How To Fix A Kitchen With Poor Lighting

When people shop for a new home, great natural light is almost always on their wish list. But once location, price, school district, and the age of the home all come into play, most buyers end up compromising somewhere — and the kitchen is often where natural light takes the hit.

A dim kitchen isn’t the end of the world though. With the right design choices, you can brighten it up dramatically without knocking down walls. Based on my years of working in American homes—old apartments, townhouses, and suburban remodels—here are the most effective ways to fix a kitchen with poor lighting.

1. Choose the Right Cabinet Color

If your kitchen has a small window, faces the wrong direction, or just never seems to get enough daylight, turning on the lights even at noon is completely normal. For this kind of kitchen, dark cabinets are usually the biggest mistake.

Skip:

These colors absorb light and make a dim kitchen feel heavy, narrow, and visually “dirty” over time — especially if your cooking style produces grease.

Go lighter instead:

Light colors reflect both natural and artificial light, instantly making the room feel more open and cheerful. They also help maintain a “clean” look even after a long day of cooking.

One of my clients had a north-facing kitchen that barely got any sunlight. She chose warm white cabinets, and even with the lights off, the space looked calm and bright. At night, the lighting bounced beautifully off the cabinet finish, giving the entire room a soft, elegant glow. You’d never guess the room had weak natural light. She still sends me photos of her creamy cabinets every holiday.

2. Pick Cabinet Materials That Work With Your Lifestyle

American kitchens deal with a lot of real cooking — frying, sautéing, roasting — and the grease buildup is no joke. In darker kitchens, grease shows up even more because the surfaces already feel visually “dull.”

Here’s the rule of thumb:

If you cook often and use oil

Avoid high-gloss cabinet finishes. They show every fingerprint, smudge, and grease splatter. Under artificial lighting, glossy doors can look slick and oily unless you clean them constantly or have a very strong range hood.

If you cook lightly or rarely fry food

Glossy finishes can actually help brighten the space because they reflect light.
Glass cabinet doors are also great for dim kitchens — they bounce light around and help break up heavy upper-cabinet lines.

3. Consider Adjusting the Cabinet Layout

When homeowners think about fixing a dark kitchen, the first instinct is usually:

“Let’s add more lights.”

But sometimes, the layout is the real culprit.

If the space feels boxed in, opening up the layout can dramatically change how the light travels. For example:

An open kitchen combined with a U-shaped layout can make the space feel bigger and more breathable.
Removing a few uppers or replacing them with open shelves can also help reduce shadows.
Improving airflow between the kitchen and adjacent rooms often makes the whole space feel brighter.

Of course, in an open layout, you’ll want a good range hood so cooking smells don’t take over your living room. But from a design standpoint, a more open cabinet layout gives the kitchen a lighter, more modern feel.

Many homeowners I’ve worked with tried to solve poor lighting by installing expensive fixtures, but kept the same cramped layout — and the room still looked dark. Once we adjusted the cabinet structure, the difference was immediate.

Final Thoughts

Poor natural light doesn’t mean you’re stuck with a gloomy kitchen. With the right colors, materials, and layout adjustments, you can make even an older, dim space feel brighter and more welcoming. Good design can compensate for the limitations of the room — you just need to be intentional with your choices.

And if you’re still browsing cabinet options and not sure where to start, take a look at RaraRTAcabinets. They’re running a Black Friday sale right now, and new customers can get an extra 5% off their first order — a nice bonus if you’re planning a kitchen update.