16 Things That Are Making Your Small Kitchen Look Even More Crowded

There are plenty of challenges when it comes to living in and styling small spaces, and a kitchen is by far one of the most trafficked spots in the house where you should try to maximize space so you can operate comfortably. The kitchen is typically one of the most-used areas in the home, and nearly 42% of people agree that it is the most important room in a house overall. Therefore, it makes sense to try to optimize the room, even if you have a smaller footprint to work with. However, as design challenges for small spaces go, there are some unfortunate issues that may make your small kitchen feel even more crowded than it actually is, thus making it more challenging to do your tasks and perhaps not looking the way you want it to.

Many of these kitchen design and styling issues are likely characteristics that you inherited from previous owners or your landlords. Other things, though, may be of your own doing and thus can be simple to unlearn. From oversized appliances squeezed into too-small spaces to overfilling your counters with gadgets (and let's face it, some junk), some of these design choices and daily occurrences unknowingly shrink your kitchen. Kick some of these habits, change up design where you can, and work toward getting rid of some of these issues, and your kitchen will be feeling larger, brighter, and airier before you know it.

You could have the chicest petite kitchen, but if it's filled with clutter, that sleek design will be lost in a room that visually appears smaller. A 2009 study in the journal Applied Ergonomics suggests that messy environments have a negative impact on mental health, potentially diminishing focus and causing stress. Messiness distracts from even the most optimized spaces. That said, avoid having your kitchen countertops serve as a dumping ground for random things, like junk mail or empty bottles, and try to minimize any over-cluttering from other kitchen sources like used cups and ingredients. Instead, take advantage of closed cabinetry for storage, and be sure to empty your dishwasher daily to avoid having dirty dishes pile up.

If you want to create an expansive, open sightline in your kitchen, it's important not place busy decor at eye-level. An overly ornate hood cover is an example of one such piece of decor that can make your small kitchen feel even stuffier. Some homeowners believe that it's difficult to get the proportions for something like a hood vent just right — even if you take careful measurements, it's hard to envision what such a bulky appliance will look like in your space. In a small kitchen, a too-big or too-busy hood will be an eyesore. Thus, a minimal hood cover, perhaps in a finish that matches your cabinetry, can remove some of that visual crowding and make your hood blend in. 

If your fridge is sticking out an extra foot from the niche it's in, or you can't open the dishwasher fully without banging the door into a wall, then it's likely your appliances are incorrectly sized for your small space. Mis-sized appliances can make your kitchen look smaller and feel more crowded than it is because the bulky fixtures are impeding on space that should be left open. This also compromises the functionality of your kitchen, as you're likely dodging a too-bulky fridge corner or struggling to use your dishwasher. Most appliance manufacturers make compact versions of their refrigerators, dishwashers, and more for small kitchens.

While some people believe that dark cabinetsmake a kitchen appear smaller in general, it may be more about strategic placement than the color itself. For instance, if your upper cabinets are dark and your lowers are lighter, then you might be making a mistake that's shrinking your kitchen visually. In small kitchens, you want lighter colors on top to help draw the eyeline up, visually elongating the space. Darker cabinets on the bottom provide balance; inversing the two sets that balance off. Dark cabinets on top, thus, make a small kitchen feel heavier and darker than it is.

Bold patterns are great, but sometimes it can get a little too overwhelming in a small kitchen. With the proliferation of brightly colored appliances from brands like Smeg, it can be tempting to make your little kitchen pop with pizzazz. But, too many colors and patterns can crowd an already petite room as much as clutter can, giving a fun-house-effect that's not all that fun. Instead, curate your patterned moments in smaller areas of the kitchen — maybe a tiny part of the backsplash or even a decorative set of tea towels. Your kitchen doesn't have to be boring; you just don't want to shrink it and make it look too crowded with an excessive amount of pattern, either.

If your small kitchen doesn't have any natural light, then it may feel even smaller and more crowded than its actual footprint. For modern kitchens, it may make the space feel more somber, and for well-loved kitchens in older homes, it can make it feel colder and dingier. To remedy this small kitchen faux pas, consider adding under-cabinet lighting to brighten up the space, or if a remodel is doable, perhaps add in a skylight. Without natural light (or a good substitute), a small kitchen feels quite muted, taking away from its visual appeal.

