Design Secrets: Lighting and Layout Tips for Pierce County Kitchen Remodels
Massey Remodel + Design is proud to announce that our team has received the Best in Pierce County award for Best Interior Design Firm. We’re thrilled with this award, not only because it recognizes the hard work, dedication, skill, and creativity of our designers, but because it highlights something we fully believe: the best remodels start with amazing designs.
This is especially true in the kitchen. Your kitchen isn’t just a workspace. It’s a social hub, the heart of your home, and a focal point that sets the tone for the rest of your home’s style. And because your Tacoma kitchen is the center of so much activity, it needs to be both functional and beautiful. It’s a hard-working room, and it deserves the best design possible.
Lighting and layout are the foundation of good kitchen design. The perfect kitchen layout makes the room feel right and function well, and good lighting facilitates everything you need the kitchen for: meal prep, conversations, dining, clean-up, and even a midnight snack. A great designer can blend these two critical elements seamlessly. A well-designed kitchen doesn’t happen by chance—it’s the result of intentional planning where layout and lighting complement each other.
The Foundation: How Layout Shapes the Kitchen Experience
The kitchen layout refers to the arrangement of all the various elements in the kitchen: cabinets, counters, an island, the appliances, and so on. The way they’re arranged determines everything from how you move around the kitchen to where people gather.
Traditionally, people have thought of kitchen layouts in terms of the “work triangle.” This idea refers to the paths between three main kitchen elements: the refrigerator, the sink, and the oven. A good layout minimizes steps between these three corners of the triangle, and keeps the sides between four and nine feet, generally speaking.
Today, most designers create modern kitchens with zones, instead of the triangle. Kitchen zones could include
A prep zone
A cooking zone
A clean-up zone
A consumables zone (where food is stored)
A social zone
Even specific or specialized zones, like a baking area or a beverage station
A great kitchen layout also takes into account traffic flow, sight lines, and space for multiple cooks. And because the kitchen is the hub of most homes, the connection to adjacent spaces is also important.
The Layered Approach: Lighting that Brings the Layout to Life
Your Tacoma kitchen designer will plan lighting as they design the perfect layout—it’s not an afterthought. This approach highlights the best features of the kitchen, such as a striking backsplash or a jaw-dropping island, and allows for more distinct zones.
There are three main types of lighting that every space needs in order to look and feel complete.
Ambient lighting is for overall illumination. Think: the switch you flip on when you walk into a room. Ambient lighting comes from one or more lights on the ceiling and fills the whole room with light. Examples of ambient lighting include recessed lights, flush mounts, and track lighting.
Task lighting is targeted lights used for specific tasks. In the kitchen, this means beams of light that shine on food prep, cooking, and clean-up areas, making it easy to see what you’re doing in those zones. Examples of task lighting include pendant lights that hang over the island or sink, under-cabinet lighting, and lighting in the pantry.
Accent lights are decorative, mood lights. These gentler lights allow you to highlight architectural or design features. And because they’re softer, you can use them to set a quiet, relaxed, or intimate feel. Accent lights include pendants, toe-kick LEDs, sconces, and lamps.
The goal with kitchen lighting is to design a layered look that adds interest and depth to the space. Dimmers allow you to further customize the lighting to what you need. A great kitchen design includes thoughtful lighting.
Where Lighting and Layout Intersect
Good lighting combined with the perfect layout will make your kitchen remodel feel complete and intentional. Well-placed task lighting centered over an innovative space, island lighting designed for both function and atmosphere, and layered lighting for flexible and customized use take your kitchen to the next level.
Our designers use 3D renderings and floor plans to help you visualize these interactions. This is part of the design-build advantage. When you choose a design-build company like Massey Remodel + Design, you’re hiring a team. Our award-winning designers and builders collaborate on every part of your remodel. Their client-centered approach, attention to detail, excellent craftsmanship, and creative problem-solving mean that your Pierce County home remodel is a dream come true.
In the kitchen, this collaboration means that electrical, cabinet, ceiling, layout, and appliance plans are integrated—no last-minute compromises or unforeseen issues. The result is that fixtures are perfectly placed, wiring and switching are planned efficiently, and the layout feels intentional. This design plan prevents costly rework or lighting that feels “off” once the kitchen is finished.
And because our kitchen designers work with you, the homeowner, the kitchen layout and lighting are designed for how you live. It’s your home, after all, and your kitchen remodel should support you and your family. Taking your needs into account, our interior designers bridge the gap between beauty and practicality—ensuring the kitchen works for you, day and night.
Designing Kitchens for Tacoma Homes that Feel Effortless
Our team is honored by our Best in Pierce County award for Best Interior Design Firm. But even more than that, we are honored when Pierce County homeowners choose us to help them make their kitchens the best they can be. Our interior designers understand the interplay between layout and lighting, some of the “invisible” elements that make a kitchen truly functional and inviting. In every Tacoma kitchen we remodel, our skilled design-build team ensures that both of these elements—and all the other pieces of the kitchen remodel—are designed together, not as afterthoughts.
If you’re ready to start your own dream kitchen remodel, reach out to us today. We’d be thrilled to help you design and build a kitchen where every detail—lighting, layout, and more—works together in harmony.