Written by Rick Kovac, COO of Golden Lighting

The takeaway: We have published a new white paper, The Golden Kitchen Layering Method, that sizes and places every kitchen fixture from the room's own dimensions. It is free to read, with no sign-up.

Key takeaways:

  • A kitchen is lit well when four layers each do one job: task light, an island group, proportion, and a decorative layer with controls.
  • Island pendants are sized from the island's depth (about one third of it), and the bottom of the fixture hangs 30 to 36 inches above the surface.
  • Seats are planned at 24 inches per person, separately from fixture spacing.
  • Galley kitchens take a series of flush units: two for 10 to 15 feet, three for 16 feet or more.

Most kitchen lighting advice is a list of styles or one rule of thumb. This paper gives the numbers, with three worked examples: a 96 by 42 inch island, an 84 inch linear fixture, and a 14 foot galley.

  1. Read the full white paper.
  2. Size the dining room with the Chandelier Size Calculator.
  3. Browse all of our papers on the Lighting Research hub.
Size an island pendant from the island's depth, space it from the island's length, and plan the stools separately.

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