‘Dark kitchens’ are massively popular these days. They’re virtual kitchens that allow pretty much anyone to whip up mouthwatering foods and deliver them to customers, without a physical venue. They work in collaborative spaces – or rent a section of a restaurant kitchen – to cook without the cost.
Even Deliveroo is in on the action. By 2020, the online food delivery company had created 30 global dark kitchens – 14 of which were located in the UK – serving more than 200 different food and drink creators.
Unfortunately, they’re not the type of dark kitchens we’re referring to here! Of course, we all love the post-pandemic trend for ordering our favourite cuisines from virtual kitchens, and accessing a greater variety of foods. But we want to talk about the more frustrating dark kitchens: the ones in our own homes.
Skylights, window walls, bifold doors…. They’re all great ideas. But they’re costly. And with nearly 70% of Brits saying they’re more careful with their money following the economic uncertainty lately, big investments like this just aren’t realistic for many of us. But don’t worry – there is some good news!
There are a number of very simple, very affordable ways to make your dark kitchen lighter and brighter, and they don’t include any disruptive construction work. Below, you’ll find five of our favourite kitchen lighting hacks.
1. Add more lighting
The most obvious way to deal with a dark kitchen is to add more lighting. But to really bring out the brightness in your space, you’ll need to get a little creative. It’s natural to opt for the more modern lighting solutions like recessed ceiling lights, but these are more directional, and don’t do much to disperse light around the room. Instead, consider adding more pendant fittings to maximise your light.
2. Choose a light colour
Opting for cupboards, worktops, doors, and appliances that are lighter in colour can help your kitchen to appear more open and airy, even if it’s naturally quite a dark space. Doors and worktops are good things to focus on, as these are usually the largest surfaces in your kitchen. Choosing white, cream, or even yellow hues can really help to make your space brighter, tricking the mind into thinking it’s more generously lit.
3. Opt for reflective finishes
Painted matt finishes are beautiful. However, these finishes absorb light easily. If you’re feeling frustrated with your dark kitchen, a very simple and cost-effective fix is to simply switch out your matt slab kitchen doors for gloss doors that reflect light. The shiny, reflective surface on gloss doors bounces light around the room. As long as you have some natural light coming in, you should see a big, bold difference.
4. Bring in natural light
Electric lighting is a dark kitchen’s best friend. But don’t underestimate the power of nature! When you have a dark kitchen, you should be trying to draw in as much natural light as possible from outside to really make your space brighter. Consider taking down any blinds or curtains – especially thick materials that absorb light – and trimming any big plants or trees outside that could be blocking your light.
5. Embrace it!
If your kitchen is naturally very dark, you could use any of the above lighting hacks to make it appear brighter… or you could just learn to fall in love with what you have! Believe it or not, dark kitchens are a rapidly emerging trend this year. In fact, Ideal Homes’ list of kitchen trends for 2021 includes dark surfaces and worktops, deep crimson cupboards, forest green cabinets, and beautifully brooding blues.
For more information on our range of light-reflecting gloss kitchen doors, get in touch with our helpful, friendly team today!