Kitchen Lighting in Colorado Springs: What to Plan Before Tile Goes In

Kitchen lighting is the most consistently under-planned element of a kitchen remodel. Homeowners spend weeks picking tile, months deciding on cabinets, and about forty-five minutes on lighting. That usually happens in a showroom at the very end, after every other decision that limits the lighting design is already locked in.

The result is kitchens that look great during showroom visits but turn out dim, shadowy, or mismatched in real life. In Colorado Springs, where 300+ days of sunshine set a high bar for what “well-lit” feels like, a kitchen that doesn’t meet that standard in artificial light is a daily frustration.

Lighting decisions need to happen before demolition, not after the backsplash is in. Here’s why, and how to plan it correctly.

Why Timing Is Everything

The order of a kitchen remodel is fixed: demo, then rough-in (electrical and plumbing), then inspections, then drywall, then cabinets, then countertops, then tile. Rough-in is the stage where the electrician runs wire inside the open walls and ceiling before drywall covers everything up. Lighting decisions affect that stage. Once the drywall is up and the backsplash is tiled, the chance to run wire without cutting into finished surfaces is gone.

Specifically:

Recessed lights: Each recessed light needs a junction box (the electrical box that holds the wire connections and mounts the fixture) placed and wired before the ceiling is drywalled. Deciding you want three more recessed lights after the ceiling is finished means cutting three holes, fishing wire through insulation, and patching. That is a real added cost, and it is entirely avoidable.

Under-cabinet lighting (wired): The wire runs from the switch location to each cabinet section need to be in the wall before the backsplash tile goes on. The wire exits through the wall behind the upper cabinet. Miss this window and you are stuck either running visible cord or cutting into finished tile later.

Pendant lights: The junction boxes for pendants over an island or peninsula need to go in the ceiling before drywall. Their location has to match the final island position, so you need to know the island’s size and placement before rough-in. Miss this step and the boxes end up in the wrong spot over the finished island.

Dimmer switches: Dimming needs LED bulbs that are dimmer-compatible plus a dimmer switch. The switch box and its wiring have to be set up for the dimmer before the box goes in the wall. This is simple to plan for and easy to forget.

The Colorado Springs Light Context

Colorado Springs averages 300+ days of sunshine per year. At 6,035 feet, that sunlight is more intense than at sea level. A kitchen with good southern or western exposure is flooded with natural light from May through October. The question is what happens the other six months, and what happens in any room after 5pm.

Colorado Springs kitchens also deal with a big swing between seasons that mild-climate kitchens don’t. A kitchen that feels well lit in July afternoon sun can feel dark and cave-like in January at 6pm. Good lighting design plans for the full range: bright enough for winter cooking, and dimmable for summer evenings when the sun is still up.

The practical takeaway: more lighting than you think you need, all controlled by dimmers, is the right direction for this market.

The Four Layers of Kitchen Lighting

Good kitchen lighting design uses four layers that work together. Deciding all four before rough-in is the goal.

Layer 1: Ambient (General Illumination)

Ambient lighting is the overall light for the room. It is the light that makes the kitchen feel bright when you walk in. In most modern kitchens, it comes from recessed downlights in the ceiling.

Recessed light layout:

The standard spacing is approximately one recessed light every 4 feet in each direction, positioned so the lights land roughly over the primary work zones and the center of the room. For a 12×12 kitchen, that’s a 3×3 grid of nine lights.

The most common mistake is placing lights based on the center of the ceiling instead of the center of the work zones. In a kitchen with an uneven layout (island on one side, perimeter cabinets on the other), center the lighting grid on how the kitchen is used, not on the shape of the ceiling.

Fixture size:

Use 4-inch recessed lights for lower ceilings (8 to 9 feet) or for accent and task spots. Use 6-inch recessed lights for general ambient light at standard ceiling heights. Use larger fixtures in kitchens with high ceilings.

For new installs in Colorado Springs, choose LED-integrated or LED-specific housings (the metal can the light sits in). They skip the bulb-replacement cycle and give better light quality than LED bulbs screwed into old incandescent housings.

Placement relative to cabinets:

Position recessed lights about 18 to 24 inches out from the face of the upper cabinets. Lights set too far from the cabinets leave the cabinet fronts in shadow. Lights set too close to the cabinet fronts create a bright strip on the cabinet face and leave the countertop below in shadow. That is the opposite of what you want.

Layer 2: Task Lighting (Countertop Illumination)

Task lighting puts focused light on your work surfaces: the countertop where you prep, the sink where you clean, and the range where you cook. This is the layer that makes a kitchen actually workable, not just visible.

Under-cabinet lighting:

The best countertop task lighting comes from under the upper cabinets, pointed down at the counter. This fixes the shadow problem that overhead recessed lights create. When you stand at the counter, your body blocks the overhead light from reaching the surface right in front of you.

Wired LED strip under-cabinet lighting is the cleanest option for a remodel with open walls. One continuous LED strip runs the length of each upper cabinet section, wired to its own switch (or tied into the main kitchen lighting switch). The result looks factory-built: no visible cords, no transformer boxes.

