[Brett Warren]

We just moved into an older place in Midtown Palo Alto and the kitchen has exactly one ceiling light, which is fine during the day but makes the counters look like a cave after sunset. An electrician who came to look at something else said I should think about layers, ambient, task, and accent, and then quoted me a number that made me sit down. I get the idea in theory but I’m not convinced a normal family kitchen needs all three, or if that’s just how these guys justify a bigger job. I found a Useful overview of lighting layers in Midtown Palo Alto kitchens while trying to work out what’s actually necessary, and it made the whole thing less abstract, but I’d still like to hear from people who live with this stuff every day. Did you add all three layers or just pick the ones that mattered? And is there a budget friendly way to get decent task lighting without rewiring half the ceiling?