During your kitchen renovation, you may want to take a new look at the lighting in this area of your home. With a few simple additions and upgrades, you can significantly improve lighting in your kitchen while ensuring that your home stays warm and comfortable in the coldest months of the year.
Install solar light tubes
If you have been looking for new ways to improve the lighting in your kitchen or another room in your house, consider installing solar tubes. Unlike traditional skylights, solar tubes can be used to direct light to a specific area, and very little heat will escape through these openings. As an added bonus, light pipes can usually only be installed with a handful of basic tools. Research and install solar light tubes to brighten up your kitchen in an environmentally friendly way.
Invest in devices with reflective surfaces
You will likely upgrade at least some of your kitchen appliances during your renovation, and you may want to choose appliances with reflective surfaces if you want better lighting. Matte black surfaces and darker colors can be more noticeable in some kitchens, but these surfaces absorb light instead of reflecting it. You can also put mirrors and other reflective items on the walls of your kitchen to maximize lighting. Reflective surfaces and mirrors are one of the easiest and cheapest ways to improve the natural light in your home. Consider this investment, especially if installing lighting or windows is too far from your budget.
Upgrade to larger, isolated Windows
Enlarging your windows by a foot or two is probably not a big project, but you need to make sure that the windows you selected are isolated. In a colder climate, non-insulated windows can affect a home's energy efficiency and increase energy costs by hundreds of dollars a year. Different states and cities also have different cold weather codes and regulations to keep in mind. If you live in Cincinnati you will be pleased to hear that most window installations are very easy to do and this project usually only takes a day or two. In northern states, make sure your glass is tempered to withstand cold and wet conditions.
Paint with lighter colors
Another easy step you can take to enhance the natural light of your kitchen is to give the walls a fresh coat of paint. As a rule, you should always paint with lighter colors if you want to increase the natural light. Dark colors and matte colors have a big impact on the lighting in your kitchen, and these types of colors are often very difficult to keep clean. Lighter colors naturally reflect light and make the entire room appear brighter. The same applies to colorful pictures, plates and cupboards.
After completing your kitchen renovation, you should invest in a thermal leak detector. These devices are relatively inexpensive and allow homeowners to find small holes in windows, small openings in vents, and other issues that could affect their energy costs. With a simple device like this, you can search and find heat siphons in your home, which allows you to store the heat further.
Brooke Chaplan is a freelance writer and blogger. She lives and works from home in Los Lunas, New Mexico. she recommends Cincinnati window installations. She loves nature and spends most of her time hiking, cycling and gardening. For more information, contact Brooke on Facebook at facebook.com/brooke.chaplan or Twitter @BrookeChaplan
