There are many reasons why you might want to have natural light in the kitchen. Natural light from the sun gets into your kitchen through large kitchen windows or skylights. At night, you can have light from a fireplace or by burning candles. 

Most modern homes have more than two ways through which natural light comes into your kitchen. There are architectural designs such as light shelves, sun tunnels, glass doors, and clerestory windows that let in light to your kitchen. The architectural features installed in your kitchen will depend on how much natural light you need in your kitchen. Once you have enough light, you can start enjoying a kitchen with natural light. 

Why Go for a Kitchen with Natural Light?

If you ever choose a well-lit kitchen, you will never want a kitchen without natural light. Some of the advantages of natural light in the kitchen include:

• It Enhances a Kitchen’s Aesthetics

If you need a look of elegance in the kitchen without adding expensive lighting fixtures, you can get it by incorporating natural light. The light is able to highlight the best side of your kitchen. Features that might need highlighting include a natural stone countertop, cabinets, and hardwood floors. Besides making features in your kitchen appear aesthetically pleasing, natural light will make your kitchen look bigger than it is. This is especially true if your kitchen has a large window facing open fields. If you have gray quartz kitchen countertops, the light will enhance them. You can read more here about gray quartz countertops. 

• Enhance Your Mood and Productivity

Do you spend a lot of time in your kitchen during the day? If so, you can open it up to natural light and this will enhance your mood and productivity with every activity you undertake in the kitchen. If you suffer seasonal affective disorder (S.A.D), you can heighten your mood and productivity in the kitchen just by letting in more light.

• Save on Power Bills

Instead of fancy lights, you will have light from the sun. This way, you will save on electricity. By spending less energy in your kitchen every day, you will see a decrease in your monthly power bills. Everyone wants to save money and you can do it by having a larger window. To do that, there are guidelines to follow when placing windows and doors for maximum natural light in the kitchen. 

• If you live in an area where you experience extreme changes in hot and cold temperatures, choose south-facing windows and glass doors. When windows and doors are in the south side of the house, as much light as possible will get in during winter. During summer, south-facing windows ensure that the hot sun does not directly hit your home. 
• If you want to reduce the extreme heat from the summer sun from reaching your home, you can do so with north-facing windows and glass doors. You can also opt for north-facing windows if you need evenly spread natural light with no glare. 
• East-facing windows are not a good choice when you need to light your kitchen. These windows and glass doors will only let in light in the morning and at night. They may also contribute to excess heating in your kitchen during warm months. 

• Reduce Mold and Mildew Growth

A kitchen with natural light will have fewer cases of mold and mildew than a kitchen without natural light. This happens as mold and mildew grow in dark places. If your kitchen already has mold and mildew, rays of light will ensure they do not spread further. Your kitchen will be, therefore, a healthy environment for you and your family. 

• Get Vitamin D from your Kitchen

If your kitchen is the best lit area of your home, why not bask there and get a dose of vitamin D? The human body needs vitamin D – the lack of which might lead to weak bones. If you do not get enough sunlight, you will need to take supplements (which mean extra unnecessary costs). If you live in an area where winters are long and summers short, you need to maximize the natural light that comes to your home. 

• Enhance the Value of your Home

Your home will sell at a higher price if it has glass doors, and large windows that let in natural light. If your kitchen has a large window overlooking a scenic view, buyers will find your home aesthetically pleasing. 

Maximize Entry of Natural Light Into Your Kitchen

Once you have the necessary architectural features to enhance entry of light into your kitchen, you need to ensure that as much light as possible finds its way through. For starters, ensure there is no furniture or other features that can block light from entering your kitchen. You can also paint the frames of your windows white so they can reflect more light into your kitchen. 

Some homeowners use mirrors to reflect natural light as you want. You can also ensure more light gets into your kitchen by using light curtains over the windows instead of heavy and dark drapes. 

Lastly, ensure that the windows and glass doors are always spotless clean as they will let in more light this way. 

Conclusion

There are many benefits of incorporating natural light into your kitchen. It will enhance the appearance of a room, help better your mood and productivity, minimize the growth of mold and mildew on kitchen surfaces, keep you and your family healthier, and even see you paying less power bills every month. 

However, as much as there are so many benefits of a well-lit room, you need to ensure that you plan accordingly. Very strong sunlight into your home might make stone countertops fade or increase the temperatures on your kitchen. Increased temperatures will increase your home cooling bills. You can start by investing in windows, doors, and skylights then add other features later.