Kitchen Light Spacing Best Practices, How to Properly Space Ceiling Lights

Kitchen Light Spacing Best Practices, kitchen lighting tips

In this DIY video, we cover concepts of Kitchen lighting design ideas, can light spacing, proper placement of recessed lighting in kitchens. Follow our kitchen lighting tips in your kitchen design. Maybe you never considered kitchen recessed lighting spacing, but you should be asking what is the proper placement of recessed lighting in kitchens?

The LED wafer lights we used are Lithonia Lighting WF4 LED 30K MW M6 9.6W Ultra Thin 4" Dimmable LED Recessed Ceiling Light.

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You don't just throw a few kitchen lights up on the kitchen ceiling

We'll show you sample kitchen lighting design, recessed lighting, and how we decide the proper placement of recessed lighting in kitchens.

Kitchen lighting layout for our recessed lighting project

For this kitchen lighting remodel, we have a 1 1/2" crawl space when we raised the kitchen ceiling, so this kitchen lighting remodel needed something different from standard recessed lighting layout. This is kitchen lighting design at its finest.

Kitchen lighting remodel involves new LED wafer lights

We needed new kitchen light ideas for this project so one idea we had in this kitchen lighting remodel was LED wafer lights. These LED wafer lights look similar to standard kitchen lighting involving traditional recessed lighting layouts.

Instead, this newer type of LED kitchen lighting consists of a surface mount LED wafer disk connected to a small square can. You no longer use kitchen recessed lighting cans, saving you the requirements of a lot of space over your kitchen ceiling, plus the cost of the can and installation.

So how does your recessed lighting layout get affected by the new LED lighting from LED wafer lights? What is the new required can light spacing from the wall for your kitchen lights?

It turns out that kitchen light spacing is the same whether you used recessed lighting cans or newer LED kitchen lighting wafer lights. Your kitchen lighting layout will be no different.

Kitchen lights and recessed lighting layout

We feel that for your kitchen lighting design, the can light spacing from walls should be about 36", from the wall, so that the can light spacing will be 24" inn front of the 12" deep cabinet.

As you'll see in our video with actual houses that have poor kitchen lighting designs, and poor kitchen light spacing, if the can light spacing is too close to the top of the kitchen cabinets, you will have harsh shadows below on the kitchen counter, and your kitchen counters will be dark underneath the cabinets.

Few builders know about proper can light spacing from walls, frustrating homeowners who live with poor kitchen lighting. Heed our kitchen lighting tips.

Remember with the above LED wafer Lights, there are no more giant recessed lighting cans to buy when installing your new LED kitchen lighting, but you do still have to design your can light spacing from the walls.

We hope you found our kitchen lighting ideas useful, and now you'll be an expert on LED kitchen lighting design, and now you'll be able to give kitchen lighting tips to your friends.

Other videos that cover proper placement of LED kitchen recessed lights, and under cabinet kitchen lighting designs:

Be sure to also check out House & Home channel, they have a good video with kitchen lighting layout tips, that covers under cabinet lighting, task lighting, and spacing of recessed lighting layouts, with kitchen recessed lighting spacing.

FTC Required DISCLAIMER: This kitchen lighting design video and description contains affiliate links to amazon for DIY LED kitchen lighting, which means if you click on one of the product links, to buy an LED wafer light or recessed kitchen lighting, we’ll receive a small commission whether you buy that product, or continue on shopping on Amazon once you get there from our links to amazon.

[ms.monceux]

Interior Designer/GC here: I often take lighting courses as part of my continuing education, and my last course was through Visual Comfort, the lighting company. Task lights should be spaced every 4' and 24" from the wall. Why? They are task lighting, and when you use a knife to work on the counters when the lights are behind you, it creates shadows, and you will cut your hand/thumb. Furthermore, I do universal design, meaning I design for aging in place (we now say 'Living in Place'); as we age, our eye lenses become yellow and more challenging to see; thus, one's kitchen should be well-lit. This video is 5 years old; this gentleman had his heart in the right place. As time passes, things get better, and research shows better ways of installing things, so let's not be too harsh.

[danielverdin]

Coming from a design builder, I understand your point of view and frustration with incorrect installations. The AEC industry is plagued with incorrectness in every area (structural, electrical, plumbing) but what’s worst is the arrogant finger pointing “I’m better than you attitude” and unwillingness to make our fellow contractors better by taking a leadership approach instead of referring to their work as “stupid” “no idea what they are doing” etc. As a general contractor I have made mistakes in lighting but I learned because I wanted to do better. There is no one way or universal master guide to learn the hundreds sometimes thousands of scopes of work that encompass every aspect of building a Decent building. or in this case, optimize lighting design. So, from what I see/hear in this video, You’re knowledgeable, like what you do, and seems like you do good work. so don’t belittle others work but maybe point out why you would do it differently, inspire people to do better work by showing them a better way. That’s the only way this industry is going to change for the better.

