A kitchen is one of the greatest selling features in a home. According to a study reported by USA Today, over 30% of home buyers consider the kitchen to be the greatest selling point in their home search and 40% would be willing to pay more for a home with a kitchen they love. If your home has a small, crowded kitchen, don’t lose heart though. There are several simple ways that you can dress your small kitchen up to give it a spacious feel. Here are a few great design and flooring ideas for a small kitchen that will give you a space you adore:
- Low contrast colors. Choose features in the same color family. Having a smooth transition from the tile flooring, to the cabinets, backslash, and walls makes the eye believe it is seeing one large space instead being broken into smaller chunks with high contrast colors.
- Light colors. While you’re choosing colors for your kitchen, lean towards white or light colors. Light colors reflect light and makes the space look open. Many design experts recommend coming up with backslash, paint coloring, decor and flooring ideas for a small kitchen in varying shades of light colors, to avoid the stark feeling of an entirely white kitchen.
- Elongated shapes. Consider the effect of wearing vertical stripes– it makes you look wider. While that is not an advisable fashion decision, use the same concept when redesigning your tiny kitchen. Hardwood flooring– or more durable tile flooring designed to look like hardwood– is a great way to achieve this look. Other good flooring ideas for a small kitchen include using a diamond shaped tile (think diagnal checkerboard pattern) pattern, which points towards the walls and expands the space to the eye. Just stay away from small, busy patterns that clutter your space.
- Shiny surfaces. If this were the 1980’s, it would be en vogue to cover an entire wall with a mirror, which would effectively double the appearance of the space. Since having a giant mirror wall is now an outdated design concept, you can achieve the same effect with shiny surfaces, such as stainless steal appliances and high-gloss counter and flooring options.
- Open shelving. You can either replace the cabinet doors with glass doors, or remove the cabinets altogether and replace with open shelving. This prevents the brain from limiting the space to the cabinet doors, and expands the boundaries all the way to the wall.
- Reduced clutter. With a small space, you likely have limited storage, which might lead you to use counter space for storage of appliances. Adding clutter to the visible space closes the kitchen in. Consider adding a corner appliance garage that makes small appliances handy to access but conceals them from the eye.
Do you have any ideas for expanding the space in a small kitchen that we didn’t mention? Please leave your suggestions in the comment section below.
