A house with an open design gives the illusion of a bigger space. It is the same in designing a kitchen. If you want to make your kitchen space look larger, you need to have an open kitchen design. It is good to know some effective strategies in making an open design for kitchens. Incidentally, if you are remodeling your entire property, you can also use the following tips in making open designs for the other parts of your house.

Put More Natural Light

A room will look bigger than it is if more natural light is allowed inside. Therefore, you can create the illusion of a bigger kitchen by introducing more light in your design. If you have limited options, why not brighten the room by adding a skylight or expanding a window? But be sure that you have given consideration to the outer part of the house where the window is installed. If the exterior is lined up with bricks, modifying it might be difficult.

Tear Down A Wall

If you want to create more space in your kitchen, the easiest thing to do is to break down a wall. Removing a wall will immediately open up more space for your kitchen. By combining the spaces of two small rooms, you have effectively created one big room. This is why removing a wall is the first option that comes to mind when people are thinking of remodeling their homes. But there are times when removing a wall is not possible because there are structural elements in the existing house that can’t be changed. Therefore before choosing this option, these things must first be considered:

Check if the wall is supporting a load. Walls such as these can’t be knocked down because they are supporting the weight of the house section above them. If you tear the wall down, you will also bring the entire house down.
Check if there are any vents, water and sewage plumbing or electrical conduits inside the wall. If there are, you need to find ways by which you can re-route them before the wall is knocked down. If they can’t be re-routed, you have to keep the wall standing.

Although tearing down a wall is the easiest way to open up more space for your kitchen, sometimes it is not possible. But don’t worry. There are still other options you can take.

Paint Your Kitchen With Lighter Colors

If you want to make a room look bigger than it is, paint it with a light color. Conversely, darker colors will make a room smaller than it is. Lighter colors usually radiate an open feeling. Therefore if you will paint your kitchen with lighter colors and the kitchen floor with light colored tiles or wood, it will have an open feeling and would not look crowded even if it has a lot of fixtures. In addition, try to avoid adding more textures in your kitchen because textures convey the feeling of enclosing or compartmentalizing. Use cleaner and smoother texture instead.

Eliminate Soffits

Soffits convey a sense of closeness if they are affixed to the ceiling of a room. So, if you want to create an open feeling in your kitchen, you have to remove the soffits on top of the upper cabinets. The kitchen ceiling will look as if they are higher when you remove the soffits, thus creating a larger kitchen space. However if soffits are used to conceal plumbing or electrical wires, removing them is not an option.

Remove Unnecessary Cabinets

There are kitchen designs that are full of cabinets, and there are some with only a few. If your kitchen has a lot of cabinets, check if they are all being used. Should there be any cabinet or cabinets that are seldom used, remove them. But if you really need those cabinets, try changing their doors or cover them with reflective glasses. Glasses will reflect the other side of the room and will give an illusion of a bigger space. Glasses will also complement the effect of natural light coming into the kitchen as it will bounce or reflect the light making the room look bigger.

Remove The Peninsula And Upper Cabinets

If you have a house that has the 80s or 90s design, it is very likely that its kitchen will have a peninsula and upper cabinets. They are incorporated into the kitchen design as a wall that separates the kitchen from the dining room. By removing the peninsula and the upper cabinets, you will immediately make your kitchen look bigger.

Whether it is Kitchen Remodeling, Bathroom Remodeling or to decorate an entire home, our designers can help guide you on your project. With their expertise in home design, they can lead you in the right direction. Cabinet Genies has been serving homeowners in the greater Southwest Florida area for over 40 years now. For overall assistance designing a kitchen or bathroom, give us a call at (239)458-8563.