I thought you might be interested to see what a difference a SolaTube makes. Here is the (empty) kitchen, before:

I took the photo above, mid-afternoon. I took the next photo at the same time of day, after the SolaTube had been installed:

The light in the room is not electric. It is shining down the inside of the reflective tube that ends in the roof. I wrote about SolaTubes when we added them to our bathrooms. Amazing, isn't it! 

The contractor says that we actually get more light from this than we would from a skylight. I think it's the reflective lining of the tube that does it.