The Easiest Way To Make A Dark Kitchen Appear Lighter

For many people, kitchens are the heart of the home. It's where families gather to share meals and celebrate holidays, and it's where we go when insomnia demands we get a comforting midnight snack. Ironically, it's also a room full of safety hazards, like hot surfaces and sharp knives. Dark kitchens are not only depressing and unwelcoming, they can also be dangerous.

Fortunately, there's a simple tool that'll brighten up your space that'll make it feel cozier and help you avoid common food safety mistakes due to lack of light — a mirror. While they may no longer be vital to illuminating our homes, a well-placed mirror can still make a room feel bigger and brighter, which is especially advantageous in a small, dark kitchen space.

The most important thing to consider when choosing a mirror for your space is placement. Because you want it to reflect as much light as possible, hanging a mirror across from a window or near a light fixture will use it to its greatest advantage. Choose a mirror that aligns with your existing kitchen aesthetic so it's both functional and decorative. If you don't have room for a big statement mirror, try clustering smaller mirrors in several areas of your kitchen, like miniature gallery walls. Mix and match shapes and sizes for maximum effect.

Depending on your budget and time constraints, you can combine the use of mirrors with other decorating tricks to lighten up a dim kitchen. One simple thing that works really well in tandem with mirrors and other reflective surfaces is changing your lightbulbs. If your old bulbs were on their last legs or a low wattage, swapping them for a brighter version may make a bigger difference in your kitchen than you anticipated.

Something else to try is cleaning your light fixtures and degreasing your kitchen cabinets with Dawn. Grimy light fixtures won't emit as much light as clean ones, and oily kitchen cabinets can unevenly reflect light and cause odd glares and shadows. Clean, matte cabinets diffuse light more evenly for a cozy ambience, which is important because cabinets occupy so much of the surface area in your kitchen.

If you have the budget for a minor remodel, choosing the right stone for your kitchen counters can dramatically change the light distribution in the room. Creamy whites, soft beige, and light gray are excellent choices because they go with most decor styles and lighter colors means a lighter, brighter kitchen. This is also true when it comes to cabinet colors. If your cabinets are currently dark, consider repainting them to freshen up your space. Even if you can only do the upper cabinets, your kitchen will feel more expansive, and the new color will help your mirrors do double-duty in distributing light.