Easy Ways to Make Your Kitchen Feel Bigger
If you love your home but have a small kitchen, and moving or a pricy renovation aren’t an option, don’t fret. There are a variety of easy strategies that you can adapt to help your tiny kitchen feel bigger, practically growing overnight. Check out these methods below, and you’ll be well on your way to that perceived roomier kitchen of your dreams.
Backsplash & Color
If you’re tight on space, consider using a white natural stone or tile backsplash and repainting cabinets and other woodwork to a white or very light and neutral color. The white in these materials, especially when combined with natural light and overhead lighting, will brighten the room, creating a sense of space.
Natural Light
Let that light in. A kitchen is not the best place for heavy window coverings. Rather, a simple set of horizontal blinds or perhaps just a valance if privacy isn’t necessary, is more than adequate. In fact, the horizontal lines from the blinds can actually create a perception of increased size. Most importantly here is to make use of the natural light coming in through the window, and seeing that when the window is open, it actually makes your kitchen feel bigger.
Open It Up
Replace some or all of your cabinet doors with a mullion or accent design. While this does create a need to keep your dishes tidy and neat behind those doors, that tidy look will actually help create a sense of order, further enhanced by the glass panels which create a look of depth and add a lovely focal point to the kitchen space. Most homeowners choose these accent doors to display precious heirlooms passed down from earlier generations such as China or other precious dinnerware.
Lose The Clutter
Along the lines of the tidy look we mentioned above, it is important to reduce if not lose the clutter altogether. If you have a corner space, consider installing a corner appliance cupboard where toasters, electric can openers, coffee makers, and other small appliances can hide vs. displaying out in the open.
Accent Lighting
Add accent lighting underneath and above your cabinetry. If your cabinets do not stretch all the way to the ceiling, adding lighting above the cabinets will help cast a gentle illumination, as well as mounting lighting underneath the cabinetry.
Negative Space
Avoid filling all of your floor space. If you have a small kitchen with limited cabinetry or counter space, you may be tempted to add a portable center island space or to tuck some other rolling shelving system into a corner. But often times, the addition of these mechanisms can make a room feel crowded; and while they may provide what you believe to be more workspace if you can’t move freely around the room or feel cramped, this additional workspace is likely counterproductive (pun intended). To that end, if you have an eat-in kitchen, consider a table that has folding leaves so that you can drop down a side or two of the table when it is not in use.
Stainless Appliances
If buying new appliances now or when the time comes for replacement, look for stainless steel which can create reflections, making additional use of that light in the room. Shiny surfaces help the light to bound through the room and amplify the space.
Try these tips to open up your kitchen, and let us know how they worked for you!