[graceland]

I have tell to tell, I bought the suggested lights and install per your instructions and we were extremely please with results. Little to no shadows and we added a dimmer, those small lights are powerful. Thanks a million.

[davidduane]

This is completely incorrect!!! People please do not follow this if you are remodeling a kitchen. This design is for "general area" lighting and not kitchen task lighting. This would be how you design a den, livingroom, bedroom where you want even lighting throughout the room. A kitchen is designed for work and those work areas are the areas that need to be focused on. There may be shadows if not enough lights are installed and if they are installed incorrectly. BUT PLEASE DO NOT EVER PUT YOUR LIGHTING BEHIND YOU IN A KITCHEN! This kitchen may look "lit" up in a picture as there is no one working in this kitchen but if you were to put 2-3 people moving around helping make Christmas dinner it would be horrible.
I am a Master Electrician and also own a separate lighting company which we install designs in art galleries, salons, and other high lighting focused areas.
My apologies for saying you're wrong but I want to save diy'ers the not so happy outcome in the end!!!
As for me I would have had a couple more down lights in completely different locations on the counter tops and also under cabinet lighting and then this small kitchen remodel could be in a magazine!!!

[tecumsah]

Used this video as a primer for my own kitchen lighting project. Works very well in that no shadowing exists beneath the cabinets but, as indicated in the comments, under counter led strips were added to improve task lighting. I used 4", 3000k led pucks with a dimmer. I am very happy with the result and thank you for the video since I would have made the same mistake without your help.

[dennisd]

Lost my olde account and took a few minutes to find you again. This video is going to help me out on my high ceiling Queen Anne house that I'd like to get my hands on soon.

[jimyounger]

I need to show ya a drawing of my ceiling light layout. You’re so right about the spacing. And my neighbors thought I was crazy and went overkill. Now that project long finished, its perfect. Tam king the time and making a good layout with good measurements is critical and way worth the effort. Great video.

[ScreamingLemon]

This video gave me the most information that I have been trying to find on YouTube for a long time

[lefthandedwoodworks]

Shadow from the cabinet or shadow from your head. Undercabinet lights are a must!

[robertbribiesca]

Thank you for information on where to install lights and why.many won’t let one know.

[yvendous]

I'm 6'4" and thought I'd share my experience.

Just built my kitchen cabinets/countertop 3" higher for my lower back issues preparing food for dinner. We also raised the cabinets up to the 8 foot high ceiling. 30 inches seemed to be the sweet spot in this scenario and the shadow under the upper cabinets isn't there.

We just wired one LED pot light and tested it live, another person safetly held it above my head in a few spots until we figured it out. Maybe that trick will help someone doing that one reno on their own like me.

[Auxified]

I'm glad I found this video. I was going to put my "down lights" only 18 from cabinet, but now I will move them out more, thanks !

[robbonnie]

The actual problem is trying to use ceiling lighting as an all-in-one source for kitchens. Kitchens require multiple light sources specifically designed for task working, not just general needs lighting like other rooms. There are a lot of factors to consider with setting up kitchen lighting, however technological advances make it easier to complement general area lighting in a kitchen, such as under/over cabinet lighting, accent lighting, decorative lighting, etc..

[mainmanroche]

Jeff I took your advice and mounted my lights 3 feet from wall. I wanted to say Thank You! They look and respond Great.

[dmpalmer]

Wow this is one of the most helpful videos. THANK YOU

[xyzct]

Perfect ... if you want to work in your own shadow.

[TheWrecker]

Finally did my kitchen lights today. Thank you so so so very much for posting this video otherwise I'd have put the lights closer to the cabinets like most people seem to recommend. The light fills in all the way to the back of the countertops and turned out great. Again thanks Jeff!!!

[AZWSM]

Great Video. I am about to start our project today. I hooked up a light with a 6' pigtail and moved it around to check for shadows as you are showing here. Watching your video beforehand would have been much easier!

[abramedison]

Saying this method is wrong is an opinion. I've used this method for years in the electrical field running my own company. Never had a complaint, always turned out great. There are multiple ways to get the lighting you desire.

[DejayTrump]

I put my lights 30"to 32"off the wall depending on the way trusses are and always looked good