Kitchens are the heart of the home. For many homeowners and families, people spend a lot of time in the kitchen, whether it’s to cook, eat or just gather and socialize. However, if you have a small kitchen space, it can be hard to make meals and gather when the room is too crowded.

Buying a bigger home or tearing down walls may be too expensive or not an option for many homeowners, so your best bet is to renovate the space in ways to make the kitchen appear bigger, even if the room’s dimensions haven’t.

At Sunset Builders & Maintenance, we’ve been renovating kitchens in Southwest Florida for years. We know how to make any size kitchen feel roomier. Below, we wanted to share a few tips, tricks, and suggestions of ways you can renovate your kitchen to make it appear bigger.

  • Install or paint your cabinets and walls white or lighter colors.
  • Install shallower cabinets. When you install slimmer lower cabinets, it can open more floor space.
  • Eliminate counter clutter.
  • Remove hardware. Use cabinet doors with touch-activated latches or integrated reach-in pulls – both these things reinforce clean lines, which help the kitchen appear bigger.
  • Opt for a single sink or one-and-a-half sink. This can create better storage options and more counter space for you.
  • Install a compact or “condo-sized” dishwasher, which will save you six inches to give you more cabinet space.
  • Install a slimmer refrigerator. If you don’t cook often or don’t frequently shop, a 36-inch or bigger fridge doesn’t make much sense. Buy a 28 or 30-inch fridge to leave more counter and cabinet space.
  • Install panel-ready appliances to blend into the look of your kitchen cabinets. This creates a more fluid look, so the room appears larger.
  • Purchase a mirror backsplash (tinted for a more subtle look) to make the room seem bigger.
  • Use open shelves to hold tableware, jars, bins, cookbooks, and more to create an open feel. You can even just remove the doors from a cabinet to create an open look without losing the space.
  • Add glass door or frosted glass door cabinets to lighten up the space.
  • Install cabinet lighting under, above, and/or inside the cabinets or make the space feel brighter and bigger.
  • Choose a short, minimal backsplash in a color that blends with the wall.
  • Install a beautiful range hood that creates a visual break in the upper cabinets. It is creating some depth in the room.

We can’t wait to hear about your kitchen renovation ideas. We have so many ideas ourselves to help make your kitchen appear bigger.

At Sunset Builders & Maintenance, we do home kitchen renovations, bathroom renovations, home maintenance, and more, in Sanibel Island, Fort Myers and all surrounding Southwest Florida areas. Call us at 239-233-2152 to get started, or click Sanibel kitchen remodeling page to view some of our remodeling projects and learn more.