Naomi Watts's inviting kitchen cabinets fill her space with light – interior designers swear by their space-enhancing properties

An all-white kitchen is one of the oldest looks in the book. The timeless style is famous for bringing brightness and light into a cooking space. In Naomi Watt's kitchen, the traditional scheme gains a stylish, modern twist.

The British actress's kitchen idea, which can be spotted in a recent Instagram video, is swathed in white. Her open-concept space features white marble countertops, white walls and a white stove backsplash. Contrasting features include a black breakfast bar against light-stained natural wood flooring. While all of this sounds relatively standard, one element elevates the space to the next level: the glossy finish of Watts's cabinets.

A careful look shows that her upper kitchen cabinets have a glass-like texture. Some cabinets are actually made of glossy, frosted glass, offering a translucent view of the cookware inside. This look has several benefits for Watts's space, including making it appear brighter, larger, and more modern.

First, Naomi Watt's unique white kitchen cabinet finish makes her space look lighter. Jennifer Ebert, Digital Editor at Homes & Gardens states: 'High gloss finishes always bring brightness into a room. Their mirror-like qualities reflect light around the room. We can see this clearly in Watts's kitchen where both the inset ceiling lights and the light from the kitchen window are reflected on the cabinets. This nearly doubles the amount of light in her space.

Jennifer Ebert

Jen is the Editor (Digital) of Homes & Gardens. Before starting this position, she had completed various interior design courses at KLC Design School, as well as working across Ideal Home, LivingEtc, 25 Beautiful Homes and Country Homes & Interiors as an interiors writer.

Second, the brightness brought on by this finish causes Watts's space to look larger. 'White cabinets are a surefire way to make your kitchen look larger,' says Ebert. She continues, 'In addition to the brightening qualities, the color drenching of white in this kitchen makes one element flow into the next, creating the illusion of a huge space. The contrast in textures, from the matte marble countertops to the glossy cabinets, makes this style look all the more finished and sophisticated.'

Finally, the choice of glossy cabinets in Watts's kitchen is an excellent one because it gives the space a definitive design theme. 'There are hundreds of iterations of the white kitchen, but the glossy cabinets bring this space squarely into the modern kitchen decor theme. Choosing a theme and sticking to it can help a space look finsihed and cohesive,' concludes Ebert.

The White Kitchen Edit

Naomi Watts's space is proof that the look of a white kitchen isn't fixed, and that something as simple as a cabinet finish can completely overhaul the look. It's a call to be brave enough to try different things, until you reach a scheme that feels perfect for you.