You say the kitchen doesn't get much natural light, but you didn't say what sort of artificial light is already there. This would be helpful information.

Jon, thanks for your reply.
There's a window over my sink, but the kitchen is 12x17 so its rather dark. I have an old overhead fluorescent light. I've considered a solatube if that would warm up the cabinets and give natural light, but I'm not sure if it would and it wouldn't be the most economical solution.

Okay, "old fluorescent light" is probably the problem. I'm guessing you've got four-foot long T-12 bulbs (tubes that are 1 1/2" in diameter). Is this right? Most of these bulbs are pretty bad, in terms of color rendering.

I suspect you'd see a considerable improvement if you switched to better bulbs. However, if you've got an older T12 fixture then better bulbs may be hard to come by. It would make sense to switch to a newer fixture that will accept T8 bulbs, which are common and of which you'll find a large selection.

Don't get hung up on the term "full spectrum," as this is basically a marketing term and an excuse to take more of your money than necessary. Instead, pay attention to two technical numbers that should be printed somewhere on the bulb box:

One is the Color Resolution Index, or "CRI." This is a scale from 1 to 100 that tells you how well a light source lets you distinguish between different colors. Higher numbers are better. Choose bulbs that have a CRI of at least 85.

The other number to look at is color temperature. This will be a four-digit number followed by the letter K, as in degrees Kelvin. Lower numbers such as 3000K are warmer colors, more towards the red/orange/yellow end of the visible spectrum, while higher numbers such as 5000K lean towards the cooler, bluer end of the spectrum.

BTW, Natural sunlight does have a lot of blue in it, except at sunrise/sunset (note the color of the sky) and this is what many bulbs marketed as "full spectrum" are trying to emulate.

Anyhow, you want a bulb that has as high a CRI as possible and that also has a color temperature that makes sense with the color of the room's furnishings. You'll face a bit of a dilemma here, because the warm cherry cabinets suggest a warmer color temperature, perhaps 3500K, but a limitation of current fluorescent technology seems to be that the highest CRI ratings are only available in cooler, higher-color temperature bulbs.

I know that my local Home Depot has four-foot T8s with a CRI of 85 in several different color temperatures. These are something like $3.50 per bulb. They also have some very high CRI bulbs (92 or 95, I think) that are only available in a high, cool color temperature and are more expensive. In your shoes, I'd probably try both. I'd get a couple of the 85 CRI / 3500K bulbs, and a couple of the higher CRI but cooler bulbs, try them both and see which I liked better.

Jon,
Thank you for your response. It's the exact information that I needed!
I'll be going to HD this morning.
Barbara

You're welcome. Let us know how it goes.

I wonder how much of this color difference is due to illumination color and how much is due to absence of scattered ultraviolet in the kitchen. Cherry normally turns darker with time after milling. Cherry in enclosed interior spaces tends to turn darker much more slowly than cherry where bright sunlight is present. Short of running UV lamps at night when the kitchen is empty of people, animals, plants, rubber and plastic (not a serious recommendation), cherry color aging may just require more time.

However, I agree with moving the lighting color, or at least some of it, toward sunlight color temperature for better color rendition, better visibility, and minimizing seasonal affective disorder. Four-foot fluorescents around 5000 degrees kelvin color temperature are available, and they actually use 40W for maximum brightness. Halogen lamps are typically only 3200K, but they at least are better than plain tungsten lamps (probably 2800K). Metal halide arc lamps (5500K) provide best rendition and luminous efficacy, but are not ideal for use in a kitchen application.

kas