Lighting is important in any room in your home, but particularly in the kitchen. Whether you're trying to create ambience and atmosphere or need bright task lighting to help you work more efficiently, lighting plays an important role in both the style and serviceability of your kitchen. Here are some of your options:

Ambient lighting: Overall illumination
Cost: $50 to $200 per fixture

Track
- Aimable, adjustable fixtures on ceiling tracks.
- Clean, contemporary look.
- Not suited to traditional styles of homes.

Pot or pin
- Lights that are grouped and recessed in the ceiling.
- Halogen provides the most even illumination.

Puck
- Sit on the ceiling; cast light farther than pot and pin.
- Great for small or low-ceiling rooms.
- Also used as under-cabinet task lighting.

Global
- Ceiling-mounted, often a half-globe or round; casts light in all directions.
- Doesn't have the spotlight effect of some pot, pin and puck lights; perfect for large kitchens.

Supplemental: Task and accent lighting
Total cost: $100 to $400

Pendants
- Attractive task lighting that hangs over work or dining surfaces.
- Group three over an island for visual appeal.

Strip fluorescents
- Easy-to-install, economical under-cabinet lighting.
- Energy-efficient long-life tubes.
- Avoid cool white, which has a blue cast.

Uplighting
- Placed on top of cabinets to accentuate a high ceiling.

Rope lights, fibre optics
- Energy-efficient accent lighting.
- Rope lights can be installed in or under the cabinets.