How to Brighten Up a Dark Kitchen

how to brighten up a dark kitchen
  • Bright, spacious and harmonious kitchens we see on the Internet look really stunning;
  • If you yourself have a rather small and dark-color based kitchen – you still have a chance to remodel it in a way that it would look much brighter;
  • In the article below, we will share some really simple ideas on how to brighten up a dark kitchen without any or just a little construction!

Not all of us are lucky enough to have this huge spacious Pinterest-like kitchen. If you are one of us and are not happy with the dark atmosphere in your kitchen – we have gathered some awesome ideas for you on how to brighten it up!

In the article below, we will share with you some genius tips on how to bring more natural light into your kitchen and make it look brighter – some of those ideas don’t even require any construction! 

Let’s get into it!

Ideas to Brighten Up a Dark Kitchen

Metallic Interior Details

  • Metallic interior details are reflective, therefore it creates an optical illusion of a much wider space. 
  • Also, metallic pieces create a much lighter atmosphere as it distributes the brightness coming from the windows all over the room.
  • If you are about to remodel your kitchen, choose from the kitchen furniture that has a stainless steel surface.
  • For a simpler remodeling – simply renew your kitchen supplies by getting yourself a new metallic surface fridge, teapot, and any other small kitchen appliances, such as toaster, or cooking range.

TIP: Metallic, stainless steel surfaces are not only high-quality, but also easy to maintain and look very classy.

Mirror: Genius Way to Brighten Up Your Kitchen

  • Mirror, just like a metal surface, reflects brightness and can distribute the light all over the room easily.
  • Placing a nice, huge mirror in the part of the room that gets the most light would brighten the dark kitchen right away.
  • Besides, a mirror also creates an illusion of a wider space, therefore this idea is especially useful for the small or tiny kitchens.

Replace Dark Kitchen Furniture

  • Although dark kitchen furniture look really classy and modern, it is not a good  option for kitchens that lack light,
  • If you are at the moment of choosing new kitchen cabinets or furniture in general – go for pastel colors or white shades. Yellow, light beige, or even light green combined with white color could brighten up the interior of your dark kitchen right away.
  • In case you already have kitchen furniture and it is dark – you can always re-paint it. Believe me, it is worth it.

Kitchen Furniture with Open Shelves

  • Continuing the topic of kitchen furniture – besides the bright color, kitchen cupboards could have open shelves.
  • Not necessarily all of the cupboards – of course. However, consider the idea of getting at least the top cupboards with open shelves.
  • Those shelves could be left half-empty, or you could fill them up with nice cookware, your most favorite ceramics or even books – what have you.
  • Open shelves kitchen furniture would create a more spacious appearance and would also might even reflect your personality.

Appropriate Lighting 

  • Lighting is a very important part of the interior design. No wonder why clothes shops invest in it so much – it helps to manage the focus of customers, emphasize one thing over another and make sales.
  • Lighting in the dark kitchen can also solve the problem of brightness. Especially if in your kitchen you have only wall lighting.
  • Overhead lighting fixtures are very important as they help to spread the light much wider. Install even a few of them in the most action-intensive places of your kitchen.
  • Besides, LED lights under the kitchen cabinets or in some other hidden places of your kitchen can really bring your lighting situation to a next level.

TIP: When you choose the lighting bulbs – go for the ones that have more wattage.

Ideas to Brighten Up Your Kitchen If It is Still Under Construction

Bright Colors and Metallic Details

  • If you are remodeling your kitchen and struggle to decide what colors to pick in order that your kitchen would look bright and spacious – white color should be the dominating one.
  • From the very ceilings to the floor – choose from the white colors and shades. 
  • If you don’t feel comfortable with this decision and worry about white color because of a difficult maintenance – choose from the soft pastel colors: beige, yellow, light brown and combine them with the white colors.
  • For example, paint the ceilings in white color, choose the white reflective tiles, and go for light brown wooden floor (hardwood). In addition, choose the light brown pastel rustic kitchen furniture with the white steel countertops and other kitchen appliances: fridge, teapot, toaster… The principle is – choose as brighter colors as possible and you won’t have to worry about the brightness in the kitchen.
  • Also, metallic accents and details can increase the brightness of any room easily. You can choose the all white wall tiles and make one part of the wall with metallic tiles. Also, you can choose metallic surface kitchen appliances.

Here you go – now you have plenty of great ideas on how to brighten your kitchen up easily and without too much trouble. What’s best is that most of them don’t even require much investment – you just need to think smart and pick the right interior details!

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Frequently Asked Questions

Well, in this case, you'd need more than just adding some metallic or white interior details. The most important thing here would be to provide the kitchen with as much lighting as possible - overhead lighting in different spots, wall lighting, under the counters lighting (LED), etc. Also, make sure the wattage is as high as your eyes can tolerate it.
As you already know - there are many different ways. If your kitchen is bright enough - it might be enough just to replace some kitchen equipment, such as toaster, teapot, fridge, maybe put one more lighting fixture here and there and change some light bulbs to the higher wattage. However, if your kitchen is really dark itself (one or no windows) - you might want to consider repainting it with white color or bright color palette.
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