<p>Any advice on how to remodel a rectangular kitchen that opens onto a very bright family room on one side and a super bright conservatory/sun room on the other end? There is no window over the counters or skylights in the kitchen area itself. The kitchen is long and large enough that the end opposite the family room and conservatory tends to be dark (ie, have to turn on the light in broad daylight to see what you’re doing). </p>
<p>The cabinets are antique white, the counters are a cream/seagreen speckled granite that I don’t like because it wasn’t sealed properly and is faded and worn out. Would you believe the granite extends into the deep sink? Never seen that before. The long somewhat narrow island has a very nice new five-burner cook top with a vent that pops up and works well when you need it. The island surface, however, is white corian that is showing its age. Also, the drawers in the island are badly configured, too shallow and not wide enough.</p>
<p>Hardwood floors in good shape. </p>
<p>We could pour money into this kitchen and it could be swell but with lots of tuition costs and looming retirement we need to be judicious.</p>
<p>My biggest concern is the lack of a window in the work area. Thinking of replacing the current narrow long island with an L shaped one that incorporates the sink looking out at the conservatory rather than against a windowless wall.</p>
<p>I think I’m really ruled by Feng Shi! Just go crazy in a space with no window!</p>
<p>It’s difficult to visualize your kitchen … never mind make suggestions regarding alterations. I’d suggest having inviting a Realtor to take a look. Ask what kitchen mods would increase the value of your house. Ask for recommendation of builders who would be appropriate to make those mods.</p>
<p>I suggest that you go to the garden web’s kitchen forum (sorry not supposed to post links). Take some pics and post them. This is THE place on the web for everything kitchen (because everyone there is TKO - totally kitchen obsessed).
Happy planning!</p>
<p>Is there any possibility of adding one of those light tubes from the roof?</p>
<p>As for no windows, you could do like Disney is doing on their cruise ships - put a TV monitor above the sink showing a view (of anywhere)! Just kidding. It sounds like a great challenge. Good luck!</p>
<p>I have a very long galley kitchen with no windows which opens up to two windowed rooms at either end. When we built the house I paid a lighting designer for the specific purpose to light the kitchen properly. I do not miss the window.</p>
<p>If there is no way to add a window to your kitchen to look out into another room midway along, I think your idea of moving the sink might be workable. What are the dimensions of the space and how wide are the openings at either end?</p>
<p>Ahhh . . . some excellent kitchen minds here on CC. Okay here are the dimensions:</p>
<p>13 feet wide. 25 feet long. This includes what is currently counters on the periphery.</p>
<p>There is a door to the dining room on the “dark” end. That’s where the refrigerator is. Then at about 20 feet forward there is a six-foot opening to the family room. At 25 feet the room becomes the conservatory. We have put the kitchen table in the conservatory for now. There is a a five-foot zone between what is kitchen area and conservatory without anything right now. Opposite the opening to the family room is a hallway to laundry room, garage and office.</p>
<p>I think the suggestion to carefully revisit lighting is a very good one.</p>
<p>I think its ok to link to the gardenweb forum [Kitchen</a> Forum - GardenWeb](<a href=“Kitchen Forum | Houzz”>Kitchen Forum | Houzz)
We have a bedroom in the basement that has no window/view to the outside. What the previous homeowners did, which was brilliant, is that they put a window in the sheetrock and behind it (between the sheetrock and the outer wall), put a light above the window inside the wall. We then added wallaper that looks like the monet waterlillies, and put window treatments on the window So, when you turn on the light the window is backlit and it “looks” like there is a view of waterlillies through the window!</p>
<p>Okay assuming I am visualizing this all correctly I think you have the right idea. 13’ is a bit narrow for an island - you want a minimum of a 3’ aisle and 4’ is better. If I were you I’d run counters along the wall with no opening and then put a wide L on the conservatory end with a sink on one side and pull up stools and an overhang on the other. (Alternatively it could be storage for your dining area in the conservatory. Or open shelves with nice things to look at. You could raise up the counter level if you want to hide the dishes from the conservatory end of things. </p>
<p>At the same time, I’d work on improving lighting with good quality light fixtures (especially undercounter lights) and counter tops that reflect more light. If your cabinets don’t go up to the ceiling I’d seriously consider putting lights up there that light up your ceiling. High hat lighting IMO is terrible. It only lights the area right underneath it and tends to put your shadow on whatever you are doing. My favorite way to light a kitchen is to use a schoolhouse type lamp that lights up both the ceiling and the surrounding area casting far fewer shadows. <a href=“Modern American Heirlooms – Schoolhouse”>Modern American Heirlooms – Schoolhouse; (Or the modern equivalent depending on the style of the kitchen.)</p>
<p>If the cabinets are all right, you like their configuration, and you are not looking to do a total-gut-job, you can replace the countertops for not a whole lot of money (YMMV). There’s a lot of options – from slab granite, to granite tiles, to concrete, to glass…you name it. The website above is a great place to start. </p>
