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I'm trying to come up with a lighting plan for a galley style 8'x11'
kitchen (the link to the layout is
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/kitc...1334403598.jpg)
For general lighting, I'm considering three 5" or 6" cans about 34"
apart as seen. I would prefer the kitchen to be a little over lit. Any
suggestions for the wattage and trim?
I will have undercabinet lights, so I'm not considering lighting the
countertops from the ceilings; however, what I would like to do is to
somehow "accent light" (wall wash ?) the new wall cabinets. They are
dark cherry (like mahogany with reddish overtones) and look really good
when lit. The cabinets are 42" tall and moulding will be 4" (flush with
ceiling) as seen in the drawing. I did an experiment with a 3" MR16
pointed at the middle of a cabinet door (down about 25" from the
ceiling). I placed the light source about 15" from the cabinet angled
at about 30 deg from the vertical. The result was good, but since all
the cabinets are not installed yet, I'm a little reluctant to begin
cutting holes in the ceiling drywall until I'm sure what I'm doing
makes sense. So, I have couple of questions:
- Is wall washing the cabinets this way common; i.e. using an angled
(adjustable) trim (at 30 deg)? Is there a better way? Will a wall wash
trim do the job better than a retractable eyeball, gimbal, etc.?
- I'm considering 3" line voltage cans (with GU10s) (new
construction) or low voltage cans with individual transformers
(remodeling) probably with 35W-50W MR16s. If I use halogen at about
15"-20" from the cabinet surface, will the heat cause any problems? Any
cooler halogens (does dichroic coating make it cooler - not the light
but the heat coming from the lamp)?
- if I install regular downlights (not at an angle) pointing toward the
edge of the counter (24" from the wall, 12" from the wall cabinet
surface), will it have the same "wall wash" effect? (Actually when I
tried it, it didn't look like the same as pointing directly at the
cabinet surface, but I might be mistaken.)
- I'm planning to use 1 can for each door (they are 16-18" wide). Is
this too much?

I really appreciate all the suggestions..

Sorry, this is kinda long and rambling. Looking back on the remodel last
year, I realize that lighting planning is the crux of a good kitchen result,
and of course cannot easily be altered once the whole project is completed.
For my overhead lighting I used 50w low volt mr16 track mounted halogens,
and used twelve of these bulbs to light a 12x14 kitchen. I wanted more
"aim-ability" than can or down lights allowed.Max wattage was more than I
needed, but I have dimmers on all the lighting circuits, for better light
control, so max wattage limit is not really a concern. Even with undercab
lighting, I aimed a few of the ceiling lights at darker areas of the
countertops, as undercab lighting can have darker areas near the front of
the counters. For washing cabinet fronts (in my utility room) I used 120v
50w PAR20 bulbs mounted in gimbaled eyeball mounts. They work great, and are
easy to install, and you dont have the scores of wattages and many
beam-width choices of the mr16's, which can be confusing. The lights are
about 40 in. apart, point vertically down, and the spread is good enuf - one
per door panel would be too much for this bright and floody par20 bulb. For
undercabinet I used low volt xenon modular lights that have two brightness
settings, switched from the kitchen entry. They work fine, and heat is not a
problem, but these are smaller units than the MR16's you are contemplating.
Still, I doubt the 35 watt halogens will be a problem, as long as you use
fixtures designed for these bulbs. For all critical choices I bought just
one unit of each kind of lighting - ceiling, wall wash, undercabinet, and
top cabinet rope lighting. Then I tested them at the heights i planned, and
got a really good idea about spacing, ranges, and wattage, before committing
to the whole light order.
Some of the online suppliers I have been happy with are www.rlights.com,
where i bot the undercab Kichler modular xenon lights (i think i used 25w
bulbs) - the service, prices and product is great. The quality of the xenon
light is comparable to halogen, but slightly truer, less yellow cast.
For the MR16 ceiling fixtures I ordered from Eclectic Lighting in San
Antonio - I forget the web address. Only fair service but very low prices
for WAC Lighting, which I like.
Ordered the rope lighting from noveltylights.com. If you have space between
your ceiling and cabinet tops, you may wish to light this area a bit, just
to cut shadows.
Good luck.