Advice on improving my dark kitchen

My kitchen is at the back of my bungalow and can be dark from late afternoon,I changed the tiles to cream from black and put up a very large mirror to bounce off light from the kitchen window,I also removed the spotlights and fitted a large fluorescent light to the ceiling which made the kitchen so much brighter.

Of course I don't know your taste or what your budget is, but a few things come to mind. One easy way to bring in more light is to have a skylight installed. Under-counter lighting is nice and helps a lot too. Restaining your cabinets a light color would give a whole new refreshing look, then you could replace your cabinet hardware with new handles and knobs to your liking! If it were me, I'd do the cabinets over in white (or an off-white or subtle color). Your black countertops would stand out nicely. Curtains and walls should be light too. Hope you find what you like!

Looking at your picture, the cupboard doors are a boring colour, though not very dark. What really drags it down is the dark work top which must be very depressing when you're working in the kitchen. That's the first thing I would change. I believe that companies that re-spray cars will sometimes also re-spray kitchen units which would give them a nice glossy finish if that's what you are aiming for.

Have a quick look at the wonderful kitchen transformations people have done on here.

www.facebook.com/groups/411202492387852/?hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen&multi_permalinks=1949140711927348

I would second the recommendation for Kitchen Magic who update a kitchen by leaving the old cupboard frames in situ and building new doors and ends around them. We had this done in a pale cream Shaker design and thought it looked amazing. We also sourced Travertine marble slabs (very pale white) cheaply from the internet and had them laid over our old tiles. Travertine is a bit skittish and temperamental and needs TLC but you could lay pale tiles to reflect light.

This would cost you a few grand, about a quarter to a third of the cost of buying new.

Alternatively, there are companies which will professionally respray cupboards so they look new. This costs about £1000 for a whole kitchen.

Lighting updates will also create a brighter effect.

I’d paint the cupboards in a pale grey, either DIY or professionally and install under wall cupboards lighting, as already suggested
I’d also look at covering the tiles with pale grey glass splash back, professionally installed.

I would look into replacing just the door and drawer fronts. It will give your kitchen an instant lift.

If you replace worktops, your tiles may cracked.

Up here in the Wigan area there are a few companies who will come out and spray paint the kitchen. There’s loads of Different colours to choose from .

I've used tile stickers on my fireplace. They're much better quality than the naff ones if the 1980s. You can get them in lots of shapes and colours to recover all your tiles without damage in a lighter colour.
There are sticky back plastic type options for worktops and units too, that I've seen in videos. But I've not used them xx

Forgot to mention I also had the black tiles, drive me mad keeping them polished. DH bought cream coloured tiles same size intending to tile on top but eventually decided it wasn't worth it as the overall kitchen needed changing. My AS who has a very big kitchen and is saving for replacement did tile on top as a stop gap and it looks good.

That looks like the 13 year old kitchen I have just had replaced. I too thought it was too dark. Two people I know have had their kitchen units spray painted professionally and they look good. Door and drawer fronts are taken away and on return the edges of the doors etc are painted. £500 was the cost of one, don't know what the other cost. I didn't go for that as I didn't fancy having the insides of cupboards left different from fronts, my cupboards were the same inside and out, some types are white or cream. Also I wanted a different worktop. Painting, perhaps a new worktop and stick on led lights on the kickboard to lighten the floor are all I can suggest.

Your photo looks like Ikea units - if so, you can sand down the cupboard doors and spray paint them in a light colour.

I don't know what your counter and table top are made of, so I doubt you can paint them.

A hardware store ought to be able to supply paint that could be used on those black tiles - and you could ask their advice about the table tops too. If you decide to paint the counter and table tops, I would varnish them with clear varnish after painting them, so the surface lasts longer.

Hang pots of brightly coloured flowers on the painted white wall to cheer it up, or even paint a mural.

Definitely affix under cupboard lights to illuminate the worktops. Also makes it cosier, but the best thing is you're not working in your own shadow. You can get battery powered stick-on ones, but maybe screw on any that will be near steam.

Thank you all so very much for going to so much trouble to help. Such creative ideas and lots of contacts too. And the odd laugh - yep, I know exactly what you mean about a re-vamp Callistemon. When I've done the kitchen I'm next The light coloured worktop saver idea is genius idea Peasblossom I can do that tomorrow!

Definitely going to look at tiles, painting the wall and lighting. I will post up pictures as soon as I'm done.

Redhead she should start a business!

My DD transformed her 70s kitchen. She painted her black tiles white and cupboards pale grey she covered the unit tops with a stick on light wood grain covering.
She changed the handles on the draws and doors. It looks fab what a transformation costing about £150 and three days work.

choughdancer

I think if it was me, I would paint or have painted the cupboard doors as recommended above, then do something to the backsplash tiles. Either cover or replace them with white ones, or even a mirror finish to maximise light. I would leave the worktop until you had made other changes, and then see if it really needed to go. Good luck! Do come back with an after picture too!

That reminded me of when we moved house and our 'new' kitchen had mirror tiles. I didn't like them (or the wonderful kitchen) and I remember the next door neighbour coming in for coffee and saying that the previous owner used to sit on a bar stool and admire herself in the mirror tiles. ?

I'm just about to strip the vinyl off my MDF kitchen doors and use Frenchic Al Fresco paint to brighten the kitchen up. It is a chalk paint, also suitable for wood, the best finish is to use a roller.

I'm also going to paint the tiles in a contrasting colour.

My worktop isn't wood, it's MDF and vinyl, so I'm going to rewrap that too.

If the existing cabinet doors are in good condition I don't think you will have much trouble selling them......try FB Marketplace. This would at least give you some spare cash to put towards new doors of your choice. I would keep the workshops though and maybe consider replacing the dark tiles or possibly overlaying with some brushed steel sheets if you don't want the hassle of re-tiling.

I think if it was me, I would paint or have painted the cupboard doors as recommended above, then do something to the backsplash tiles. Either cover or replace them with white ones, or even a mirror finish to maximise light. I would leave the worktop until you had made other changes, and then see if it really needed to go. Good luck! Do come back with an after picture too!

It was suggested on one tv program to take have a firm in to spray the doors in a lighter (white?) colour. Try that first as there are a lot of them and then see if something needs to be done with the tiles and tops.

You might look at those stick on tiles to cover the dark tiles. They come in many different colours and patterns and are used quite often for that purpose.

I wouldn't paint the tiles, but I would change out the worktops and put some nice under cupboard lights in, as FlexibleFriend suggested.

I also agree about painting the wall - our living room is quite dark and when we changed the tarmac drive to a pale resin drive it was amazing how much light was reflected into the room even though the drive is six feet from the window.