9 Mistakes Everyone Makes When Decorating A Kitchen

There are lots of sneaky mistakes that many people make when decorating a kitchen, but a select handful really stand out to those working in the field. In this House Digest exclusive, we interviewed top real estate agents, interior designers, and home decor CEOs to find out exactly what these errors are. Luckily, our experts also proposed easy, actionable solutions to each of these mistakes. 

Whether you're gathering ideas for a kitchen remodel or just shopping for new decor items or fixtures to refresh the space, there are some things to keep in mind. Thoughtful design choices are the secret to creating a functional space that's easy to clean and visually appealing — and balancing all of this isn't always easy. So, keep these mistakes our experts say you should avoid in mind (and what to do instead) to get a practical and chic space.

The kitchen is a gathering place in most people's homes. It's often where you start your days, host your family and friends, and even celebrate life's biggest moments around the table. For these reasons, and many more, our experts think the space shouldn't be a stark one, but rather somewhere that's warm and inviting. "The most fundamental mistake in kitchen design is treating the space as purely functional rather than a central living environment," Shiva Samiei, interior designer and CEO of Shiva Samiei & Co. exclusively tells House Digest. "Kitchens are no longer just cooking spaces — they're the emotional core of a home, and design should reflect that holistic understanding."

There are so many different ways to accomplish this feeling. If you love art, consider hanging some of your favorite pieces in your breakfast nook. Perhaps a print from your family trip to Paris to reminisce over each time you cook up some crêpes. You might even fill your kitchen with inherited items, like your grandmother's kitchen table or your uncle's favorite knife block. Finally, if you have a family recipe that you use often, print it out and frame it nicely. Having it nearby, even if you know the steps by heart, will create a warmer environment in your home's kitchen.

Nothing can make a space feel unkempt quite like clutter. While keeping all your kitchen appliances out can render cooking a little easier, storing everything in plain sight is also a recipe for making the space feel tiny and unusable, instead of looking like an organized kitchen. "One of the most frequent issues is cluttered counters. While it's tempting to display every gadget, it makes the space feel cramped and less functional," Adam Chahl, real estate agent and co-founder of Vancouver Home Search tells House Digest in an exclusive interview.

Instead, consider keeping the things you use every day on your counter, while items used less often can go in the cupboard. "I always recommend selecting a few stylish items — like a sleek coffee maker or a chic cutting board — to keep out, while storing the rest," Chahl says. For you, this might mean keeping the air fryer out because you use it for daily dinners, but the crock pot that you tend to use around the holidays stays in the pantry. Or, instead of keeping your seasonings out by the stove, you could use a spice rack storage hack to keep your counters clutter-free. Giving everything in your kitchen a designated home in the cabinets or drawers is another great way to keep counter space more available. Organizers like Lifewit's Expandable Utensil Tray, or magnetic hooks for pots and pans can go a long way towards achieving clear countertops (which besides looking neat, are also far easier to wipe down).

Kitchens get dirty — it's a fact of life. In a busy cooking space, dust, grime, and grease are inevitable. Because of this, you need to be mindful of how easy it is to remove these from your decor. "One of the biggest mistakes people can make when decorating kitchens is using items that are hard to clean. Spills and messes and grease splatters are going to happen in kitchens, and those drapes or wicker baskets are going to be hard to get entirely clean," Martin Orefice, CEO of Rent To Own Labs tells HouseDigest exclusively. "Focus on choices that optimize space and are easy to clean if you want an attractive, low-maintenance kitchen."

Things that are easy to clean tend to not have a lot of nooks and crannies. If framing art, don't use braided or textured frames. Instead, pick something sleek and simple. If you want to display a cookbook stand or vase of faux greenery, keep them away from the stove where things might splatter. Choose placemats, tablecloths, and window treatments that are washable as well. All these little things will make your life (and cleaning routine) so much easier.

Even if you aren't an avid cook, you're probably going to spend a substantial amount of time in your kitchen, and you want to make sure you won't get sick of its decor. If you're a maximalist through and through, you might find that you don't mind designs that skew a bit loud and bold. However, our experts recommend starting more neutral and building your designs out from there. "Color selection is another critical area where many people stumble. Homeowners often choose trendy colors without considering long-term livability and how those colors interact with natural light throughout the day," Samiei tells House Digest. A deep red or an intense blue might seem perfect at breakfast time in the morning light, but by dinnertime at dusk, the intenseness of the color may seem to be closing in from all sides.

Our expert warns this happens all too often when you choose bold or bright colors as your base. "A vibrant color that looks stunning in a showroom can become overwhelming or draining in a daily-use kitchen," Samiei continues. "I advise selecting neutral base colors with strategic, changeable accent elements that allow flexibility as design trends evolve." Whites, creams, and even browns do well as base colors in kitchens. From there, you might add brightly-colored curtains, bold wall art, or even funky chairs around the table for more pops of personality.

Even the most simple of kitchen renovations can run nearly $30,000 on average. Because of this, you want to make sure that when you design it, you choose options that will stand the test of time. If you jump on the latest trends, this isn't likely to be the case. "I think one mistake people often make is going overboard with trendy colors or finishes. I've seen kitchens where every element screams the latest fad — like too much gold hardware or matte black everything," Kyle Bazylo, Realtor and CEO of Selling South Winnipeg, tells House Digest in an exclusive interview. The home expert explains that while these elements may look great on social media, they can make the room look outdated in the near future.

