchen non-task lighting. The lounge and dining designs are not at all complete - furniture and light fittings are not determined, but I am clear that I will want a range of LED and conventional desk-lamp style lighting controlled via the wall switch. I need to provide instructions to my builder for first-fix electrics tomorrow. Given time lines and my lack of clarity, I was going to specify a single cable on the lighting ring to each of the three areas - I would then have to figure out how to split that to support a range of fittings. Each area will have furniture and/or high cupboards that can potentially hide wires etc.

I'm in the UK and also read that remote wall switch control of lighting appliances requires an old fashioned BS456 plug. I'm assuming that is still a current requirement?

I'm uncertain about the spacing of my kitchen/entrance spotlights. I definitely need proper task lighting over the sink. I was leaning towards a wall mounted unit, but recommendations here (and my wife) have suggested a couple of spot lights. In that case, they will need to be set over the centre of the sink, but it doesn't then look right (at least I think) to have an evenly spaced row of spotlights between the kitchen units and island. Instead I have left a bit of a gap in the row around the sink.

The room shape also dictates that the entraceway spotlights don't line up with the ones in the kitchen. I'm tempted to think that is fine, as the alternative would mean either putting the entrance-way spots too close to the wall, or the kitchen spots too far from the work surfaces. I dare say the lack of alignment might help with the 'zoning' On the plus side, it (albeit subtly) plays to the broken-plan/zoning agenda by being deliberately different.

Finally, I am concerned that I am pretty light on spotlights apart from in the kitchen. In a way this was my intent, I suppose it all depends on the eventual design of the soft lighting areas. A bit of me thinks I should add more - but I suspect they might rarely be on. I would (probably) want them on the other switch, we are over our contracted number of light-points, so each additional will cost £70 - which I'd happily save.

Thanks for all the advice thus far, and grateful for any additional comments on the above.
PRO
OnePlan
5 years ago
As long as you get all this agreed with a part P certified sparky - then you will know it passes muster !

Lighting Plan for Open Plan Kitchen / Diner / Lounge

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Lighting Plan for Open Plan Kitchen / Diner / Lounge

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