One thing we can never have too much in our home is light. Bright space always looks bigger but it also makes the space more inviting and that's especially important in the kitchen.
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An obvious way to make any room bright is to go with white or very bright colors. This work, no doubt about it, but... First, white can easily become boring, and second, you don't want to cook in a sterile environment, like you're in the hospital. But there are ways to make our kitchen shine and bright but now white. The point is to use other colors and arrange your furniture to allow light to reach the furthest corners of your kitchen. Even if you have a white kitchen, you can easily bring more life into it.
We know that you can never have too much storage space in the kitchen, but try to leave some open space around your window(s). You don't have to have big windows and French doors, just one windows can let enough light inside to make the whole kitchen bright. Put smaller drawers near the window and bigger away from it to make the light flow freely. On top of that, you may place lightly colored floor tiles in different colors to lift up the space.
If you want to play with colors and have time for reno, try to think about any color you want - except white. And while doing that, avoid green and olive because they absorb the light more than other colors. Don't forget that kitchen appliances, especially those made of stainless steel, reflect light very well and they will make any color brighter. It is a good idea to stay in shades of one color because that's easy on eye.
If you have an older house with wooden beams, you don't have to go rustic just because it's old. Leave the beams in their natural color, which is always in a red-brown shade, and build on top of that. Use bright, bold colors for details, use similar or complementary color for the backsplash, and leave the space open toward other part of the house. Although it is old, you can easily fit modern appliances in it to make it more modern, because modern creates a bright feeling by itself. ■
