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By Wayne A. Endicott
When remodeler Alex Dahlgren of Acheron Construction LLC, Dallas, first saw the kitchen, its only light source was some fluorescent lamps hidden behind a yellowing translucent plastic in a ceiling grid in the middle of the room. How, Alex wondered, could anybody properly prepare food with so little illumination? "You could hardly see what you were doing," he laments.
Alex studied architecture and environmental design at Pratt Institute and had more than a working knowledge of lighting design. Putting his training and experience to work, he set about transforming the dingy '70s-style room into a modern food-preparation center. "I knew that lighting could make all the difference," he says. "So that became a major focus of the remodeling."
The recently retired homeowner of the home wanted a bright, inviting space in which she could entertain her large friends. The rest of the home was beautifully furnished and had been recently updated. "She held off on doing the kitchen until she found just what she wanted," Alex says,
The Acheron makeover entailed removing the dropped ceiling with its yellowing light fixture, installing new custom cabinetry, and removing a non-functional fireplace and iron railing in the center of the room. A large island replaced the fireplace, providing lots of storage and seating for several visitors. Alex also developed a color palette meant to complement the rest of the home, especially the adjacent space, where the homeowner does most of her entertaining.
Shedding light in the darkness
The best color palette and most fabulous cabinets are wasted without enough light to show them off. Alex quickly discarded the idea of a skylight. "For one thing," he says, "the house style didn't lend itself to a skylight. It has a low-pitched roof, and I've found that putting skylights into that kind of environment is less than satisfactory. For another, the homeowner does most of her entertaining at night, when natural light is waning or not present at all during the winter months."
Instead, Alex outfitted the kitchen with an array of artificial light sources suited to its variety of lighting needs:
- Under-cabinet slim-line fluorescent lamps provide direct lighting over counter workspaces. The bulbs emit "warm" light, not the usual cool light associated with fluorescents.
- Incandescent lamps installed in ceiling cans provide ambient light throughout the kitchen.
- Pendant lights directly over the newly installed island illuminate that workspace.
- Halogen lights above the kitchen sink provide an intense light source for one of the busiest places in the kitchen.
Alex routinely puts all incandescent lights on dimmers a practice particularly suited for this job, he says. "The homeowner can dim the lights in the kitchen and join her guests in the adjacent family room when she's finished with her work, without the light from the kitchen spoiling the mood."
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