Thoughts on track lighting in kitchen

[mrsd2006]

We bought track lighting for the kitchen, I'm not 100% sold on it. We would have two tracks, 8 feet long, on each side of the kitchen running lengthwise with 4 to 5 lights. The ones we bought are 16 feet long, 4 foot pieces, with five lights. 

What do you think about track lighting? Is it dated, no matter how modern the style is? If you don't use it, what's the other options- recessed lights and/or a light fixture? Can you have both track lights and recessed lights? 

[kaylie]

Personally, I'm not a fan. I can't really put my finger on why. I definitely prefer recessed lighting in kitchens.

[texassmith]

I personally find all track lighting to be dated.

[jillybean222]

I think track lighting is dated. Recessed is the way to go.

[pitterwoo]

Recessed are preferred if you can do them. I'm sure that you could make track lighting work if you had to. Just be careful about the style.

[trident0]

I have recessed and love it.

[pitterwoo]

Jul 27, 2014 20:43:23 GMT -5 @juno said:

I'm not a fan of recessed or track. Both are too utilitarian and don't fit with my home's vintage look. But I know most people now like lots (ridiculous amounts IMO) of lighting in the kitchen, and that many regular fixtures can start looking silly. If you need so much light that regular fixtures won't cut it, I think recessed is the less ugly option in most homes. I think recessed looks at home in modern spaces.

I also feel like the recommendations are for ridiculous amounts of light.  In my kitchen I went with recessed lights, a central light fixture and undercabinet lights, but they are all a little lower output than usual.  I feel like I still have plenty of light and the dimension of having the different light sources, but none of them are glaring.  I kept saying that I was worried about the kitchen being too bright and everyone kept telling me not to worry and just use the dimmer.  I felt better about omitting a couple of the cans and using lower lumen bulbs than only ever turning my lights halfway up. 

[dr.girlfriend]

Jul 27, 2014 13:48:50 GMT -5 mrsd2006 said:

We bought track lighting for the kitchen, I'm not 100% sold on it. We would have two tracks, 8 feet long, on each side of the kitchen running lengthwise with 4 to 5 lights. The ones we bought are 16 feet long, 4 foot pieces, with five lights. 

What do you think about track lighting? Is it dated, no matter how modern the style is? If you don't use it, what's the other options- recessed lights and/or a light fixture? Can you have both track lights and recessed lights? 

Do you have a picture of it?  When I hear track lighting I think this '80's stuff, which is a definite no.  I love our recessed lights.

[moonlight]

I'm in the minority, but I love track lights in the kitchen. Especially the kind with halogen bulbs and funky tracks.

[dottyblue]

We had something similar to this in our last apartment.  I hated it and actually turned down an apartment when we looked for our next rental because it had this style of track lighting in the kitchen.

It's blindingly bright, and in a small kitchen it generates a TON of heat.  We cook pretty much 7 days per week and you really don't want to cook in a kitchen that goes up 5 degrees every time you turn the lights on...

[mrsd2006]

Jul 27, 2014 21:53:27 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

Jul 27, 2014 13:48:50 GMT -5 mrsd2006 said:

We bought track lighting for the kitchen, I'm not 100% sold on it. We would have two tracks, 8 feet long, on each side of the kitchen running lengthwise with 4 to 5 lights. The ones we bought are 16 feet long, 4 foot pieces, with five lights. 

What do you think about track lighting? Is it dated, no matter how modern the style is? If you don't use it, what's the other options- recessed lights and/or a light fixture? Can you have both track lights and recessed lights? 

Do you have a picture of it?  When I hear track lighting I think this '80's stuff, which is a definite no.  I love our recessed lights.

This is the one we bought. It seemed really long, 16 feet, to only have 5 lights. But I guess most people will curve it around, so it's not just straight.

www.lampsplus.com/products/george-kovacs-silver-finish-5-light-rail-track-kit__k5714.html


The first one we liked was LED, but the sales person said if a light went out, you had to replace the whole thing, you couldn't just replace the burned out light.