Kitchen Remodel – How to Remodel Your Kitchen to Let in More Light While Retaining Heat

During your kitchen renovation, you might want to take a fresh look at the lighting in that area of your home. With a few simple additions and upgrades, you could greatly improve the lighting in your kitchen while ensuring that your home remains warm and comfy during the coldest months of the year.

Install Solar Light Tubes

If you have been searching for new ways to increase the lighting in your kitchen or any other room in your home, then you might want to consider installing solar tubes. Unlike traditional skylights, solar tubes can be used to direct light to a specific area, and very little heat is going to escape through those openings. As an added bonus, light tubes can usually be installed with nothing more than a handful of basic tools. Consider researching and installing solar light tubes to brighten your kitchen in an eco-friendly manner.

Invest in Appliances with Reflective Finishes

You are probably going to upgrade at least a few of your kitchen appliances during your renovation, and you might want to choose devices that have reflective surfaces if you would like better lighting. Matte black finishes and darker colors can be more eye-catching in some kitchens, but those surfaces will absorb light instead of reflect it. You can also put mirrors and other reflective objects on the walls in your kitchen to maximize the lighting. Reflective finishes and mirrors are one of the easiest and cheapest ways to increase the natural lighting in your house. Consider making this investment especially if installing lighting or windows is too out of your budget.

Upgrade to Larger Insulated Windows

Increasing the size of your windows by a foot or two probably won’t be a huge project, but you must make sure that the windows that you choose are insulated. In a colder climate, uninsulated windows can wreak havoc on the energy efficiency of a home and increase energy bills by hundreds of dollars a year. Different states and cities will also have different codes and cold weather regulations you will want to be aware of. If you are a resident of Cincinnati, then you will be glad to hear that most window installations are very easy to carry out, and this project usually only takes one or two days to complete. In northern states, you will want to make sure your glass is tempered to withstand cold and wet conditions.

Paint with Brighter Colors

Another simple step that you can take to improve your kitchen’s natural lighting is to add a fresh coat of paint to the walls. As a general rule, you should always paint with brighter colors if you want to increase the natural lighting. Darker colors and matte paint will have a huge impact on the lighting in your kitchen, and those types of paint are often very difficult to keep clean. Brighter colors naturally reflect light and serve to make the entire space seem brighter. The same can be said for brightly colored pictures, plates, and cabinets.

After your kitchen renovation has been completed, you should consider investing in a thermal leak detector. Those devices are relatively inexpensive, and they allow homeowners to find pinholes around windows, small openings around vents, and any other issues that could affect their energy bills. A simple device like this will help you seek out and find heat siphons in your house, which will further help you retain heat.

Brooke Chaplan is a freelance writer and blogger. She lives and works out of her home in Los Lunas, New Mexico. She recommends Cincinnati window installations. She loves the outdoors and spends most of her time hiking, biking, and gardening. For more information, contact Brooke via Facebook at facebook.com/brooke.chaplan or Twitter @BrookeChaplan