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Use these practical illusions to maximize space
Working with a small kitchen poses many challenges. Unlike larger rooms that can easily accommodate whatever you hope to place in them, that luxury doesn’t exist for restricted spaces. It’s not a matter of improvisation, rather one of precise planning. If you want to make the most of the room, you will need to maximize its potential by using every inch of space efficiently. And that means choices that would normally seem insignificant. There is a plan for every component and each appliance, their placement is meant to strategically create as much space as possible. It’s about design, and you’re just as able as the pros to make a tight kitchen appear spacious…
1. Choose Smaller Appliances
This makes sense, doesn’t it? The smaller something is the larger its surroundings appear. You’d have to squeeze larger appliances in anyway, and that’s just not practical. Yes, you can get a small model kettle, toaster, coffee maker, and even cooktops are available in a petite size of only two feet wide. By choosing everything of a slightly smaller scale, you’re on your way to exploiting coziness to its full extent.
2. High Reaching Cabinets
Maximize your wall space and storage potential by choosing cabinets that are high, extending up to the ceiling. This concept will require some expert sizing, if you’re a do-it-yourselfer, no problem! If not, don’t worry, you just need to bring in a professional who specializes in custom cabinetry. But you never know – do a little searching and you may find the perfect sized pre-assembled cabinets that are ready to install.
3. Choose Drawers
You may forgo cabinets entirely by choosing to use drawers in place of them. They are great for providing easy, organized access to everything. Cabinets can be a bit more haphazard, and drawers are more space-efficient. Lines of drawers are more appealing visually, unlike full shelves that have a tendency to bulge, leaving cabinet doors slightly ajar.
4. A Space to Eat
If there’s no room for a kitchen table, what do you do? Here’s an idea – sacrifice a few drawers or a lower cabinet or two to designate the space as a nook that uses the countertop in lieu of a table. Pull up a couple of petite stools and you’ll have a non-obtrusive cozy place to eat.
5. Smart Shelves
Shelves don’t necessarily have to be mounted to the wall. Think outside the box. How about a free standing open-shelf structure that allows access from the front and back? Think of it as an open-ended bookcase. Place it on top of a countertop and extend the storage potential vertically.
6. ‘86’ the Hardware
Sure, you expect to see knobs or handles on your drawers or cabinets, but the truth is they’re not entirely necessary. You can go without them entirely. By doing so, you will create a visual effect of a streamlined and spacious area. No protruding hardware to disrupt the sleek surfaces. Instead, choose cabinets with inset troughs that you can grip, or slim pulls that follow the door lines.
7. Expand Wall Capacity
Your countertop space is entirely accounted for, what to do? Put your walls to further use by installing shelves or even a pegboard, thereby taking items off the surfaces and creating space. You’ll find that you’ll be able to hang a number of items from cups to pots and that they are more easily accessible there on the wall.
8. Position Wisely
Designate a space for your countertop appliances, and store away anything you don’t use daily. You may consider extra slim cabinets or drawers to further maximize the existing space. If you must bring in a kitchen table, place it so it is as least obtrusive as possible, away from the busier spaces of the kitchen.
9. Light, Like Colors
For a spacious airy effect, paint the cabinets the same color as the walls. Having them like-colored can provide a seamless illusion. It is known that pale colors reflect light, so having the room painted in the same faded hue may successfully make the space feel bigger.
10. Glass-Front Cabinets
Instead of having cabinets that feature solid wood fronts, replace them with glass. Glass fronts provide a sense of greater depth. This encourages the idea of greater expanse. They serve to provide more exposure, thereby contributing to the feeling of a larger space.