<p>New countertops, fresh paint, matching pulls and faucet makes a kitchen up-to-date. You can easily call an electrician to add some ‘can lights’ to the dark end…and consider adding under-cabinet lighting as well. </p>
<p>Changing out the island is a little tricky due to the cooktop…are the drawers shallow because of the vent unit? We have one of those and we lost a lot of space at the back of the cabinet…so much so that we can use the space for storing plastic wrap/aluminum foil boxes and that’s about it. </p>
<p>Check out KitchenMaid, IKEA, or one of the other cabinet manufacturers websites…they have their specs on-line. The cabinets come flat-packed and are not hard to build. Can’t be hard if I’ve done it…and I don’t speak ‘instruction-ese’. Go bigger, different shape, or what have you – these days the color of the island doesn’t even have to match the rest – and you’ve created a new kitchen without re-doing everything. And the more you do yourself, the more $$$ you save! </p>
<p>P.S. Anything electrical or plumbing related…please call a pro. Amateur mistakes wind up costing much more than calling a pro in to begin with.</p>
<p>Terrific advice here. Thanks, all of you kitchen gurus.</p>
<p>Love the trimless recessed light idea. Love the L-shaped island idea. And really love the idea of keeping the cabinets (which aren’t great but aren’t awful) and just changing the countertops. </p>
<p>Any suggestions on what countertops reflect light best? Also backsplash? It’s currently dark seaweed green horrid tile. Totally soaks up the light.</p>
<p>I would do the lighting first and then decide on the cabinets and counter top. I have cherry cabinets, most with framed glass doors, a dark granite counter top ( black and greay with long streaks of deep rust and flecks of azure). And my kitchen is still bright from the lighting.</p>
<p>You can paint tiles with proper prep. Chipping them off and re-tiling works too! Esp. if you are going to be yanking out counter-tops. Taking off the tile at the same time eliminates worrying about breaking or chipping. As for style — depends on what kind of a look you are going for. A five-minute visit to any DIY tile department will leave your head spinning with the variety available.</p>
<p>My mother-in-law solved this problem by hanging a huge mirror over the kitchen sink. It allowed her to look out the window behind her when she stood at the sink.</p>
<p>Have any of you gone to one of those kitchen specialist places? Do you figure it all out yourself and then hire the various professionals (electrician, plumber, carpenter)?</p>
<p>I’m feeling paralyzed trying to figure it all out.</p>
<p>Didn’t mean to imply that you would use just one light fixture. (My old kitchen about half this size with white cabinets and white formica counter tops and just one window was bright with just one lamp with a 200 watt bulb.) If you use cans you’ll need them about every four feet. It sounds like your counter top is fairly light already. If you are into replacing it I’d go to kitchen stores and see what appeals. There are lots of fairly light colored granites. You might like something like Blanco City or Capri Limestone in Silestone. I like recycled glass countertops: [JHI</a> Ceramic Tile Specialist](<a href=“http://www.jhitile.com/42901/index.html]JHI”>http://www.jhitile.com/42901/index.html)</p>
<p>There are lots of ways you can do a kitchen. First though check with your building department and see if they require an architect or other professional. Architects, interior designers, certified kitchen planners all do this sort of work. Most stores that sell cabinets will be happy to do drawings for you if you are buying anything new, but keep in mind that they can provide the service for free because they are selling you stuff. An architect working for a fixed sum can work to save you money. Interior designers usually get a percentage of sales and benefit by selling more stuff too.</p>
<p>I’d go with a certified kitchen planner – but bring in lots of ideas/pictures of what you want, which means do a fair bit of research. Thank God for the Internet. He or she should be able to put you in touch with a couple of contractors with whom the planner has a working relationship. Usually it is wise to take neither the cheapest nor the most expensive one. </p>
<p>Expect to go at least 10-15%% over budget and 20% over on time. There are delays, mistakes, and unforeseen circumstances all the time (say, a leak under your sink has rotted out a floorboard-type situation). </p>
<p>I wanted to mention re: cabinets. If you want to match existing cabinets, if you remove the front of a drawer (look inside – there should be two screws through the front), you can take it with you to the store. They change the <em>names</em> of the cabinets all the time…but the colors remain pretty similar over the years. I added a drawer pack to my kitchen this year. They claimed they no longer made that color but when I brought in the drawer I matched it perfectly. Dark reddish maple is dark reddish maple whether they call it Cafe Russe or Toasted Leather.</p>
<p>Low budget option: replace the light fixtures and add task lighting underneath the countertops; new cabinet doors in light wood or paint; new countertops in light granite or tile (granite tiles are cheaper than slab).</p>
<p>Medium budget option: redesign the kitchen with the goal of keeping as much as possible, keeping layout the same, add window or skylight.</p>
<p>High budget option: kitchen planner, gut the space and start from scratch, moving the kitchen into one of the rooms that does have light and windows ;-)</p>
<p>We brightened up our small, dark kitchen by installing light maple cabinets, an off-white porcelain sink, countertops in “Venetian” granite (coordinates with the pale-yellow cabinets and ivory sink), and a more powerful central light fixture. Our appliances are off-white as well.</p>