Problem
Dark, gloomy kitchens are depressing. The kitchen needs the sun more than the other rooms, not less.
Solution
Place the main part of the kitchen counter on the south and southeast side of the kitchen, with big windows around it, so that sun can flood in and fill the kitchen with yellow light both morning and afternoon.
Related Patterns
… Farmhouse Kitchen (139) and Cooking Layout (184) give the overall design of the kitchen, and its workspace. Indoor Sunlight (128) makes sure of sunshine in the kitchen. But to help create these larger patterns, and to make the kitchen as warm and beautiful as possible, it is worth taking a great deal of care placing the counter and its windows.
Give the windows a view toward a garden or the area where children play - Windows Overlooking Life (192). If storage space is tight, you can build open shelves for bowls and plates and plants right across the windows and still let in the sun - Open Shelves (200). Build the counter as a special part of the room, integral with the building structure, able to take many modifications later - Thickening the Outer Walls (211). Use Warm Colors (250) around the window to soften and warm the sunlight.
Alexander, Christopher. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. Oxford University Press, 1977, p. 916.