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There are probably a million and one ideas for kitchen lighting techniques and styles.
I asked Paul Ryan, the host of Kitchen Renovations on the DIY Network, what type of innovative kitchen lighting ideas he liked best.
He was quick to respond with a definite favorite!
Paul likes multiple track lighting (also known as free form or flexible track lighting) for the ultimate in versatility and style in today’s kitchens.
In addition to Paul’s comments I posted a few photos of some flexible track lighting ideas in kitchens.
Following is an excerpt from my one-on-one interview with Paul recently…
Randy: Let’s talk about innovative kitchen lighting ideas for a second. What do you think is the best way to light a kitchen work station? I’ve seen reflective against the ceiling, task lighting and stuff like that. What’s your recommendation?
Paul: Well, what I’ve seen, I think for ease of installing lights and having them specifically where you need them, you can use can lights. And can lights are okay. Can lights will light up the kitchen. And it’s pretty simple to figure out your patterns for that.
One of the things that I see now is kind of a multiple track style of lighting. Basically, you can form the track in any shape that you want to. You can form the track into an “S” or a curve or just create lines. You can run it all the way along a kitchen.
The nice thing about lights like this is that it’s different from some of the old tracks that are just straight — you put the lights on them and that’s where they have to be.
But with some of these newer tracks you can actually maneuver that track around any way that you want. You can curve it. You can “S” it. You can really cover a lot more area of the kitchen.
Obviously there’s nothing much to it, and the power is running to it because the track is what powers it. But I really like that style in a couple of kitchens that we’ve done because we can sort of move the track where we need it and mount it to the ceiling. You can put your pendants on or you can put your spotlights on and you can really focus them on different areas that you need them without having the lights stuck in one spot.
Randy: So it’s the versatility of the multiple track lights that makes them a great choice for most kitchen renovations.
Paul: Yes. Right.
Kitchens aren’t the only place to use them, though.
Flexible track lights are highly desirable in other areas of the home — such as the den, media room, home theater, home office, garage workshop, and living room.
Whether you’re in the market for accent or task lighting in your home, flexible track lighting may be the answer you’ve been looking for to meet your unique needs.
I started as a home-stalker… visiting brand new homes under construction in the neighborhoods near my house. That inspired me to write about home building and home renovation projects — chronicling homes during different phases of construction from a consumer's point-of-view. Basically, the tips you'll find in my articles are a collection of checklists for what I think should (and should not) go into building or remodeling a quality home.
