PLAN AND ZONE YOUR KITCHEN

Decide how you use each part of your kitchen, and draw a floor plan to map it out – this will help to determine how much light you need and where, such as your food prep and cooking zones. “It’s important that task lighting is a white light so that the colours of your ingredients are easy to spot,” says architect and lighting designer Joe Snell. Sharp knives and dark spaces are a dangerous mix, so once you’ve found the ‘cutting’ hotspots, you’ll know where you need task lighting. “For benches and specific spaces, carefully consider where you’ll put the light,” says Beacon Lighting’s Denise Hammond. “You don’t want to be casting a shadow every time you’re chopping vegetables.”