I read this rather bad article recently where one of the 'big' interiors magazine interviewed two well known interior designers and an equally well respected lighting designer.

The banality of the questions was matched only by the triviality of the answers - what should you think about when lighting a space? Answer, what you are going to use it for.

The answers to all three of the questions posed to these industry gurus left me no further illuminated about which light fittings to use for which application, or where to put them for example, or any useful detail at all.

We all know you need to light a space relative to the activity that is going to take place in it. The question is how?

I am going to assume that most of us do more than cook in our Kitchens - I create. Joke. Many of us relax, entertain, cook, eat, host parties, watch TV, read the paper, dream.

I think a Kitchen demands an absolute minimum of three circuits of lighting. A circuit is defined as a number of lights that can be controlled/dimmed independently of any others.

The crucial word above is 'dimmed'. Ideally you need to be able to dim the lights in your Kitchen. A simple on/off switch is not enough. A reliable registered electrician is essential.

Circuit 1: Obviously, in a kitchen, the work surface needs to be well lit. You generally cannot do this from the ceiling, as most of the time there will be high level cupboards in front of you and you will always be in your own light. This needs to be done from under the high level units. The easiest way to do this is with surface mounted spotlights on the underside of the high level units.

Circuit 2: Ceiling spots. There is generally no room in a Kitchen for floor standing lamps or ones on the work surface - to the Kitchen what Sandbanks is to the UK - prime real estate. No room for lamps. Ceiling spots can be on full blast when you are cooking or cleaning, dimmed during dinner, after or just relaxing.

Circuit 3: Possibly controversially I am going to say you need lights on top of the high level units, lighting the ceiling. They may not be a lot of use whilst you are cooking, but they totally make the Kitchen when you are doing anything else. The combination of a bright work surface, dim ceiling spots, and a well lit ceiling is undeniable.

They perform two tasks with an almost SAS cunning. Firstly, lighting the ceiling of any room will make the room seem taller, bigger, higher ceilinged (is that a word?).

Most of us don't have the luxury of a 50m2 Kitchen with 3m high ceilings. High level, cupboard-top strip lights, incandescents, halogens or preferably, cold cathode tubes, will achieve this effect in the smallest Kitchen. Secondly, unless you are Robert Pershing Wadlow you will not be able to see the source of the light.

The alternative to lights on top of your high level units, if this is too difficult to wire for example, is to consider freestanding lamps that will do the same job. Not only will they break up the mass of horizontal lines that are rampant in most Kitchens, they also keep your work surface free. Here are some possibilities:
http://www.sparksdirect.co.uk/nemo-bridge-floor-lamp-p-474.html
http://www.sparksdirect.co.uk/floodlite-tablefloor-uplighter-p-12552.html
http://www.johnlewis.com/230597066/Product.aspx