A new age of home design is upon us. The kitchen is more than just a food preparation area in today’s society – it’s the home’s center. It’s become a multipurpose room for various activities beyond cooking. Yet, on average, the kitchen still remains one of the smaller rooms in the house. If you feel your kitchen lacks in size, we’ve got some great idea that will help create the illusion of a bigger space.
Open up the space: One thing we would consider with you would be knocking down the walls that separate the kitchen form other rooms in the house. We could consider keeping a peninsula that will separate the space while leaving a usable feature in the kitchen area. This open concept feel will make your kitchen feel bigger.
Get creative with storage: We are experts when it comes to creating customs cabinets. When attempting to create more kitchen space, we would install high pantry cabinets to eliminate extra small cabinets. Add pullout shelves, rotating inserts and tilt-out bins to increase accessibility and storage within the cabinets. Light colored cabinets, open shelves, wire organizers and glass-front doors will help to lighten the space. Also, by adding more open display shelves/cabinets, the room will look greatly expanded. Too many cabinets, especially when made of dark materials, will give the illusion that the room is much smaller.
Choose appliances wisely: There are numerous high efficiency, sleek appliances that will allow people with small kitchens to have the same luxuries as those with large kitchens. We work closely with our customers to find appliances that meet their needs without going overboard. Ask yourself, do you really need eight burners for your stove? Try to keep your cook top and oven in the same area. This saves valuable counter space. Have you considered steam ovens? They’re small, and they combine two functions — convection and steam cooking — in one unit. Have microwaves built into the cabinetry to increase counter space. Keep all small appliances stored in either an appliance garage or pantry to maintain a clutter-free work space.
Natural light is great: We can help you emphasize your windows to let as much natural light through as possible. A skylight will open the ceiling to more light and raise a portion of the ceiling, visually expanding the space. Bay or greenhouse windows create an open feel. Natural light should be complemented by ambient and task lighting to provide the same feeling during the night.
Add a personalized touch: Just because your kitchen is small doesn’t mean it cannot be cozy. Display small, simple items that add a personal touch without creating a feel of clutter. Too many displays will cause the kitchen to look much smaller, but the right amount can add to the warmth and provide an illusion of a larger space.
When redesigning a home space such as a kitchen, we have three main areas of focus: your wants, your personal needs, and the personality and layout of your home. Don’t waste too much time looking at kitchens in magazines because they were built with different people and different homes in mind. Maybe your kitchen is smaller than average, but that doesn’t mean it can’t have the same functionality and feel of a large kitchen necessarily. Any of these ideas can give your small kitchen that large kitchen feel.
Contact us today to learn how we can help make your kitchen as big as can be.
