Show us the inside of the kitchen, pls

MOST LIKELY...You need electricity and a lot more of it. "Some space above the window" is header, and you may gain a few inches but not a lot of inches to justify the expense, unless you have a nine foot ceiling.

Nobody can tell what you have without interior pictures. From all angles

I am a great fan of the well lit room! There are a lot of places you can add light, but you don't want the kitchen to look like grand central station!!! First order of business is to get us pictures so we can see what you are dealing with.

Solar tubes. You can put them anywhere. I guess the only barrier would be if you have an HOA they won't let you have them on the front of the house but usually they let you have them on the back of the house. https://solatube.com/residential/tubular-skylights/

Add electrical lights. They work after dark!

What direction does the kitchen window face?

even windowless kitchens can achieve efficient lighting w the correct plan w LED technology. Get a plan and update the lighting. If the home is nearing 25 years or so and the builder grade components are still untouched it is probably time to evaluate the lighting for an upgrade. Perhaps a whole house plan.

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You get more lighting with more lighting. Daytime lighting is nice but you need lots of interior artificial light in kitchens Lots of pot lights all LED 4000K and if doing that is not in the budget then some good track lights.

Thanks all for your comments! I was hoping we could bring in more natural light, but of course if that's not possible we will add more electrical lights. I have added a few interior photos. We purchased the house with this original kitchen and plan to update it later.

@cpartist faces south which we thought would get lots of natural lights, but because of the layout it actually doesnt.

Get rid of the valance. its blocking a 1/4 of the light now. you desperately need cans and under cabinet lighting. the central light fixture will cast shadows over anyplace you want to work.

Get rid of the valance, backsplash, and dark counters, then add lighting. You will have a very bright kitchen then!

Are you planning on redoing the kitchen?

Start by getting rid of the valance / window treatment so that you can enjoy the full height of the window. I'd also try removing everything off the tops of the cabinets so that your eye isn't drawn up to a shadowy place. I'm wondering if painting the crown the same color of the cabinets would help, to visually raise and lighten. (Try painting some strips of foamboard first, and tape them up there to see what you think.)

Then ditto all the lighting suggestions above.

You could try to amplify the natural light you have by strategically placed mirrored surfaces (backsplash, cabinet door)

Reiterating @User's advice above, "Get rid of the valance, backsplash, and dark counters, then add lighting". It would be a better outlay of your money than making the kitchen window taller, which is not guaranteed to add light (depends on the direction that the window is facing), and also a taller window will do nothing for adding light in evening hours, which is when people spend the most time in the kitchen.

You will need to hire a good electrician, and install ceiling cans. I do not agree with @Patricia Colwell Consulting's recommendation for 4000K bulbs. She repeats that advice like a mantra on this forum all the time, without variation. But 4000K bulbs will make your kitchen look like an operating room. You want 3000K-3500K bulbs.

After you install the cans, I recommend you paint the ceiling in Benjamin Moore Cloud White in the matte finish.

Also, remove the stuff from on top of the cabinets because as mentioned above, it adds shadows, and also absorbs light. And your dark counters In particular are swallowing light like nobody's business. I would put replacing the counters as a priority.