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Lighting

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"Lighting is key, magic, the glow that sells a home," says kitchen designer DeWitt Talmadge Beall of DeWitt Designer Kitchens, in Studio City, California. "You can have the most spectacular kitchen in the world, and bad lighting can kill it." Mood lighting may work in other rooms, but in the kitchen, the cook needs to be able to see everything clearly. Consider recessed can lighting for overhead, but remember that task lighting is also critical. "How are you going to chop under a light that your head is blocking?" asks kitchen designer Mary Jo Peterson. "You're not. That's why you need under-cabinet lighting."