Whether you're a budding Bake Off wannabe, or a Gordon Ramsay supremo, your kitchen lighting setup is very important. The kitchen is the heart of your home, where heavenly dishes (or hellish disasters) are whipped-up, and the family meet to catch-up and discuss their day. So, what are the key considerations when creating a kitchen lighting plan? First off, it should be practical. When you're knuckling-down to a tricky dish, you can't be squinting over poorly-lit pots and pans. You need crisp and clear lighting that's perfect for tasks where timing and accuracy is of the essence – especially for cooker hoods and kitchen appliances. Secondly, it should be welcoming. If you, like many, dine in the kitchen area or have open plan living, the area that family, friends and guests congregate in needs to be one of warmth and appeal, allowing people to relax. Finally, it must work with your current décor. The modern kitchen is usually a place of predominantly white and steel colours with modern appliances, so fresh and crisp lighting is key. However, if you have a homely or vintage-inspired kitchen, then warmer light tones may be better. If you want to add a bit of glamour to proceedings, then you might want to add a splash of colour in the form of LED strip lighting to bring worktops and cabinets to life.

The benefits of LED kitchen lighting

LED lighting is in the mainstream now, and long may it last. If you're a little late to the party, here are some of the big benefits of LED lighting over traditional alternatives such as incandescent and halogen. • LED lighting is far, far cheaper to run than halogen equivalents. It uses 90% less energy, so it costs a tenth of a halogen to run. • It lasts a lot longer too. LED light bulbs are designed to last up to 25,000 hours, while a halogen will only deliver a meagre 2,000 hours – if you're lucky - before running out of gas. • Because they consume a lot less energy than traditional lighting methods, they're a lot kinder to the environment. If you're conscious about lowering your carbon footprint, then LED lighting is a great way to do it. • As LED lights evolve, so does the number of options you have. They're available in a variety of colour temperatures, which means you can buy bulbs that cast a different shade of light – something halogen and incandescent bulbs can't do – including colours such as warm white, daylight, cool white and even multicolour! Shop our range of LED kitchen lights here.

Popular types of LED kitchen lighting

LED kitchen spotlights

GU10 and MR16 spotlights are really popular in the kitchen for a number of reasons. They offer a stylish, modern alternative to bulbs, which can look clunky and bulbous next to their streamlined superiors. They're also perfect for task lighting because of their narrow, focused beam angle; so when you're getting down to whipping up a Michelin-quality dish, all the light you need is focused in one area. Shop LED spotlights here.

LED appliance bulbs

Often forgotten, but your appliances need lighting too – and why not fit them with cost-effective LED lighting? One of the most common type of appliance bulbs are E14s – also known as 'small Edison screw bulbs', or SES. They're often found in fridges, freezers, ovens and cooker hoods. Other popular types of LED appliance lighting include G4s and G9s thanks to their diminutive sizes. Shop E14 LED bulbs here.

LED strip lights

If you're a bit of a design enthusiast, then one of the best things to come out of LED lighting are LED strip lights, which offer a stylish lighting solution for any room. Strip lights consist of a thin strip of sticky tape lined with small LED chips that have the ability to cast a variety of colours, including multi-colour. They're incredibly versatile and can be cut to length. You have splashproof and waterproof options to choose from too – which is ideal for a frantic family kitchen. Shop LED strip lights here.