The 4 Secrets to a Comfortable and Cool Summertime Kitchen

While your kitchen may be warm and cozy during the wintertime, you may dread going into this room of your home during the hot spring and summer weather. Even if you dread it, however, you still must tolerate your kitchen?s heat and humidity as you cook up meals for your family. Rather than suffer through another hot and miserable summer in your kitchen, you can instead find new and exciting ways to cool off your kitchen for the upcoming spring and summer seasons. As you focus on your warmer weather remodeling efforts, you can remember these secrets for transforming your hot kitchen into a cool summertime oasis.

Cover the Windows

If you left your windows uncovered during the long winter, it is now time for you to find the best way to add some summertime protection from the outdoor heat and humidity. If you have not yet done so, you should first hang a mini-blind, roller shade, or other window covering over the kitchen window to shelter this room from the intense sunlight and heat that may be radiating through the window pane. In addition to a blind or shade, you should also hang a pair of kitchen curtains over your windows. Many styles of kitchen curtains offered today in stores feature colorful patterns that range from sunflowers to geometric shapes. Your curtains can also add a much-needed decorative appeal to this room of the house.

Repaint the Walls

If your walls are currently painted a dark color or covered with heavy wallpaper, you can take away a lot of the heat by repainting your walls with a bright and lighter color. Painting your walls beige, yellow, light blue, or even bone white can reflect much of the heat and light that makes its way into your kitchen. Even more, these lighter colors can make you feel cooler when you spend time in your kitchen.

Clean Out the Air Conditioner Vents

If your vents have been closed off in this room during the wintertime, you may find that they are full of dust and dirt once you open them for the summer. Dirty air vents do not allow the cold air from the air conditioner to make its way and circulate around the kitchen. When you want to cool off your kitchen effectively this summer, you should clean out the air conditioner vents to make sure the air is flowing out of them well. If you cannot clean out the vents, you should hire an air conditioner contractor to do this work for you.

Install a Window Air Conditioner

Even with clean air vents, your kitchen may still be too hot during the summer. If the air in this room is too hot even with the central air running full blast, you may be well advised to install a window air conditioning unit. A window unit can keep your kitchen cool and provide just enough air in this room to maintain its chilly temperature without being compromised by other areas of the house.