Lighting makes all the difference in your kitchen and bathroom. Every meal you cook and cozy conversation over dinner is impacted by your kitchen’s lighting and ambiance. Your bathroom is safer and more attractive when you have proper lighting to illuminate all surfaces.
Modern countertop lighting trends make your kitchen and bathroom more attractive. The right lighting can make all the difference when it comes to the appearance and appeal of your countertops.
The Importance of Lighting In Your Countertop Material
Color, finish, and other countertop characteristics can be accentuated with proper lighting. Whether it’s natural daylight, ambient overhead lighting or task lighting, each lighting type affects how your countertop is perceived. Taking your countertop material into consideration as you choose light fixtures can help you create a flattering environment for your kitchen and bathroom surfaces.
How Light Affects Different Countertop Materials
Each countertop material is different. Below are the most common material types that modern homeowners choose for their kitchen and bathroom.
Quartz
Quartz, also known as engineered stone, is made from a combination of synthetic material and natural crushed stone. Quartz is manufactured to mimic various natural stone types. It can be speckled like granite, or can have veins like marble.
Quartz patterns can be subtle or bold, and because quartz is man-made, it can come in all the colors of the spectrum. Bright lights help accentuate the beauty of quartz, by drawing attention to the small details that make this material look its best. Many homeowners prefer quartz stone because it has the beauty of natural stone, and the durability of synthetic materials.
Marble
Of all the natural stone options for your kitchen or bathroom, marble is the most elegant and luxurious. This soft stone often displays vein patterns that can be light and subtle, or dark and dramatic. Soft, layered lighting brings out the best in marble, by highlighting the veins and other details.
Granite
Granite countertops come in a range of patterns and colors, similar to quartz. Often, granite comes in earthy colors that give your kitchen or bathroom a natural beauty. Granite can be speckled or veiny, similar to quartz. Bright, diffuse lighting helps granite look its best, by calling attention to the larger pattern within the rock.
Soapstone
Soapstone is a non-porous soft stone that can develop a patina over time. It gets darker with use, and benefits from regular oiling to ensure an even distribution of the patina.
Most soapstone is soft gray with light veins, bringing a zen-like beauty to your kitchen or bathroom. Like marble, soapstone benefits from soft, diffuse lighting. Layering light in your bathroom or kitchen can show off the best characteristics of your soapstone.
How Countertop Finish Is Impacted By Light
Countertops come in various finishes. Each countertop finish impacts how the counter looks under various types of lighting.
Polished countertops are buffed until they shine. Polished countertops have a highly reflective surface that is likely to produce bright reflections, especially when positioned beneath task lighting.
Matte countertops are buffed until they’re smooth, but are not shiny like polished countertops. A successful matte finish will absorb light without reflecting it. Matte countertops can be more difficult to maintain in spaces like the kitchen, because matte finishes more easily absorb liquids. If you’re going to choose a matte finish for a porous stone like marble or granite, you’ll need to keep these surfaces properly sealed.
Leathered countertops are brushed to produce a leathery, irregular surface. Their texture and lack of shine make them unique. Leathered surfaces are slightly more resistant to staining than matte surfaces. Like matte countertops, leathered countertops absorb light and produce little reflection.
Caressed countertops are slightly textured like leathered countertops, and slightly reflective like polished countertops. Caressed countertops are slightly more resistant to staining than leathered options, but maintain the rustic appeal of leathered countertops.
Lighting Options for Your New Countertops
Consider all your lighting options as you design your new kitchen or bathroom space. Many kitchen and bathroom spaces have multiple lighting options to create different effects. Your contractor may connect you with an electrician to help you design a lighting arrangement that meets your needs.
Task Lighting
Task lighting is bright, directional light to help with tasks like cutting vegetables. Task lighting can be installed under the cabinets or can come from pendant lights or recessed lights overhead. Task lighting creates reflections on polished surfaces, but is necessary in spaces where food preparation takes place. Task lighting helps prevent accidents by providing clarity while you move about your daily life.
Natural Light
Windows provide flattering natural light to enhance your stone countertops. As you proceed with your home remodel, consider widening your windows – or even moving them – to cast your countertops in the best light possible. Natural light changes throughout the day as the sun moves across the sky. Consider the quality and brightness of your natural light as you decide where to position your home’s windows.
Ambient Overhead Lighting
Ambient overhead lighting helps create the layered lighting effect that is so flattering for natural stone. In large and small spaces, plan to install several overhead lighting options in the form of recessed lighting or overhead light fixtures. Position ambient lighting fixtures in the center of the room and each quadrant of your kitchen to achieve the layered lighting effect.
