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Kitchen Design | A Little Bit of Light and Magic Makes All the Difference

Kitchen Design: A Little Bit of Light and Magic Makes All the Difference

The kitchen is a gathering place – a place of homemade bread, cookies, and memories. At first glance, you might not think much of it, such a simple place in a home, one filled with endless creative possibilities. Regardless of its small size – apartment sized, or bungalow sized – you can make your small kitchen look bigger with a little bit of imagination and these tips.

Make It Bigger

Lots of people enjoy renovating their home’s interior. Let’s be real, we have all gone through a phase of binge-watching The Property Brothers. You start by looking into removing a wall to create more floor space. The space will increase by several square feet while making room for storage, decor, utilities, or houseplants. With actual construction your kitchen will be physically larger, and not just appear to be.

Another suggestion is to consider
incorporating the space leading to the outdoors to create the illusion of having a naturally more open kitchen and dining area. Access to the outdoors makes you feel less enclosed while increasing the entertaining space for guests.

In addition to making obvious changes, you can start by doing simple things such as: relocating your extra storage, inserting a nice wall-mounted murphy table, and introducing additional storage containers or shelves to aid in keeping the kitchen clean and organized. So whether it is tearing down a wall to make a useful kitchen bar or island or simply adding floating shelves on a blank wall to increase storage, there are many options for making your small space fill its potential capacity.

However, can’t afford physical renovations? That’s okay. Ever thought of using a little magic?

The Magic of Light and Color

Lights, camera, kitchen! Having a chandelier or builder grade lights in the ceiling is one thing, but smart changes in your kitchen lighting can be a whole new ball game.

Start with a simple hue dimmer, one you can find at your local hardware store. When installed you can use it to dim the lighting in your whole space or set it to work in certain areas. If you use it in the kitchen, the soft light can highlight the silhouettes in the kitchen, making it look a little more spacious, even at night when you go in for a midnight snack.

Invite in the sunlight creates a warmer, roomier feeling for your cooking and eating spaces. Not to mention, you would have more of a view of the outside. Consider changing window coverings or rearranging furniture to allow better access to windows – Let the light in!

In addition to these ways of enlarging your kitchen, you can further enhance the illusion of space and airiness by having clean, shiny surfaces that better reflect the light. Look at the surfaces in your kitchen. Do they need to be cleaned off? Does the clutter need to be moved? Consider changing the surfaces in your kitchen – new countertops or bright, clean paint on the cabinets. I personally like marble counters best, but you can also get white or off-white cabinets and/or a softly colored backsplash.

Colors can be your greatest ally or your worst enemy, especially when trying to incorporate them into a kitchen setting. My philosophy is to let the light be your guide. Focus on using colors that will reflect the light in your kitchen. Think about a white kitchen with some clean marble countertops. Not only does that space look clean and elegant, but the white makes the place look brighter than it would if the kitchen were painted brown or red. See what I mean? I’m not saying don’t use bold colors at all, just don’t use too much. If you get any accent colors, try something bold but soft like pastels or neutrals. Have a low-contrast color scheme. That will enrich the illusion of the kitchen appearing larger.

Decor

The creative possibilities are endless when using a sledgehammer, nail gun, paint, and lighting. However, do not underestimate the power of creative styling when it comes to furthering the illusion of space. There are an infinite number of ways to style your living and dining areas.

In my opinion, a house isn’t a home without a juicy kitchen. You can go boho, contemporary, retro, or industrial. Use styling to your advantage in your quest of opening up your kitchen more. For example, minimalist, by definition accentuate and capitalize on reducing clutter, and streamlining accessories – minimalist kitchens create a lot of open space. Meditaranian style kitchens are glamorous while incorporating bolder neutral colors, and focus on the geometric shapes within the kitchen.

But if you ask me, it all comes down to keeping everything organized. Once everything in your kitchen has its place, the style you choose coupled with the right lighting and color can enhance the size of the space.

Written by Brianna

Header Photo by Max Vakhtbovych from Pexels.

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