Kitchens provide comfortable spaces to entertain guests, cook delicious meals, and spend time with your family and friends. But routine kitchen activities become problematic if your kitchen receives low amounts of natural light. Home remodelers in Arlington Heights, IL, provide solutions for bringing your kitchen out of the dark ages.
Continue reading below to learn how to brighten a dark kitchen and transform your cooking space into a shimmering space that your whole family will enjoy.
4 Tips for a Brighter Kitchen
Overwhelming kitchen remodeling projects beg the question: Where do I start? Instead of striving for perfection, consider starting your kitchen renovations slow, introducing improvements one at a time. You might be surprised how effective subtle changes brighten your kitchen.
1. Improved Lighting
Updating your light fixtures provides cost-effective solutions to dreary kitchens. Consider 80 to 100-watt lights that offer ample lighting for preparing meals and washing dishes. Upgrading the lighting of your kitchen enables bright surfaces to reflect more light, further increasing the luminosity of your cooking space. Light fixtures to consider when determining how to brighten a dark kitchen include:
- Recessed Lighting
- Surface Lighting
- Kitchen Island Lighting
- Cabinet Lighting
Cabinet lighting illuminating backsplashes and appliances brighten your kitchen and improve the functionality of your workspace. Eco-friendly LED bulbs and natural light-emitting CFL bulbs add important brightness to unlit areas.
2. Fresh Paint
Dark walls and surfaces struggle to reflect light even when adjacent to natural light-emitting windows. Fresh coats of lighter color paints reflect your unique style and encourage light to bounce freely in your kitchen. Walls and cabinets coated in luminous white eggshells, glitzy greens, and pale yellows allow the maximum amount of light to shine.
White cabinets and silver finishes effectively spread light to different areas of your kitchen. If you’re unsure which color of paint looks best in your kitchen, many professional remodeling companies offer galleries of their previous work. Take the time to explore recently remodeled kitchens to find the color you love the most.
3. Mirrors and Metallic Surfaces
Capturing natural light in your kitchen requires many reflective surfaces. Mirrors provide an excellent solution to kitchens in need of increased lighting. Mirrors hung on bare walls across from windows provide phenomenal natural light. Well-positioned mirrors also add the illusion of depth to your kitchen.
Metallic surfaces enrich kitchens by providing ample light-reflecting surfaces. Kitchen appliances fitted with metallic trim reflect natural light efficiently and effectively. Stainless steel, light oak, and copper also provide wonderfully reflective surfaces for natural light.
4. Floor Replacement
Figuring out how to brighten a dark kitchen usually begins with new lighting and paint. However, the color of your floors may also contribute to darker kitchens. Old wooden floors and dim vinyl flooring poorly reflect light; opt for marble, light oak, or ceramic floors designed to spread light evenly throughout your kitchen.
Icon Building Group Remodeling Services
For all your home remodeling needs, trust Icon Building Group. Contact us at (708) 401-9969, check out our complete basement expansion product guide, or visit us online at Icon Building Group to start your home remodeling journey!