The new year is all about back to basics: eating simple foods after a season of holiday indulgence, returning to a regular exercise routine, clearing out closets of everything but the essentials. Sometimes even though we think we know the ins and outs of a topic, it helps to re-investigate the foundational principles. This way, we separate the wheat from the chaff and perhaps learn a few new things in the process. So for the month of January, I've decided to educate myself on the basics of home lighting fixtures—because next to a fresh coat of paint, nothing is a quicker interiors fix than a switch-up in your lighting.
Let's start with kitchen lighting. Unless you're renovating this room from scratch, you're unlikely to change the fixtures here, but doing so can make a huge difference for both aesthetic and functional reasons. Most educational resources break kitchen lighting into four main types, but for our purposes (ie. a home decor refresh) there are two: decor/ambient and task. Think of the former as your all-purpose worker. It's the switch you flick when you enter the room and need overhead illumination; decorative pendant light fixtures and ceiling mounts fall into this category. The fixture that usually comes with a kitchen isn't generally the most attractive. Yet swap of this lighting is so fast, easy, and rewarding, you'll wonder why you haven't done it already.
Then there's task lighting. I cook a lot (and therefore do dishes a lot!) so I'm acutely aware of how lacking my apartment is when it comes to directional task lighting. I'm in the market for a swing arm or accordion sconce next to the sink so I can spot stubborn lasagna noodles still stuck to the pan. Perhaps some under-cabinet lights to ensure that I slice, dice, and julienne my veggies, not my fingers. You don't have to be a homeowner or a renovator to have kitchen lighting you love, and you can do it right now.
There's no time like the present to get back to basics!
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