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Room to Grow Want to maximize your kitchen's potential in a minimal amount of time? Try these tips for a roomier galley without a remodel  Island life: The benefits of a kitchen island are endless - functionality, convenient storage possibilities, seating options, extra counter space and even room for another sink! Image courtesy Diamond Cabinets As any lunch-packing parent, dinner-party host, or novice chef knows, the kitchen is for much more than boiling a pot of water. Meals have long been a way of bringing family and friends together, and the place where they are prepared is no exception. Whether it's a couple working in time-perfected harmony to get dinner on the table, or a few friends gathered around the counter sharing a bottle of wine, the culinary headquarters of the home is arguably the most versatile and important. And for a space with such high expectations, there'd better be room to grow. If your kitchen is tight on space, and you're also tight on time and money, there are ways to create the feel and look of wide open spaces without investing in a total remodel. Storage Solutions "You can get a lot more use and utility out of your kitchen if you have more organizers," says Lee Ann Pittman, ASID, senior designer at Atlanta-based Interior Motive. "You won't necessarily be making it bigger, but you'll at least be freeing up some space." She suggests pull-out organizers, as well as units that fit under the sink. If new cabinets were in the works anyway, Denise Quade, senior designer at Bella Domicile in Madison, Wis., says you might want to extend them all the way to the ceiling rather than leaving a space at the top. "It will add storage, even if you have to get a chair to get things down," she says. The Light Stuff "Lots of light always helps," Quade says. In her own kitchen, she uses rope lighting in her toe kicks. "It creates a soft light that's nice for accent," she says. Quade and Jennifer Halstead, owner of Black Diamond Kitchens in Fraser, Colo., both suggest under-cabinet lighting as well. "It really brightens counter space and makes it more functional because those back corners are lit up," Halstead says. She also says if you have fluorescent lighting, you might consider switching to recessed fixtures, which create more natural light. Pittman says she's seen homeowners install greenhouse windows to let in more light and add to the feeling of a bigger space as well. A-Plus Appliances Fortunately for those with tiny kitchens, there are a growing number of space-saving appliances on the market today that aim to free up some extra counter space. Pittman says Kitchenaid makes a dishwasher that fits into the kitchen sink. The unit is top loading, and is installed in double sink arrangements. Quade mentions pull-out microwave drawers as "a great alternate location for tight spaces," and also suggests combining the microwave, fan and light into a space-saving unit. According to Halstead, many people could probably get away with a slightly smaller refrigerator too. She recommends opting for a slightly smaller unit that isn't quite as deep to help a room look less closed off. Layout Lowdown "Anytime you group tall, heavy things together, it helps get those big things off of an end where they would enclose the space more," Quade says. "A lot of times we move a sink to a corner, so you can still see out the window so it opens up more space underneath the window," she adds. If you can't change the layout of cabinets, Halstead says painting them a lighter color and changing the hardware can help. "Those dark 1980s cabinets can make a space feel small," she says. Wall Wisdom "A lot of times in a small kitchen we open up walls to an adjacent room," says Quade, who suggests extending a countertop over half of the room. "Visually if it's a small kitchen, even opening up half a wall can make a room seem twice as big," she says. "If you're keeping the rest of the kitchen in tact you could have that done in a few weeks." Halstead suggests you "see if there's a place to have a little raised bar somewhere where you can create a little seating area off of an island or a peninsula. "You can even use a complementary countertop surface so you don't have to try to match something," she says, explaining that contrasting light and dark colors in the kitchen will create more interest and draw attention away from space issues. |
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