Next: the kitchen

kelly422

You all are good at this - now can you help me with ideas for lighting for my kitchen? It's so dark in here. Right now we have a total of 5 lights that you see in the pic.

riansmommie

Install some cheap under cabinet lights!!! They have low profile ones that you can hide easily. I would say one every 3-4 cupboard doors apart and you would be golden for brightening up your kitchen without spending an arm and a leg!

riansmommie

You could also do a few on top of the cupboards to add even more light

Monkeybutt80

I agree with under the cabinet lights.  If you are thinking of changing the whole light scheme, I say do recessed lights and then some pendant lights over the sink area. 

kelly422

We may do the under-the-cabinet lighting, too, but we're definitely going to replace the ceiling lighting.  No only does it suck, but it's UGLY!  Track lighting vs individual lights? 

@cl8badb I like that!

GraceInCA

kelly422 said:

We may do the under-the-cabinet lighting, too, but we're definitely going to replace the ceiling lighting.  No only does it suck, but it's UGLY!  Track lighting vs individual lights? 

@cl8badb I like that!

We pulled out the yucky flourescent light in our kitchen and replaced it with recessed lighting. I like it well enough, but my husband hates it because he thinks lighting that we could have pointed in the directions we wanted would have been better. So you might be better off with some kind of track lighting.

kelly422

@subliminalrabbit said:

I don't know the extent of your remodel here, but if you're up for it, I'd also consider painting those cabinets and the wall to lighten everything up.  Paint can make a huge difference!

No way would I ever paint these beautiful oak cabinets!  But, I see what you mean.  I like the color of our walls, but I could definitely see how a lighter color would make it brighter.  

kelly422

@CL8badB said:

No way would I ever paint these beautiful oak cabinets!  But, I see what you mean.  I like the color of our walls, but I could definitely see how a lighter color would make it brighter.  

------- Im also not a fan of painting cabinets but you can consider just painting the wall that the cabinets are on and leaving the other wall the darker blue.

That's an idea - what color would you recommend to go with the blue? The blue that we have in there is almost like a darker periwinkle color. 

musicalsilver

Depending on what kind of level of involvement you're going for - refinish your cabinets to white.  We just did this with our kitchen and it turned it from a little dungeon to a light airy room with no change in the lighting situation.

It was a bit of a PITA though, so I don't know if you're looking for that level of change.

ETA: your walls also look pretty dark - making them a lighter color would help!

numbersgirl08

We had track lighting in our first kitchen and I hated it.  We also have it in our current rental kitchen and I still hate it.  It doesn't seem to illuminate everything very well and just focuses on certain areas, and in a kitchen you really need every area lit well.  In our house we own that I love, we have recessed lighting which I think is perfect. (See picture).

I also like lights over the island like @cl8badB suggested.  We thought about doing that but decided not to for now.

ETA: I also recommend under cabinet lighting.  It helps a lot when your workspace is under upper cabinets.

kelly422

@numbersgirl08 Very pretty kitchen! How do you have nothing on your two countertops?!  My kitchen is so cluttered! 

@CL8badB I'm gonna take a few more pics after I'm done pumping  

numbersgirl08

kelly422 said:

@numbersgirl08 Very pretty kitchen! How do you have nothing on your two countertops?!  My kitchen is so cluttered! 

@CL8badB I'm gonna take a few more pics after I'm done pumping  

Thanks!  This was a staged picture taken awhile back.  I think it was one of my "After" shots from our house renovation.  Trust me, it doesn't look like this on a regular basis.  Also because we don't live here right now and we're renting it out.  I have no idea what it looks like and that kind of scares me.  We're in a tiny kitchen right now.  I  miss it so much!

Monkeybutt80

@numbersgirl08 looove your kitchen! Beautiful countertop!

numbersgirl08

There have been some other good suggestions - I really like the suggestion of painting the cabinets and the wall/ceiling.  Or putting a light colored backsplash on the wall behind the counter.  You can do a lot to lighten up a kitchen without changing light fixtures.

I love remodeling stuff like this!  This is fun!  Any more rooms?

kelly422

@cl8badb Nevermind, I don't even know my own kitchen colors haha. The kitchenette part where the windows are are sort of a light icy blue but everywhere where there is the darker blue, there are cabinets.

Here's a better pic of the shade of blue and the countertop color which is sort of a blue/gray.

numbersgirl08

kelly422 said:

@cl8badb Nevermind, I don't even know my own kitchen colors haha. The kitchenette part where the windows are are sort of a light icy blue but everywhere where there is the darker blue, there are cabinets. Here's a better pic of the shade of blue and the countertop color which is sort of a blue/gray.

I like the thought of doing a backsplash where that darker blue is.  Would lighten things up.  I had suggested painting the cabinets white, but I'm not sure if that would look good with the countertops.  But you could still get the walls lighter.

kelly422

@cl8badb

riansmommie

@34blondie I told my hubby that y'all used the laminate tile and got so many compliments on it and he finally agreed that it was the best option for our kitchen (he has been trying to convince me to go the real tile route, not happening)!!! I've been pestering him that this is what I wanted in mine now for months. So thanks for helping me convince the hubby. Next year is when I get to revamp my kitchen

cafecreme

that grey blue isn't helping with the lighting..it's kinda sucking it all out of that room. Think tan or yellow. That alone would brighten it up considerably. 

similar kitchens, but look at the difference with color

numbersgirl08

@wren1212 They're granite but I know there's quartz that looks a lot like them.