Kitchen Remodeling: Lighting

Cabinet lighting is the process of lighting the interior and the contents of any cabinet. Such a cabinet can exist purely for the purposes of display, as is the case with many antique reproductions and fine china displays, or it may exist for a functional purpose, such as those used in large residential kitchens or retail displays.

The reason for specialized cabinet lighting is that even the brightest of general room lights are simply too dim to adequately light the interior of a cabinet with even a rudimentary design. In fact, the more ornamental the design of a cabinet is, the more the reveals and vertical stiles will block exterior room lights and cast shadows on the contents inside.

The presence of shadows is further magnified by cabinets that are built with doors. Even with doors designed with glass pane windows that allow you to see the contents inside, the door trims themselves present significant obstructions to external light. Therefore, internal cabinet lighting is essential in order to create aesthetically superior showcases.

There are many different types of fixtures used to light cabinet interiors. Overhead lights, also known as puck lights, are used in some kitchen cabinets, mirror back cabinets, and curio cabinets that have several mirrored surfaces and glass shelves. The vertical, downward shaft of the light beam is reflected by these mirrors and can create a high intensity lighted interior which is acceptable for illuminating small collectibles.

In kitchen cabinets with glass shelves they are a reasonable lighting source, but they offer little decorative value because they concentrate too much light in the center of the cabinet and less around the sides. Since most kitchen cabinets have wood shelves, a puck light in the top has no value at all.

For optimal cabinet lighting, the best choice is linear strip lights. These fixtures affix to either the bottoms of shelves or the interior of vertical cabinet stiles or door interior trims.

Some linear strip lights, of course, are better than others. Due to the highly customized craftsmanship of cabinet building, it makes little sense to force a fixed length strip light into an interior proportioned around unique and highly variable dimensions. Also, it makes even less sense to use a fixture that protrudes conspicuously into the aesthetic realm of the display. Such an intrusion is an eyesore to say the least.

A little bit of common sense combined with a lot of advanced technical engineering brings us to the conclusion that the best cabinet lighting fixtures are custom made, low profile linear strips that are manufactured to fit the specific dimensions of interior horizontal and vertical cabinet surfaces.

There are essentially three different types of light sources you can choose from, including incandescent, xenon, and LED. All three offer both advantages and disadvantages specific to respective applications.

Incandescent lamps have been around since the early 20th century, and they still have that Golden Age ambience. The slightly golden tint to their light makes them much warmer than natural sunlight.

The drawbacks to incandescent lamps, however, are the same ones faced by Thomas Edison. They are notorious power hogs. They don’t last for very long at all, so you have to keep buying replacements. They also tend to get very hot, so you cannot leave them on indefinitely, especially in a closed cabinet of any kind.

Now, with certain linear cabinet lighting devices, dimmer controls can compensate for both of these drawbacks. Dimmers reduce both the power draw of the lamps and the heat the lamps produce.

Xenon is basically a high end form of incandescent lamp that is renowned for its longer lamp life. Also, it produces just as much heat as standard incandescents. Again, we are back to that heat issue we talked about earlier; and we are back to relying on dimmers to regulate both voltage levels and forward throw heat.

LED Lamps are the most promising luminaires that science has created to date, and their impact is now being felt in all levels of commercial and residential lighting.

LEDs solve the problems of replacement costs with astoundingly long lamp lives. They also use about 80 to 90 percent less power than incandescent based equivalents. Even better, they produce minimal heat and can be left on throughout the day and night without risk of overheating contents or fixtures.

While incandescent and Xenon lamps have a fixed color temperature, LEDs are available in different degrees of warmth or coolness. Warm tone LEDs offer the same color as Xenon, plus there are cooler selections similar to Halogen or even cooler choices for whiter, crisper tones.

The only drawback to LED festoon lamps is that the initial cost of LED lamps is significantly higher than Xenon or Incandescent lamps. However, they will ultimately compensate for their cost by reductions in power usage and heat load on air conditioning.

There is no hard and fast optimal luminance level for cabinet lighting all displays. The general rule of thumb you should follow, however, is based on the reflectivity of your contents. The less reflective the interior surfaces and contents, the higher lighting levels you can use.

If you have a closed cabinet, never use xenon above 5 watts, and be sure to use your dimmer controls to regulate the intensity of your cabinet lighting. Alternatively, use low wattage LEDs instead.

Some manufacturers make both horizontally mounted lights and vertically mounted lights so cabinet styles of all custom cabinetry can be appropriately illuminated. Strip lighting fixtures are very low profile and are easy to conceal, making them the dream come true of the interior designer and the collector who wants the people in the room to see the light but not the fixture.

Phantom Lighting System. For more information about Cabinet Lighting, Strip Lighting vs Puck Lights, and Concealed LED Lighting visit us online now.

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Choosing Painted Cabinets

Kitchen cabinets are one of the leading investments you make in the interior of your home. And, kitchen cabinets set the tone for the rest of your interior decor. There are many types of building materials, styles and finishes to choose from.

