Lighting the kitchen-living room in a modern style

Lighting in the kitchen-living room has a number of features, which must necessarily be understood before you choose light sources and their location. With the help of lighting fixtures you can not only provide a comfortable living environment, but also zoned space and emphasize its separate areas.

Lighting plays both a practical and decorative role.

Principles of organizing lighting in the kitchen-living room

There are a few recommendations, using which it is easy to avoid mistakes and organize the correct lighting. Here everything is quite simple, you can understand in a few minutes, then it will save a lot of time, because it will be clear, according to what principles the equipment is selected and placed. Tips are as follows:

1. Project the location of fixtures and sockets is made in advance. Therefore it is necessary to think about the functional areas, their size and features of use. If everything is ready, it will not be difficult to lay the wiring correctly during the repair, and then you will not have to spoil the finish and redo the work. The project should be coordinated with the supervisory organization to avoid errors and violations of electrical safety requirements.
2. Remember that outlets and switches should not be placed closer than 60 cm from the sink or other sources of water.
3. Consider number light sources. In no case should not be only the chandelier in the middle. Most often, as additional lighting is used to illuminate work surface and the dining area. Also in modern rooms it is not uncommon to put sconces or directional light and install LED strips in the cabinets. You can illuminate niches, or use other options for decorative lighting.
4. Through the choice of the position of lighting fixtures is easy to hide the shortcomings of the room and compensate for them. For example, in a narrow kitchen-living room is to place light sources only on one side. If you put a few chandeliers or lamps in the middle, it will stretch the room. Wall lights pointing upwards will raise a low ceiling. And a massive chandelier will fit perfectly with tall partitions.
5. Color temperature determines the comfort of staying in the kitchen and living room. When choosing bulbs, it is better to give preference to soft yellow or natural light. Cold variant is suitable only for the working area.
   The color temperature should be calm, to tune in to rest.
6. To be able to adjust the brightness, it is best to put LED lamps and connect them through a dimmer. With it, it is not difficult to adjust the lighting in different ways and change it if necessary. In the LED strip adjustable and shades.
7. It is especially important to illuminate small spaces well. Due to the light, they will become more spacious. But you should not use too many lights, it badly affects the perception of space and the comfort of being in it.
8. The stylistic design of the room is taken into account. For a wooden house, stylized options made of wood or ceramic are suitable. Lighting the kitchen-living room in a modern style can be implemented in different ways, there are hundreds of options.

It is worth adhering to the same stylistics when choosing equipment for different functional areas.

Types of lighting fixtures for the kitchen, combined with the living room

When choosing should be based on functionality and comfort. Depending on the size of the room, its shape and zoning, different solutions can be used. But most often install such options:

1. General chandelier can be used as the main source of light in a small room. If the size is large, then hang two or more chandeliers, this option is now in fashion, so it occurs more and more often. In this case, the lighting can be combined in one switch or make a separate one for each piece of equipment.
2. Light LED panels Suitable for modern interiors and give a soft, diffused light. Instead of them, you can use plafonds, usually there are several of them to provide normal lighting.
3. Hanging lamps over the dining table is a classic solution. Usually they are placed lower than the chandeliers to provide accent light. It is important to determine the optimal height so as not to interfere with movement. Models with adjustable height are often installed, which is very convenient.
4. Built-in lights can be put both in the ceiling (preferably a stretch ceiling or plasterboard), and in niches. Often such models are built into cabinets or illuminate cornices with them.
5. Track systems. A convenient solution, which is a rail of any length, on which any number of lights in suitable places is placed. The added convenience is that the lights rotate 360 degrees and can illuminate a large area.
   A great solution with track lighting along the entire length of the room, the reflected light creates a comfortable atmosphere.
6. Wall lights Good for a small room, they can be used near the dining table so as not to take up space. There are many options, it is better to take models with reflected or diffused light, so it does not strike the eyes.
7. LED strip appeared recently, but the lighting of the living room, combined with the kitchen is difficult to imagine without this type. It is not difficult to install the lighting yourself in any place - in a niche, cabinets, above the work area, on the bottom edge to create a floating effect. Also, this option can provide soft lighting if placed around the perimeter of the room.

When using a stretch ceiling, a special profile with a diffuser can be installed. If several rows of high brightness LED strip are glued into it, it will provide normal basic lighting.

Distribution of functional areas with light

If you have to combine different functional areas in the same room, it is very important to properly arrange the lighting. If you do not think about it, or put lights in any way, the effect will not be the best. To avoid problems, it is worth remembering a few recommendations:

1. The general light in a small room (especially for hruschevkas) is easiest to combine for all zones at the expense of one chandelier. It is better to choose a variant with evenly distributed diffused light of warm or neutral shades.
2. For large rooms use 2 or more sources of general light. They can work together or separately, which is very convenient.
3. Above the work area is always a separate light. Most often a brighter light is used there to ensure good visibility. Now the most convenient option is LED strip, it is easy to install, you do not need knowledge and experience in electricity.
4. The dining area should stand out separately. There can be one or more lights over the table, as well as spot or wall light sources. When receiving guests, this part of the room should be highlighted brighter than the rest of the area.
5. If the living room area has a soft set or a separate upholstered chair, it is worth placing an additional source of light near the furniture. There are many options here - from a table lamp to a sconce or floor lamp. The main thing is to illuminate a small area and not to interfere with others.
   Each functional area should have separate lighting.
6. To zone the space more clearly, often between the kitchen and the living room area install a bar counter. In this case you can hang several lamps above it or put spotlights. Then you get a kind of boundary, which separates one zone from another and at the same time provides comfort to those who are seated behind the bar.
7. Often the height of the ceiling is different in order to differentiate the individual parts of the room. Here it is worth thinking about lighting, as level differences impose certain restrictions on the choice of suitable equipment. A good option would be backlighting in places where the ceiling drops, with its help emphasize the contours of zones and create an interesting decorative effect.

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The choice and installation of lighting fixtures in kitchens combined with living rooms is different from what is done in separate rooms. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to this point and think through everything to the smallest detail, so that then you do not have to redo the light.