If you live in an apartment or a smaller house, your kitchen is most likely smaller than you would like. Sometimes, even if your kitchen is already a good size, it can still feel tight and cramped. Fortunately, there are techniques to make your kitchen feel more spacious without having to do major renovations.
1. Lighten up your kitchen cabinetry
If you have dark kitchen cabinets, this might be the culprit behind what’s making your kitchen feel small. A simple solution is to paint your kitchen cabinets all-white to reflect light and make the space bigger and brighter. Another plus for white kitchens is that they never go out of style.
2. Maximize kitchen storage
Make sure to use all the available storage space to make your kitchen efficient and reduce kitchen clutter. Use the back of doors as hanging space, install high cabinets for extra space, and the underside of shelves for cup hooks.
3. Use lighting to make a small kitchen feel bigger
If you have a low ceiling in your kitchen, avoid large light fittings that add clutter to the room. Small kitchens work best with integrated or recessed lights because they brighten up the room without crowding it. However, if your kitchen has high ceilings, even if the square footage is on the smaller side, you can add a statement light to draw the eye upwards.
4. Limit your kitchen’s color palette
Although you should always use the colors that make you happy, limiting your kitchen colors to two main colors will make a small kitchen feel more spacious. Avoid painting your walls different colors because this will cut up the kitchen into smaller blocks. If you have just one color on your walls, the eye will see it as one big space instead of a number of small areas.
5. Use slim kitchen furniture
This may seem like common sense, but sometimes people tend to follow their hearts when buying furniture. Sometimes, you can’t avoid falling in love with a giant dining table even when you don’t have enough space. However, putting oversized furniture in a small area will make it tight, even if you like the piece.
Try to avoid kitchen furniture with chunky legs or thick outlines. Think glass-topped tables, streamlined chairs, and slim bar stools when furnishing your compact kitchen. These will take up less space and also lessen the visual clutter.
6. Declutter your kitchen
Speaking of clutter, unless you make it a point to purge regularly, we all have kitchen items that we don’t need or use (egg slicer, anyone?) Go through all your kitchen items and just keep the things you use. The fewer items you have, the easier it will be to keep your kitchen organized and functional. Use drawers for storage to keep your kitchen counters clean and uncluttered.
Making your small kitchen feel spacious can be challenging, but it’s not impossible. Follow the easy tips mentioned above and get ready to enjoy cooking and enjoying meals with family and friends in a bigger and brighter area.
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