Plug-in LED strips or puck lights (small round fixtures) are the right choice for a cosmetic refresh where the wall isn’t being opened. Flexible stick-on LED strips in an aluminum channel with a plug-in power supply work well and install in under an hour per cabinet section. You have to manage the cords, but it is workable.

Sink lighting:

A recessed light directly over the sink, aimed to light the basin while you stand at it, is one of the most appreciated task lights in a kitchen. In Colorado Springs homes where the sink sits on an outside wall under a window, this light matters most in winter, when the window goes dark early. Set the light 24 to 30 inches in front of the cabinet face so it clears your head when you stand at the sink.

Range lighting:

The range hood handles task lighting over the cooking surface, since most good range hoods include built-in LED lights. That is one more reason a vented range hood with good lighting is worth the install cost, beyond just the ventilation.

Layer 3: Accent Lighting (Visual Interest)

Accent lighting highlights specific features: the inside of glass-front upper cabinets, a textured backsplash worth showing off, or a toe-kick LED strip that makes the cabinets look like they float at floor level.

This layer is optional but worth planning for during rough-in. Running wire for accent lighting you might want later costs almost nothing while the walls are open, but a lot of labor once they are closed.

Glass cabinet interior lighting:

Use puck lights or an LED strip mounted inside upper cabinets that have glass fronts. This needs a wire run into the cabinet during rough-in. Plan the transformer and switch locations ahead of time.

Backsplash accent:

A recessed or surface light aimed to skim across a textured backsplash creates shadow and depth that flat, straight-on light can’t. Place the light close to the wall, about 6 to 8 inches off the backsplash face, and angle it slightly toward the tile.

Layer 4: Decorative (Pendants and Statement Fixtures)

Decorative lighting (pendants over an island, or a statement fixture over a dining nook next to the kitchen) gives you both light and visual interest. In open-concept kitchens, the fixture is a major design piece that is visible from the living space next to it.

Pendant placement over an island:

Bottom of fixture 30–36 inches above the countertop surface. For a standard 36-inch countertop, this puts the bottom of the pendant at 66–72 inches from the floor.

Multiple pendants: space them 24–30 inches apart center-to-center. An island that’s 48 inches long takes two pendants. An island 72+ inches long takes three pendants. An island under 36 inches can work with one centered pendant.

The ceiling junction boxes have to be positioned based on the final island location, so you need to know the island’s size and position before rough-in. If the island is being designed new, this gets worked out in the design phase. If the island is staying put, measure from where it actually sits.

Fixture scale:

A pendant fixture’s diameter should be roughly 1/3 to 1/2 the width of the island surface it’s hanging over. A small pendant over a wide island is visually lost. A large pendant over a narrow island overwhelms the space.

Dimming: The Control Layer

Every layer of kitchen lighting benefits from dimming capability:

• Ambient recessed lights at full for meal prep, dimmed for casual morning coffee
• Under-cabinet task lights at full when working, off when the kitchen isn’t in use
• Pendants dimmed for evening when the kitchen is visible from the living room

Dimming needs dimmer switches plus LED fixtures and bulbs that are rated to dim. Most current LED products are dimmer-compatible, but confirm before you buy. Install dimmer switches during rough-in so the box is wired correctly from the start.

A three-circuit lighting plan gives you the flexibility to set the kitchen light for any situation: ambient on one circuit, task on a second, and decorative on a third, each switched and dimmed on its own.

What It Costs in Colorado Springs

Electrical rough-in for kitchen lighting (during a remodel with open walls): Including new circuits, junction boxes, switch boxes, and wire runs: $800–$2,000 depending on scope and panel capacity.

Recessed LED fixtures: $20–$60 per fixture, installed. A 9-fixture grid runs $180–$540 in materials plus labor.

Wired under-cabinet LED lighting: $300–$600 installed for a typical kitchen with 8–12 linear feet of upper cabinets. Materials are inexpensive; the cost is primarily labor for the wire runs.

Pendant fixtures (materials only): $100–$500 per pendant for quality fixtures at retail. Installation runs $75–$150 per pendant if junction boxes are already in place.

Dimmer switches: $25–$60 per switch in materials. Budget $50–$80 installed per circuit for the switch and installation.

Total kitchen lighting scope (rough-in through fixtures, full kitchen remodel): $2,000–$5,000 depending on the number of circuits, fixture quality, and whether accent lighting is included.

The Regret List

These are the most common kitchen lighting complaints I hear after a remodel is done:

“We didn’t put enough recessed lights.” Now the ceiling is closed, so adding lights means patching.

“The pendants are in the wrong place.” The junction boxes went in before the island position was final.

“There are no lights under the cabinets.” No wire was run during rough-in, and now it is behind tile.

“The lights are on one switch with no dimmer.” It is all or nothing, bright or dark, with no in-between.

“The recessed lights are too close to the cabinets, or too far from the countertop.” The layout wasn’t thought through before the boxes were placed.

Every item on that list is prevented by making lighting decisions before rough-in. In practice that means before demo, because the plan has to be complete by then to give the electrician what they need.

For help planning or installing kitchen lighting in a Colorado Springs remodel, call (719) 243-9718.