How To Add Personality To Your Apartment Kitchen With Lights

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While Dollar Tree decor items add some affordable flair and floating shelves create extra style and storage for your kitchen space, sometimes you need a mix of personality and purpose on a tight budget. We spoke with Elizabeth Vergara, CEO, founder, and lead designer at Vergara Homes, to learn more about how lights can transform a space.

"Plug-in sconces, cordless table lamps, and clip-on task lights can transform a kitchen without touching the wiring," says Vergara. "Magnetic under-cabinet light strips and adhesive sconces are great for adding layers of light." These options are particularly great for renters, since they don't leave adhesive marks and you can take them with you when you move. While overhead installations may look gorgeous, smaller, affordable options create a cozier atmosphere while also brightening up dark corners and dim work spaces.

"Small kitchens benefit from focused task lighting," Vergara continues. "Anything that can be out of sight but adds function is great for a tight layout." In a small kitchen, focused light delivers more utility than large overhead installations because it casts fewer shadows and illuminates a very specific area, such as where you usually use your cutting board. The key is to find something that doesn't take up much, if any, counter space and has removable lightbulbs. While it may sound insignificant, being able to change up light colors is a great way to adjust the whole mood of the kitchen.

A change of bulbs is one of the best, easiest, and most affordable ways to brighten up a dark kitchen and give you some flexibility when decorating your space. While it's great to consider how a white, warm, or colored light might go with your backsplash and counter colors, each option has some practical considerations to factor in.

A cool white light, between 5,000 and 6,000 Kelvin, is the best option when you want fine attention to detail, but it tends to make spaces feel sterile. However, it can also enlarge your perception of spaces, making your kitchen feel bigger than it really is. Warmer lights, around 3,000 Kelvin, impart a cozier atmosphere that you can still work by, but won't give you quite as much detail. "Most renters do best with warm or soft white because it adds comfort and flatters the materials in the room," says Elizabeth Vergara. 

Fortunately, you may not have to choose between one or the other anymore. RGB programmable under-cabinet and puck lights are available online and let you decide the exact color of light you want at any given moment. You can even opt for colored lighting for times when you aren't cooking but want your kitchen to have a nice, chill atmosphere. Whether you want rechargeable, battery-powered, or plug-in lights, this is an extremely varied product category, so you can find exactly what you want at just about any price point.