What lights if not downlighters?

[MattChan]

I hate the pendant lights I have in every room and I'm fed up of banging my head on the flamin things...

I know you all hate downlighters etc so whats the alternatives? These are the 3 main areas I was considering using them in.

Kitchen:
No way am I having a flourscent strip light...

Hall, stairs and landing:
Quite a long thin and high area.

Bathroom:
2m x 2m roughly.

In the other areas, bedrooms and lounge I was going to go for something else but i dont know what. Any ideas?

 

[plugwash]

you can get various ceiling mount fittings that take ordinary bulbs, for example we've got a pineapple shaped glass fitting on the landing (i'd avoid the traditional battern holders other than in places you consider a bare bulb acceptable, in my experiance the glass shades you can get for them only just get gripped by the screw rings and are a nightmare to get on and off).

in the kitchen if you've got space above the wall cabinets i'd be tempted to hide a striplight up there for background light and then put some kind of low level task lighting over the work surfaces.

wall lights are another option if you can find the wall space for them.

 

[Steve]

In a kitchen, you want bright, useful lighting. Fluorescents are ideal, and they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes.

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_In..._Internal/Downlights_Energy_Saving/index.html These are a new product - same size as a normal downlighter, but have nice, clean light output - no directed beam as such. Those at the bottom are larger, and have higher light output, similar to those used in banks, but with a glass diffuser. You could also use these in the hall, stairs and landing. The larger ones are ideal for high ceilings.

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_In...ing_Regs_L1_Internal/Bulk_Energy_3/index.html These are ideal for bathrooms.

Note all the above use compact fluorescent lamps, so are not suitable for dimming, but I cannot imagine why you'd want to dim lights in a bathroom, kitchen or hall, so fluorescents are ideal here.