Does your kitchen feel tiny, even when it's perfectly organized? Your kitchen should feel open and comfortable – not small and claustrophobic.
However, there are many ways to make the space feel bigger. This article is not only for average kitchen size, but for smaller ones as well
From backsplashes to countertops, there are many subtle choices you can make to help your kitchen feel larger, maximizing the physical size of the room, as well as how large is appears to the eye.
Here the Kitchen Infinity team will take a look at how to make a small kitchen look bigger!
Key Focal Points to Consider
There's a lot of focal points in the kitchen that dictate the outlook of the entire design e.g the floor, backsplash, countertops, cabinets, even the paint!
Colors like shades of white, pastels, warm and woody textures will naturally make your kitchen feel airy and bright. White small kitchens tend to feel bigger than they really are, for example.
It's all about tricking the eye!
Similarly, a mirrored backsplash will be great and reflect more light and make the room feel spacious. There are so many ways to do this when done right, some of which are given below:
- Backsplashes
- Countertops
- Cabinet color & style
- Kitchen window placement
- Pendant lights
- Fridge & furniture
- Materials & paint colors (for small kitchens)
Let's dive into these aspects of the room in a little more detail:
What paint colors make a small kitchen look bigger?
Paint can give an amazing illusionary effect to the overall theme and space in the room – don't underestimate its importance!
Here are some of the paint colors that you should consider while painting your kitchen if you want to give it a bright, airy and spacious feel:
Saturated Hues
Make saturated hues your best friend! They not only give the space a beautiful and elegant style, but they also avoid making your room feel claustrophobic.
Saturated hues like navy blue, leather brown etc paired with an overall white theme and mirrored backsplashes are ideal for small kitchens. So don't be afraid to try out some bold hues and get both elegance and style in your kitchen design.
Warm Whites
White is a color of many talents – you can incorporate it into your design in almost any way whether it's your paint, countertops, cabinets etc.
A white paint for your kitchen will reduce the need for a lot of natural light because white is known to be reflective. You can start of with a white base and pair it with different colors light or dark and give life to your small room.
Gray Undertones
Dark colors don't cause your small kitchen to feel overwhelming if they're used right.
Gray is an excellent color for small kitchens when mixed used in contrast with varying color temperatures along the same color palette. You can incorporate it into your kitchen as stainless steel, wall paint or countertops and pair it with more warm tones like copper and create combination of warm and cool tones.
Gray in any of its shades is one of the perfect colors for small kitchens.
From a calming white kitchen to grey hues and woody textures, the color scheme of the kitchen can cause your kitchen to look smaller or larger and it's really important to pay close attention to it. The colors you paint your kitchen wall will be really prominent throughout.
Add Patterns and Textures
Adding patterns and textures to your interior design is another clever way of making any small space look larger. Wall and floor coverings are believed to give a more clustered vibe but not if it is done right.
You can add patterns and textures to your walls, backsplash or the floor.
Your floor serves as a major style element and can absolutely tie the whole look together. Here are some of the ways you can add patterns and textures and help the room feel bigger.
Textured Floor Tiles
The smaller tiles you use for your kitchen, the more busy it will look because of more grout lines. This is why you should use larger tiles with a matching grout color to get a more fine look!
Decorate your floor space with light and bright tiles, or you can use glossy finishes to make your tiles reflective and create the perfect illusion of a larger kitchen.
Mirrored Backsplash
A mirrored backsplash is one of the best ways to create a reflective look and combined with natural lights it is an absolute delight!
You can use horizontal textures in the backsplash to give a wider appearance to your small kitchen.
Juxtapose Patterns
Don't be scared to use patterns throughout the kitchen but make sure you don't overdo it.
Choose a pattern and work around it with similar patterns but in different sizes. You can mix and match colors for the pattern and incorporate the patterns into walls, backsplash, tiles or even kitchen decor fabrics!
Woody Textures
Natural Textures are a favorite when it comes to any kitchen but for smaller kitchen, wood textured tile or wood panels can work wonders. Woody patterns paired with warm and natural colors can create a spacious feel in the room.
You can always spice thing up with a bit of pattern here and there. Avoid using too many patterns and keep it seamless by working around the same patterns of different sizes and colors, and make your small kitchen seem larger and bright!
Use Smart Storage
Insufficient storage space is one of the biggest causes of clustering and untidiness inside a small kitchen when the perimeter cabinets and countertops aren't enough to contain everything. People mostly end up stacking everything on the countertops which makes the kitchen seem even smaller than it is.
However, you can use the following smart storage ideas and make your kitchen look and feel clean and big:
Open Shelves
Open shelves besides the perimeter cabinets is a great idea to store things you don't need on the go all the time. This will create more space on the countertops and make the small kitchen spacious. Open shelves are also great for putting in some decorations!
Cabinet Drawerssm
Most of the time we fail to organize our cabinets and end up making a mess inside the cabinets. It not only reduces their storage capacity but makes it harder to find things inside them. You can add drawers to your cabinets and replace cabinet doors with drawers to make it easy to organize things! If you go for cabinet doors, you can put hooks and fixtures inside the doors to store knives and spoons (kids friendly!) and free up more space around the kitchen.
Island Storage
Kitchen tables have now been replaced with functional islands that have base cabinets to provide more storage space. The more storage the neater the kitchen! Islands also serve as a workstation and provide a great deal of storage space and provide secondary cabinet for small kitchen and keep it organized.
Smaller Appliances
Most of the times we are using old school energy consuming appliances that can be replaced with smaller electrical appliances that are energy efficient, environment friendly and don't take up a lot of space. They not only increase your storage space but also save your money on your utility bills! So give up your out of date appliances and replace them with smaller and smarter ones and save yourself space and money.
The Bottom Line
If you are wondering how to make a small kitchen look bigger, don't be afraid to experiment with styles, patterns, lighting and add some more style to your major design elements. Whether it's choosing the right color, pattern or organizing things smartly, you have a lot of options to add more space and character to your kitchen make your cooking space feel instantly bigger and brighter. Keep in mind these tips put together by our experts while renovating your kitchen the next time and change the outlook of your small kitchen completely!
