Gloomy dark room - describe your kitchen to me ? Please.

[Weasleybug]

About to get kitchen re-done and have to make decisions PDQ as builder is available either in Sept or not till Jan so....

our kitchen is quite big but on the side of our house so is quite dark so I need to maximise light ....

Would be grateful to hear what has worked and what hasn't to this effect please (units, worktops and floors please !).

lighting under the wall units makes a big difference

We did a side-return extension with velux windows to sort out our dark kitchen. Then painted it white (but may change that later) and have cream units and darker mottled cream tiles on floor. Lots of stainless steel appliances.

white tiles, white units,, white paint, chrome accessories, dark floor to hide the dirt

reflective surfaces help to bounce light around the room. glass spalsh backs are very popular right now.

lighting: in a kitchen you need general lighting and task lighting. makesure there are good strong down lighter or sim on all the areas you will be working in and have that on a sepaerate circuit to the general lights.

obv light colours ont he units/walls will brighten too.

hth.

Oooo i like the sound of glass splashbacks!!

Downlighters that are flush in the ceiling are great too.

Cream wooden units

Kashmir Gold granite worktops

Cream ceramic tiled floor

Cobalt blue small wall tiles

Red and gold Godin range cooker & hob.

Sounds weird now I type it but the overall impression is cream, cobalt blue highlights & one bit of red and gold.

White Villeroy & Bosch sink

Chrome mixer tap

Good lighting under cupboards

16 mini flush spotlights

Thanks everyone.

ooh Jammy - do you find the dark floor isn't too dark in a dark room ? We put in limestone in our old house and it was dreadful for cleaning so I don't want to put in a light floor. What worktops do you have ?

I have got as far as wanting light units (white or cream), I really want granite on surfaces, have stainless steel range - will get a s/steel extractor and probably sink.

Was wondering about glass splashbacks... oh no ... decisions decisions...

RGP. yes, you can have them in any colour you like too...meaning you can hav v plain bog standard units and neutral colours elsewhere which is all lifted and brightened by a big splash of any colour you like... nice and easy to clean too (buy an Ecloth glass cloth for easy smear-free cleaning/wiping.)

sorry more people posted whilst I was typing -

we already have down lighters so thats good but the under unit lights are neon strips which are awful - but we will have normal under unit lights... thanks for reminder.

my floor is charcoal coloured which is the same as my worksurface - contrasts nicely

if the lightoing is good and the rest of the scheme is light and bright, the flooring can be fairly dark w no gloominess. go for dsomething mottled looking - solid colours always look grubby!

THanks Jammy - am liking that idea...

oh yes, the smaller downlighters are way nicer in overall effect than the bigger standard ones.

Does anyone have slate on floor ? Thoughts ? Or maybe I should start a new thread on that one (MN is great isn't it ).

We have a slate floor and I love it.White kitchen units with dark wood tops edged in stainless steel to match range Black and white mosaic tiles around sink which is a square belfast type but in stainless steel too.White walls and a big seventies style retro light shade.Huge oak mirror on one wall and open cube shelving on the other.Square oak table adn habitat chairs.I love it shame we're moving!

Ours was really dark with low beamed ceiling. We got the beams sandblasted, painted the whole thing white, and now have ceramic-but-looks-like-limestone floor (pale), oak units and granite worktops. It's fab if I say so myself.

On under-cabinet lights, look at LED ones - they are a lot cooler (heat-wise, rather than fashion-wise) than the halogen ones and take a lot less power so greener too.

mine are slate effect whch are harder wearing than slate

just re-read my post. We didn't paint the beautiful oak beams white - just the ceiling in between!!

Thanks everyone - v. helpful !

Right - glass splashbacks, do people have these just behind sink/cooker or all round in stead of tiles - do you need tiles/splashback all round ???

ceramic flooring is maintenece free and practically indestructible, compared to natural flooring products which all require special sealants and more careful care. even stone and whatnot. was surprised to learn that.

you can get v stylish ceramic stuff imo. and i love things that are indestructible.

Yes I'm coming round to that idea Tranquila - we were a bit lazy about the floors in our old house (having spent a fortune putting them in) and the ended up cracking badly so am wondering about ceramic although love 'natural' materials...

yes, me too. is a dilemma...
i reckon so long as youre not trying to pretend its 'real', it can look really cool and quite funky at the same time as staying quite traditional if thats what the property 'needs'. or of course you can go out and out modern/funky/different if you so desire! (ours is a big old farmhouse, so theres a limit to the funk i can do without looking crap/wrong [lol])

we had a darkish kitchen so put in cream units, black granite tops, lightish travertine floor which so far proving quite good

porcelanosa do really massive size ceramic tiles for floor and wall which are in lots of natural effects... i think they are mostly very effective and look really good. they do wood plank design ceramic tiles too which are kind of wicked...i was at forst but in situ they look really good...you can tell they are not wood, but thats sort of whats cool about them, iyswim.

topps tiles have a fair range of good stuff too. not all of it is v cheap tho (as one would expect fro topps). mind you, neither is porcelanosa.

good flooring is a damn good investment tho. depends how long youll be there too of course...

Thanks Tranquila - our house is Victorian and we are keeping it relatively traditional although not too traditional but don't think big modern statement would work.

Will have a look at porcelanosa - am big fan of fired earth but may stray !!