• Lighting helps us to create spaces and emotions. 
• The choice of the type of lighting and its placement helps the activities inside the kitchen. 
• The reflection of light on surfaces and materials are decisive to achieve the desired atmosphere. 

The Silestone Institute and Häfele explain the latest trends in kitchen lighting to create comfortable environments and a sense of well-being. 

Light helps to create well-being and awakens emotions 

The light in the furniture is more than just an accessory. It is not a complement that can be installed later, but a real protagonist of the kitchen. Today, lighting has an essential and indispensable comfort function in furniture. The interaction of light in the room and light in the furniture has a great influence on well-being. 

The lighting situation triggers associations: romantic, cozy, relaxing or cold. With the right lighting we can highlight functional areas with uniform, bright light, adding to the overall illumination of the space. 

Different lighting for different purposes 

For cooking: The bright, neutral white light provides pleasant illumination in all important work areas and ensures optimum color rendering of food and products. 

Dining: The combination of direct, flat light for perfect illumination of the dining table, complemented by indirect, warm light on the ceiling and walls, creates a pleasant ambience. 

Relaxing: Cool, bright light promotes concentration, while warm, reduced light sources promote relaxation. 

Taking these factors into account, the interaction of kitchen elements with the arrangement of lights can create a comfortable and pleasant atmosphere. 

In addition to cooking, it is necessary to determine whether to create an office area for eating in the kitchen or if the children of the house do their homework in it, have breakfast, etc. so that each area is properly illuminated in a specific way, avoiding deficiencies in areas that require specific lighting. 

The reflection of light on surfaces 

Depending on the material and structure, each surface reacts differently to light.   

With semi-transparent or transparent materials, light can also penetrate the body of the furniture, which is why light scattering and light reflection are factors to be taken into account. 

Lacquered surfaces, white colors and steel or glass finishes will easily multiply the brightness.  

A floor or light materials reflect light much better than dark materials. Therefore, a kitchen with a high-gloss finish, for example, requires less basic light. An additional lighting effect brings freshness and spaciousness to the room. 

Innovative lighting systems to accentuate rooms: linear lens + LED strip lighting 

According to Cristina Martín, marketing manager at Häfele Herrajes España: “The right choice of lighting system creates the right lighting scenario and accentuates a room, giving prominence to shelves, corners or surfaces. For example, with linear lenses combined with LED strips, a kitchen worktop can be perfectly illuminated with homogeneous, glare-free light”. 

A linear lens concentrates the light from the LED strip, thereby doubling the intensity of the illumination in the area being focused, while reducing the glare effect by around 85%. These linear lenses can be controlled by switches or from the cell phone with BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) connection technology.