Lit up

I'm just back from Wimberley after installing the final kitchen light fixtures, which include the four you can see here and another three out of the photo. Plus some tiny LED's in the cabinets that are really just sort of night lights. Being an architect sometimes involved with lighting issues but never actually having to design them, I knew just enough to be dangerous.

So, after consulting a few lighting books and Internet words of wisdom, I became an expert. Learned all about providing three types of light in kitchens:
1- General area lighting, preferably indirect
2- Bright task lighting for key areas such as counter surfaces
3- Accent lighting, for special surfaces or when the fixture itself is the accent.

Our general lighting is provided by two ceiling washers mounted to the right of photo, bouncing light off the ceiling and gently back down across the area.

Like everything in our new home, these fixtures are very energy efficient. Total energy consumption with all eight of them on is 140 watts, so they also give off very little heat for the AC unit to combat. Pretty cool.