Can I Brighten My Kitchen by Moving the Cabinets?

Light elevates mood and improves vision. Although the human body needs darkness as part of its natural sleep and healing cycle, regular lack of light in an enclosed space, such as a kitchen, depresses mood and deteriorates vision.

A kitchen with poor lighting, or light-dulling elements such as dark cabinetry or a small or irregular room shape, can feel unapproachable and uncomfortable to work in because low lighting creates the illusion of a cramped, uninviting space. Additionally, low lighting can cause accidental falls, burns, cuts and other injuries.

Lightening cabinet color, through refacing or replacement, is often the preferred renovation method for brightening a kitchen. Refacing or replacement with lighter cabinets is typically more cost-effective than moving cabinetry around.

Lighter cabinets aren’t always enough to make a kitchen as bright as desired or needed. Moving cabinets to different positions in a kitchen is sometimes the best and only real solution.

It needs to be said that cabinet relocation can be more expensive than other renovation methods. After all, if the amount, size and shape of the space available isn’t sufficient, you will need to either downsize your cabinets with smaller custom cabinets, or tear out part or all of one or more walls to add space and/or install extra windows, to improve lighting.

That said, you should always consider moving cabinets when debating methods to brighten a kitchen. Cabinet relocation provides many long-term benefits beyond making a kitchen lighter. It can:

• Create the illusion of a larger kitchen.
• Open up real additional space.
• Improve a floor traffic plan.
• Make existing storage and workspaces more efficient.
• Provide opportunities for installation of extra storage, workspaces or appliances.

At this point, you’re probably asking yourself how you’re supposed to know which cabinet positions will work best with your kitchen's layout and design to make your kitchen brighter.

Contact a professional designer or a cabinet maker for a free in-home evaluation. A professional is the best person to help you choose.

Additionally, consider these popular ideas:

• A simple way of dealing with dark cabinetry is to move all of your kitchen cabinets to one wall opposite a light source and then leave the cabinets dark or reface them in a light color, such as white, almost-white gray or cream.
• Relocate cabinets to one wall and then mix colors. For example, reface central cabinets in a light color and end cabinets in a dark brown or red natural wood or stained shade. The reverse -- dark-colored center cabinets with light-colored end cabinets -- is also popular.
• Break up floor-to-ceiling cabinets into upper and lower wall cabinets, install a light-colored backsplash between and add under-cabinet lighting. 
• Reposition an island or a peninsula in a small kitchen flush against a wall opposite to the light source or remove the extra cabinetry entirely.
• Remove one or more walls in a kitchen that simply doesn't have enough space or cut out a large portion of one wall's center to create a pass-through that brings light into the kitchen from an attached room or brightly lit hallway.