Paint the cabinents white or a lighter color and add some underneath lighting from home depot ( about 18 each)to the bottom of the upper cabs.

Hello mikkibookmite,

Installing under cabinet lighting is an easy and affordable do it yourself way to add some light into the room, especially at night time. I am not sure what the backsplash is currently, it is kinda hard to tell from the picture, but choosing a reflective surface like glass or metal tiles will help light to bounce around the room and add style to the kitchen. Replacing just two of your cabinet doors with glass panel doors can also make the kitchen feel brighter and less cramped. The illusion of being able to see the dishes behind the door adds depth to the kitchen and the glass helps to bounce light around the room.

These are some of the suggestions I can offer. For more tips, we wrote a couple of articles on this topic. Look at the Kitchen section for the articles on our website.

Hope this helps,

Kitchen BathTrends
www.kitchenbathtrends.com

Change the small overhead light to something larger and much brighter. Change one cabinet so that it can hold the microwave instead of leaving the microwave on the counter. Put the dishrack away after using it. Clear the other items off the counter. Remove one barstool: two people can't use the two stools at the same time because there is just not enough room. If you haven't gone through your cabinets within a year or two, take a one-hour run through them to declutter. Kids outgrow things rapidly. Plastic containers lose their mates.

You can also get lights that fit around the perimeter of your skylight for nighttime use.

All great advice, painting cabts, UC lights. I suggest painting the soffits, as they too, are dark, cutting in a series of either 4 or 6" cans, lined up directly above the counter edge, perhaps 5 total, and specifically in these three locations: centered on the sink, above the cooktop and atbove the refer. The other two would be to the left of the sink and to the left of the refer. Happy Houzzing.

If your budget would allow, new white kitchen cabinets and a more efficient layout would be awesome .. I have not seen a phone on the wall in years. There is a lot of space on the wall where the phone is for more cabinets.

For a tighter budget, I would do as Charlie suggested and paint the cabinets white.

Smaller, backless swivel stools would fit better .. pictured are from Pier 1 .. $119/each

Agree with apple pie .. larger island pendant would help brighten things up. Pictured is a pendant from Overstock.com $288 + free shipping

Good suggestions on painting the cabinets white. I would seriously consider removing the soffits to open up the feel of the space as well, since they are not currently giving you more storage. Decluttering will help a lot, and if your budget allows, I would replace the small skylight with a much larger one that would give you the natural light you need, for free! (pays for itself down the road) Post some pics when you are finished-we'd love to see them!!

You have some great suggestions. I think painting the cabinets white and installing under cabinet lighting would help a great deal. I'd also install pot lights in your ceiling, on either side of the sky light (4-6)