Stick with a low-contrast color palette and lighter colors to make your kitchen appear larger since too many competing colors will shrink a small space. Sure, there are a lot of color-pairing considerations to make when you're matching countertops to cabinets to appliances — but a nontraditional approach to your palette might not make this easier. Instead, opt for airy neutrals: a light palette can make your space seem bigger since the hues visually elongate the room. Clashing colors, if not executed with skill, can make a kitchen look extremely cluttered. 

We know every home renovation show from the mid-aughts made us want a kitchen island, but in reality, sometimes kitchen spaces are just too small to accommodate one. Islands, especially ones that are much too large for the space, can disrupt a kitchen's functionality by obstructing pathways, making drawers difficult to open, or simply becoming a landing space for clutter if your island can't provide additional storage or good seating. Instead of a fixed, or oversized piece, consider a temporary option like the Gitua Rolling Island, available at Amazon, for a feature that can provide more counter space for your small kitchen but can be moved when needed.

Small tiles, whether they be for your floors or for your backsplash, may be making your kitchen feel smaller by virtue of how many lines there are breaking up the space. Since these tiles require more grout lines, they continually break up the kitchen into grids that may make the eye perceive the area as smaller than it is. Rather than optically crowding your floors or walls, opt for a bigger tile that doesn't visually break up the surface area as much to achieve a larger and airier look.

Much like your countertop, over-cluttering your fridge door with magnets, memorabilia, and notes can make the space feel smaller and chaotic. While there are sentimental reasons for decorating your fridge with items from friends and family, overall, these things crowd your most prominent appliance in the kitchen and may actually visually crowd the space itself. Try clearing your fridge surface and keeping it bare for a week to see if your kitchen feels a bit more organized, cleaner, and brighter. If you prefer it, you may decide to move the children's artwork to a dedicated "gallery wall" elsewhere in the home.

The key to maximizing your small kitchen space visually is to create isolated focal points that draw the eye, while accent choices should complement (not compete with) the stars of the show. Having too many focal points, like an overwhelming number of textured surfaces or a variety of bold enamel appliances in different colors, will immediately make a space feel compact and stuffy. Avoid big ticket combinations like a statement backsplash and clashing statement floors because, sometimes, less is more. Instead, choose where you want the eye to go, and lean into your big design choices there, complementing your other accents with these key focal points.

Upper cabinets that don't extend fully to the ceiling can cut off a small kitchen's height visually, shortening the space dramatically. It's a similar effect to having darker upper cabinets paired with lighter lower cabinets, where the kitchen's visual balance is thrown off. Somehow, short cabinets both crowd a small kitchen and skimp out on some valuable extra storage space for your items, a key component in making a small kitchen functional. Consider adding after-market cabinet extenders on top of your existing cabinets to make your small kitchen feel bigger and more usable in the long run.

When planning your small kitchen's cabinets, it's also a great idea to consider that too many upper cabinet units can take up superfluous space and make the room feel cramped. While storage is everything when it comes to a small kitchen, cramming in an overbearing number of upper cabinets, in a clunky row, can make the space feel heavy. Instead, try some visually pleasing open shelving units with carefully curated storage, like special dishware and china. Admittedly, open shelving can't fit as many items as cabinets can. However, it's possible to maximize space open shelving by grouping items of like color together so it looks aesthetically pleasing while using receptacles like baskets to hide chaos.

While you may not consider small appliances — think toasters, coffee makers, etc. — in the same category of countertop clutter as we mentioned before, these common kitchen gadgets may be contributing to a bit of a visual mess. Countertops are precious real estate in small kitchens, and stacking them high with all the latest kitchen gadgets will, unfortunately, make the room feel terribly crowded. Therefore, find some smart storage solutions for your appliances. Things like trick cabinets that house microwaves or a designated coffee station on a movable cart can stop appliances from taking over the kitchen counters.

While an eat-in kitchen is ideal for a busy family, sometimes it's just not possible to squeeze one in. Adding a dining table, in spite of a much-too-small footprint in your kitchen will throw off the proportions of the space, not unlike the kitchen island we discussed earlier. It'll both look cramped and feel crowded, having cooks and diners alike lament at the size of the kitchen. Instead, consider adding a hideaway folding table or a dining table on wheels like the 3imothrix wheeled table from Amazon that you can use as a mobile seating solution.