There are amazing numbers of kitchen cabinets available in the market with different designs and styles. You will also get cabinets in uncompleted form and at very good discount. Mainly the selling of kitchen cabinets is accompanied with lot of offers. Do your range first and then go with the additional works as painting, changing doors, and addition of hardware which is also easier for you also. Generally people think that discount cabinets are of lower quality product, and available at low price but this not true regarding discount cabinets. Before selecting discount kitchen cabinets you should follow few instructions that can help you.

Spot the overall style or decorating design for the kitchen. Keep this style in mind when selecting the cabinets. for finding cabinets exploration in some magazines related with home decor. Oak and cherry are favourite hardwoods. Signs of quality cabinets are particle that matches from piece to piece and furniture-quality finishes. But go for an low-priced yet powerful wood when choosing your discount kitchen cabinets. Hickory, alder and maple are usually cheaper than oak and cherry cabinets. Walnut and bamboo are among the most expensive wood cabinets.

The cheapest wood cabinets are not solid wood, they are particle board, and composite wood and Thermo foil cabinets. However, these cheaper cabinets do not have the longevity of solid wood. Peek within cabinets. Most stock and semi custom units use solid wood merely for the exposed frame, doors and drawers. Even high-end cabinets may include particleboard or veneer-covered plywood inside. Both are less likely to warp than solid wood, and can be stained or painted.One way to obtain discount kitchen cabinets that don’t cost too greater is to order cabinets that aren’t perfect. Slight stained kitchen cabinets can save you thousands of dollars on kitchen cabinets. you can easily repair existing cabinets just putting putty or painting your existing cabinets.

Choose your cabinet hardware that best fits your decorating needs and budget. It may come down to best price or the lowest price for the hardware you like the most. It’s a personal and budgetary preference. Remember to check sizes if you’re replacing existing drawer pulls or any hardware that has two screws. Measure the distance between the holes on your drawer or door, and then appear for a centre to centre measurement that matches on the hardware you want to purchase.

Work with a outworker. Contractors mostly prefer cheap cabinets in their construction. A contractor can take charge of your project and make everything flow more smoothly. Working with a contractor can also save you thousands of dollars on any kitchen or home upgrading project.Watch these cabinets which have excellence and durability. You must have to consider your budget as well as quality that you getting from discount cabinets. Expenditure a minimum more upfront to get a higher-quality cabinet may save money in repairs or replacements down the road.

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RTA/ Flat pack vs Standard Cabinets

The wonderful cabinetry designs have not only enhanced the looks of the kitchen but beautified the looks of the entire house. It is worth mentioning that Kitchen and RTA cabinets have opened up several opportunities for design enthusiasts. Within a short time, these cabinets enhance the looks of the kitchen and bathroom, regardless of them being new or old.

Kitchen Cabinets- An overlook

Such inbuilt cabinets have immensely helped us with more storage and sorting out kitchen products much quickly. Earlier, there used to be just a few shelves meant for storing food, kitchen tools and brittle and costly dishes. However, the renovation and modernization of the kitchens has come up with wonderfully designed cabinetry which suits all types of kitchens. Such cabinets can be made as per the order and requirement of the customer, while those with standard measurements could also be chosen.

Components of Kitchen cabinets and specification of Kitchen cabinets

The kitchen cabinets can easily turn an outdated kitchen into a newly renovated and modernized one. Besides many add-on, the regular kitchen cabinets generally include the base and many wall boxes. There is a wide range of size and features of kitchen cabinets, which include – single door base cabinets (width and height is 34.5 inches), single wall cabinet (width x height), double wall cabinet (width x height), double door base cabinet (width and height is 34.5 inches), drawer base, sink base and base cabinet pull-out tray, to name a few.

RTA or ready to assemble cabinets

The most important feature of the RTA cabinets is that these are quite easy to assemble and use. The RTA cabinets are usually made from plywood or solid wood with some additional material at times. Naturally, while constructing a new house, kitchen and bathroom are generally given prime attention and people are okay to even spend extra for them| While building a new house, the kitchen and bathroom are given primary attention and focus and people don’t even mind to spent some extra bucks for them The kitchen and bathroom of a new house are given more attention and focus and people usually tend to spend more money towards beautifying them}. For most of the people, the kitchen and bathroom should always be perfect. In this regard, the RTA cabinets have definitely played an important role while doing so.

RTA cabinets as the best choice

The RTA cabinetry does not allow any jumbling or messing up of kitchen and bathroom products as they provide enough space for the same. RTA cabinets reduce the mess of kitchen as well as bathroom greatly. Such cabinets are reasonably priced, easy to use and install.

Discount, Cheap, Maple and White Kitchen Cabinets

Various manufacturers offer all sorts of these kitchen cabinetry at one place only. While choosing the kitchen and bathroom cabinetry, some of the customers are usually too choosy. Therefore, the variety of style and texture offered by maple, white, oak and other kitchen cabinets help them out with the best choice. Such cabinets are usually available at cheap and discount rates which provides the customers with different options to choose from.

The inbuilt shelves in the cabinets has solved the storage problem and made sorting out things in your Affordable Kitchen Cabinets quite easy. Previously, only a limited number of shelves were present in a kitchen that had to store all the items including the food, kitchen tool sand costly dishes. But now there is a modern and high class fitting at hand, which is suitable for all the available kitchen dimensions. Laundry Room Cabinets

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