kitchen lighting ideas

1. Barn Light Electric: 12″ Angle Shade Gooseneck Sign Lighting 2. We Got Lights: Eva Chandelier 3. Hannah Small Flush Mount: Rejuvination 4. Small Hicks Pendant: Circa Lighting

I’ve been planning out our kitchen over the past few months and the one decision that’s been the most difficult is lighting. I LOVE beautiful lights and they can totally change a room and take it from boring to glam–or whatever look you are looking for. I think too often we underestimate the affect that lighting can have in a space. Sadly, for this budget conscious girl, the most beautiful lights are often the most expensive because of the detailing and quality of the materials.

Here are some of the lights that I’ve lusted for our kitchen remodel. Above are the lights I would choose if all lights were free. I need three pendant lights and those $480 Hicks Pendants really add up fast $$! I’ve actually considered a hack for the Hicks pendant so that’s a possibility if I hate my second choice and it’s friends: the less expensive options….

 

kitchen lighiting ideas rustic modern farmhouse

1. Outdoor Wall Lantern with Guard: Joss & Main (a flash sale site that sells items for 72 hours at a time, I see this light about once a month) 2. Uttermost Civenna 3 Light Natural Wood Beads: Amazon (*this one was on sale at Joss & Main and I had some store credit so I was able to purchase it for under $150 and I’ll tweak it so I like it more) 3. Schoolhouse Electric flush mount4. White pendant light with cage: Joss & Main (I see these lights pop up a few times a month at Joss & Main)*Bulb: Amazon Half Chrome $5 helps eliminate that nekkid bulb feel for exposed bulb lights

After shopping around these are the lighting options I’m considering trying out because they would save me so much money and still create same mood when paired with the rest of our kitchen choices. I actually already purchased three of these styles. I’ll probably hack the white pendant so it won’t be quite so white on white–they were so inexpensive that if they don’t work for the kitchen I can use them in the basement or the barn–totally worth the risk.

inexpensive lighting ideas Screen Shot 2013-11-11 at 11.24.23 AM

I try to stay organized with a pinterest lighting board

One of the nice things about moving to a new place is that I can be a little more risky with the first purchases because we need lighting in every room so what doesn’t work in one room has a great chance of being used in another space. That takes some of the pressure off to find ‘the perfect’ light and lets me experiment with less expensive choices first to see if I can get the look I’m after.

I even purchased that beaded chandelier. It’s similar to my dream chandy in the top photo but I really dislike that outer loop of beads and the metal hangers that ring the edge. However, I had saved up $200 in referral credit from Joss & Main (if you create an account with them you can refer too on your blog or social media–I used my referral code in this post :) The chandelier cost me less than $150 out of pocket and I figured I could hack it to make it more of what I’m looking for.

 

inexpensive kitchen lighting

 

Here are a few other lights we considered for the kitchen.

1. Hektar Pendant: Ikea (Family price $19.99 thru November 27) 2. Ranarp Clamp Spotlight: Ikea ( I bought one of these for another room in our house–not even sure which room, I think I”ll buy another so I’ll have a pair) 3. Industrial Pendant: World Market (I LOVE the green drips, bought one to see about using it in our kitchen, husband didn’t like the green drips) also, I didn’t feel like it paired well with the shiny finish on our black range. 4. Silvia Bell Pendant: Crate & Barrel (We saw this pendant in person the other day and loved it, the best part is the gold lined inside that gives a really warm glow to your lighting)

rustic modern kitchen

And just a reminder, here are the current materials we are using for our kitchen, wide plank rustic and imperfect pine floors, white quartz counters, farmhouse sink, black viking with gold and silver accents. There’s a good chance I won’t really be able to decide what lighting I like until most of the kitchen is done, so for now, I’m trying to be patient.

advice?

They came and measured for our quartz counters today! I had my heart set on a super square edge but they are asking me to consider a small 1/4 inch rounded edge because it’s not as painful if and when you run into it and it could help it not to chip. I’d love your opinion! I love the look of straight edges and don’t want my counters to appear rounded. If I can still have a straight looking edge over all and have the quarter inch rounded parts I’m in, but I just don’t want my edges to appear super rounded. I’ll probably end up back at the show room but I’d love to hear your thoughts!