How to Make Your Kitchen Appear Larger

July 2, 2024

We know that your kitchen is the heart of the home and more than just a place to prepare food: A kitchen is a social center for a family, full of memories, cherished recipes, and meaningful conversations. If your home has a kitchen on the smaller side, you can use quite a few savvy design strategies to make this space feel larger and more inviting!

In addition to using thoughtful colors, angles, materials, patterns, and natural light to your advantage, even your flooring choices can help your goal. Although an older home or condo may provide you for less square footage or not allow you to remodel, here are some of our best design tips for how to make your kitchen appear larger:

Flooring That Helps A Kitchen Feel Larger

When it comes to using your floors to make a small kitchen feel larger, we always suggest starting with longer, wider planks or the largest tile sizes to reduce the number of seams in the finished floor. We also suggest exploring how a flooring installation pattern can enhance the perspective of your kitchen by guiding the eye.

A diagonal stripe plank installation from the corner of the kitchen to the entranceway will direct the eye toward the furthest point. Classic herringbone and chevron patterns highlight angles, color, texture, and flair to make small kitchens feel more luxurious. Try running a long plank length along the shortest kitchen wall to reduce the amount of lines in the finished floor.

Color Schemes That Help A Kitchen Feel Larger?

To select the colors for smaller kitchens, start with a lighter kitchen color palette using cream, blondes, light greys, greige, light brown, and whitewashed tones to help reflect light and keep the space bright. Medium and darker floor tones can easily make your room feel more confined and dimmer. Generally, the more light that your kitchen receives, the more color options will work in your design.

If you want to color match your cabinets and kitchen flooring to create a visual that erases lines, make sure to use different textures to keep the look from feeling flat. Add plenty of bold pops of rich color with decor, kitchen towels, and backsplash to bring your kitchen to life. Use patterned touches where appropriate to create a memorable kitchen that feels warm and fun!

Appliances, Fixtures, and Materials That Help Kitchens Feel Larger

Your kitchen needs to have balance between flooring and your appliances, fixtures, and material finishes to truly maximize the space. We love how matte and low-gloss finishes on appliances can enhance light and blend in seamlessly. You can also achieve the perfect combination of matching kitchen floors to cabinets, by matching an undertone to a prominent shade between the two design elements. Then, find textural contrast between your flooring and cabinet materials.

You can also explore if class cabinet doors will help create the perception of depth and make your kitchen feel larger. We recommend selecting only one surface with eye-catching color and movement among your cabinets, flooring, and countertops, as this will help avoid overwhelming a smaller kitchen. Textural contrast is the key to adding interest in confined rooms!

Conclusion

It’s always wise to remember that a clean, organized kitchen always looks bigger than a cluttered area. Make sure to invest in kitchen organization solutions like shelve systems, drawer dividers, baskets, and mail holders to keep things neat.

For even more helpful kitchen flooring ideas, visit our experts at our store. We can’t wait to help you create a kitchen that everyone loves to spend time in!