Instead, consider more classic options for your finishes, or incorporate styles that have already cycled through popularity more than once, like mid-century modern or an Art Deco decor scheme. Bazylo also offers a tip for those who want to keep things on-trend without boxing themselves into a certain style. "I always suggest anchoring the space with neutral tones," he says, echoing Samiei's sentiments, and elaborating that you can easily build on a neutral base by "introducing trends in easily changeable accents like stools or small appliances." This way, if your style evolves or what you chose at first falls out of favor, you don't have to spend much money or effort updating your space.

Elements like the faucets, drawer pulls, decorative panels, and light switch plates all come with options when it comes to the finish. They are commonly brass, black, or silver — and either matte in finish or shiny. You might think that everything needs to be matching, but this isn't the case. Many designers agree, including our expert, that mixing and matching these finishes can be quite stylish. Just don't go overboard. "Mixing metals can work when done intentionally, but too many finishes can make the kitchen feel disjointed," Andy Taylor, managing director of Paramount Stone Specialists, exclusively tells House Digest. He adds, "I recommend sticking to two finishes at most for a cohesive look."

When mixing and matching finishes, choose sets of items (like cabinet hardware or multiple light fixtures) in the same finish for a polished vibe. And, when selecting your metals to mix, make sure to keep the sheen in mind. For example, if you opt for matte black cabinet hardware and a brushed brass light fixture, a glossy black faucet will likely look out of place.

Open shelves in the kitchen are very controversial; some designers love them, others hate them. Yet you may be able to find a happy medium with thoughtful planning. "I also see a lot of people get excited about open shelving, but if you go overboard, it can just look messy," Joy Aumann, licensed Realtor and founder of LuxurySoCalRealty, shares exclusively with House Digest. "[Open] shelving can be great, but too much of it makes a kitchen feel cluttered, and it's a lot of extra cleaning to keep everything looking nice. It's better to keep it simple and organized."

You've likely seen the amazing shots on Pinterest of fully enclosed lower cabinets, with chic, sparsely-filled uppers of open shelving. But that's just the thing — there is hardly anything on these shelves. If you rarely use your kitchen (or are styling a vacation rental, perhaps) open shelving can add a perfect, modern look. But for an everyday kitchen, these shelves can quickly become cluttered and visually distracting, as Aumann warns. If you are dead set on open shelves in your kitchen, consider perhaps just one above the sink, or running a few rows in a recessed niche, between two cabinets, or above a coffee bar area to display decor — but not as a major storage option for functional items.

Using the "big light" in the kitchen (or any living space, really) has long been debated online. Many believe that the rays created from one overhead light source make spaces feel more like an office or hospital instead of a cozy home. And our experts tend to agree. "Lighting is often the most overlooked element in kitchen design. Homeowners frequently rely on a single overhead light, which creates harsh shadows and diminishes the room's warmth," Samiei shares. Since we spend so much time in the kitchen, it's important that the light doesn't contribute to our eyes getting tired or making the space feel less welcoming.

Luckily, in the kitchen, there are plenty of different ways to fix this problem. "I recommend a layered lighting approach — combining ambient, task, and accent lighting to create depth, functionality, and atmosphere," Samiei continues. "Under-cabinet lighting, pendant lights over islands, and dimmable overhead fixtures transform a kitchen from a utilitarian space to an inviting environment." 

Luckily, adding layers of light is an easy DIY project. Simple-to-install products like the Cync GE Reveal HD+ Smart Undercabinet Light Fixture can plug into a standard outlet, requiring no wiring skills. For another designer-level move, consider adding a table lamp to your kitchen countertops. If you don't have much space, look for a compact option like Simple Designs Mini Bocksbeutal Concrete Table Lamp. The soft light from the lamp is perfect for an early morning cup of tea, a romantic dinner, or even a late-night snack. Just be sure to place any lamps with fabric shades away from the range area. Finally, if you have a breakfast nook, consider suspending a plug-in swag light over the table.

When decorating your kitchen, you need to know its measurements ahead of time. Just buying things to take home and hoping for the best can be a terrible mistake. "Whether it's oversized bar stools for a small island or tiny pendants that get lost in a large kitchen, getting the proportions right is crucial," Chahl warns. "I recommend measuring everything twice and even taping out dimensions before buying furniture or fixtures."

You can use painter's tape to do this, as it won't cause any damage to your floors or walls when you pull it off. When buying a table, you need to not only know how big your breakfast nook is, but how much room you might need to comfortably walk around it and pull out a chair. By taping all this out on the floor before going shopping, you'll get a better idea of how items will feel in the space. You might also need to do some math when buying pendant lights. Measure the length of surface they're going to hang over and work out how much space there will be between each pendant. Ideally, pendant lights should be spaced roughly 30 inches from each other, and have around 6 inches of clearance between the outer sides and the end of the countertop or island. If you really like the look of some smaller versions, know that you might need a couple extra to illuminate the length of your kitchen's island. Or, you might need to find a similar fixture in a larger size that's more proportional to your space. For instance, if you have a kitchen with high ceilings, a couple of tiny pendants dangling in the space will get lost, while a large fixture will feel in keeping with the lofty ceilings.