A small kitchen doesn’t mean you have to have a small sense of style!  Even a small space can shine when given the proper attention and design touches.  Everything from a minor rearranging of appliances to major remodeling can help make your small kitchen into a centerpiece of your home.  Here are some of our top tips to make your small kitchen shine!

Open it Up

One of the major issues with smaller kitchens is the feeling of claustrophobia they can engender.  With overhead cabinets reaching up high overhead, it can feel like you’re dwarfed by these massive blocks of hardware, limiting the sense of space and light you get in your kitchen.  Open storage, on the other hand, can provide a more freeing and less boxy feeling for your kitchen.  Shelving, pot racks, magnetic holders – they’re great ways to keep the same amount of storage without devoting previous feet of space to cabinets.

Use a Variety of Materials

In a small kitchen, a variety of materials can add visual interest and contrast.  At the very least, it can be more aesthetically appealing than a solid block of white!  A mix of wood, metals and surface materials, when properly chosen and working together, can create a unique style.  You don’t want to go too crazy – you want everything to look somewhat unified and planned – but picking contrasting materials for your countertops, cabinets, flooring and fixtures is a way to add compelling details to an otherwise boring small space.

Use Glass

Opaque surfaces feel like walls and floors.  They limit and set the boundaries of your space.  If you replace those cabinet doors or tabletops with glass, however, you’re suddenly opening up your room even more.  You end up visually expanding your space, even if the physical space remains the same.  Reflective glass – or even just a simple mirror – can also create that illusion of extra space.  Backsplashes are perfect places to install some of that glass tile that can really make your kitchen sparkle.