Make Your Kitchen Brighter
Give your kitchen a dose of cheer by brightening it up.
A dull, dark kitchen can make cooking tiresome. Luckily, there are lots of ways for you to make your kitchen more light-filled with a little elbow grease and some simple DIY skills.
Change the paint color
Especially in rooms with few windows and lots of dark cabinets, a deep-hued wall color can make a kitchen feel too somber. Consider a mood-boosting shade - yellow or even spring-like green, for example - for a quick change.
Update the cabinets
Lots of darkly stained wood cabinets or a deep color on doors and drawers can make a kitchen feel less bright. There are several options to remedy this. Remove doors on the upper cabinets and paint the frames white or a light hue. Replace the door inserts on some cabinets with glass or light-filtering screens. Finally, consider painting or changing the door or drawer fronts on all cabinets. One option: Use temporary wallpaper to add bright color and pattern to the room.
Get rid of window treatments
If you don't need to block the sun, removing curtains and shades can maximize natural light throughout the day.
Add slim lights to the undersides and tops of cabinets
Rope or tape lights offer a nearly invisible profile and simple installation. They're great for providing a soft accent on top of and underneath cabinets, where they can help to banish room-darkening shadows from your kitchen.
Clean off your countertops
Although it may not seem like it contributes to a dark kitchen, countertop clutter can disrupt visual calm and make your room feel darker than it is. Put appliances in a pantry if you can, and streamline what's visible and essential on a countertop.
Swap your backsplash or countertops
Budgets and DIY skills determine how much or how little you can devote to making your kitchen brighter. If you have a big budget, replacing dull and dark countertops and backsplashes is one way to dramatically alter your kitchen's brightness. But even if you have fewer resources, creative products offer wallet-smart, short-term ways to help you adjust your kitchen's brightness. Adhesive tiles and temporary wallpaper are super-quick, super-easy ways to boost your kitchen's brightness. Remember that reflective surfaces, such as metallic tiles, help to bounce light around a room too.
