Lighting is the jewelry to your space.

When you walk into a kitchen what is the first thing that is at eye level? Lighting. “It’s the first thing you are going to notice,” explains Steve Rice, owner of Light & Living, a lighting and home accessory showroom located in North Eastham. With over 30 years of experience, Rice has worked with residential and commercial interior designers, architects, custom builders, and homeowners to achieve their lighting goals.

“In the last couple of years, good manufacturers have really expanded and understand how important kitchen lighting is,” explains Rice. “When I’m looking to bring new lighting into my showroom, it needs to meet three things. First, the design of the product needs to be unique and enticing for my customer. The second major element is the craftsmanship. Is it solid brass? Solid copper? It needs to have a high degree of durability. Third, does the fixture offer performance and light the space as it should?” Rice remarks, “Well-designed lighting essentially becomes a feature of your whole space.” 

According to Rice there are two types of lighting: task and ambient lighting. “You want both for your kitchen,” shares Rice. “There are three important areas when it comes to lighting in the kitchen, one is under cabinet light. Under cabinet lighting really needs to be functional so you can see what you’re doing when you’re working in the kitchen. The second is the island lighting because you want it to be above the workspace or gathering area, and you want it to be well lit for both of those functions. The third is really lighting your overall kitchen with ambient lighting so it becomes a comfortable and welcoming space for any occasion.”

Today, there are so many more options when it comes to picking out kitchen lighting, Rice notes, “Having all of those different choices allows you to have the opportunity to match either your kitchen hardware, accent the kitchen space or maybe even use a unique finish to compliment your design.” He continues, “When it comes to kitchen lighting, people tend to spend a lot of money on high end appliances and make kitchen lighting an afterthought. Lighting should be one of the first things you look at once you have the layout for your kitchen completed.” 

To have fixtures that are not only functional, but have style to them adds overall character to your kitchen. “One of the things that has really become more and more important now is lighting the center island in a way that is both functional and decorative–it has almost become an art.” He explains, “It’s the accessories that make the space unique and having fixtures at eye level, having an interesting finish, and having under cabinet lighting that has a great performance all creates layers of lighting which is the whole skill of using all of those different techniques and combining them in a way so your kitchen is able to have different moods and functions.”

Light & Living provides their services and showroom to anyone in the Cape and Islands trading area. They offer appointment services to meet with prospective clients, designers, and custom builders and schedule “one-on-ones” in their showroom. Their two Eastham showrooms display over 300 designer driven, craftsmen quality lighting fixtures. There are selections for kitchen, dining, foyer–every room of the home, including an extensive exterior lighting collection.  

401-952-1080 • lightandlivingdesign.com