Colorado boasts 300 days of sunshine each year, and Southern Colorado homeowners love to maximize natural light in the kitchen. Natural light makes a kitchen feel more inviting and cozy, and the sun is vital to supporting our emotional health. On the practical side, natural light can save you money on your energy bill.
If you’re lucky enough to have big windows filling your kitchen with sunlight, that’s excellent news. But not all homes are so fortunate. If you don’t have as much natural light as you’d like, remember the principle that light reflects, dark absorbs. But does that mean that kitchen design is limited to white or other sterile colors? Not at all! Here are some of our favorite tips to maximize natural light in the kitchen without giving up style.
Tips To Maximize Natural Light In The Kitchen
Start At The Top
When discussing maximizing natural light in the kitchen, we start at the top with the ceiling and lighting fixtures. Using the principle stated above, lighter colored ceilings will reflect what natural light there is in a kitchen. There is a reason why most homes have white ceilings. The same goes for your choice of paint color for the walls. If plain white is not your style, remember that there are a myriad of shades that will match your tastes and reflect natural light.
In addition, installing light fixtures with daylight bulbs can go a long way to brightening up your space. Daylight bulbs cast a warm, yellow light throughout the room, rather than regular bulbs’ blue or white light. If you have more than one light fixture in your kitchen, try replacing one of them with a daylight bulb to balance out the light in the room.
Did You Know? Light Reflectance Value, or LRV, is a way to measure how much light a specific color will reflect. The range starts with 0% for black and goes up to 100% for pure white. Look for paint colors with a higher percentage LRV to maximize natural light.
Cabinet and Countertop Choices
Dark, heavy cabinets and countertops can consume a lot of the light that comes in through the windows. Choosing light-colored kitchen cabinets and countertops will reflect light, making your kitchen brighter.
While evaluating your cabinets and countertops, don’t forget your backsplash. No matter what design esthetic you are going for, there are many options available that will not only fit your tastes but also maximize natural light in the kitchen. Look for tiles and other surfaces with a glossy finish, or try the newest trend in backsplashes, iridescent tiles, to brighten up your kitchen.
Appliances
Black appliances can create a nice contrast to lighter cabinets and are a popular choice in Southern Colorado. But if your kitchen does not have windows, they can pull in what light is available. Instead, invest in stainless steel appliances or traditional white.
Related: Choosing the Perfect Appliances for Your Kitchen Remodel
Decor
The decor you choose for your kitchen design should also reflect what natural light you have in the room. Select window treatments and draperies with light edging for the brightest kitchen, and save the so-called black-out curtains for your bedroom. Your wall decor should have light-colored frames; don’t forget to use strategically placed decorative mirrors to maximize natural light in the kitchen. Even drawer pulls and cabinet handles can reflect light and brighten a dark space.
Flooring
We started at the top with the ceiling, and our last tip is at the bottom – your kitchen flooring. You may not think of the floor as being a surface you can utilize to maximize natural light in the kitchen. But the floor is one of the best reflective surfaces you have to work with in the kitchen. Just as the snow on our Colorado roadways reflects the sunlight, making the sunny days after a snowstorm beautiful (and occasionally blinding), kitchen flooring can draw in the same natural light.
And don’t fear, there are many more options available in flooring than the sterile, high-gloss laminate associated with hospitals. Well-selected tile, hardwood, and even laminate flooring can have the same effect. If you are raising a family and concerned with visible scuff marks, paw prints, and spills, you can select textured flooring with varying hues to stretch your time between deep cleaning.
Want Additional Tips To Maximize Natural Light In The Kitchen? Call In The Experts.
Have these tips for maximizing natural light in the kitchen given you food for thought but don’t know where to begin? That answer is as easy as picking up the phone. A Certified Kitchen Designer from Designer Kitchens is standing by to help you design the kitchen of your dreams. Our knowledge and experience enable us to maximize your kitchen space, whether large and bright or small and dark.