How to brighten your kitchen decor

Want your kitchen to feel bigger, brighter and more spacious? It’s all in the design. Get one step closer to the kitchen of your dreams by carefully selecting the right cabinets, worktops and lighting.

While a kitchen expansion is high on many peoples’ wish lists, it’s not always a reality. Luckily, there are other ways you can make your space feel lighter and roomier without bringing in the builders. Here are our top kitchen design ideas for small kitchens.

The importance of lighting: ideas for small kitchens

How do you make a small room or galley kitchen grow (without literally extending it)? Look to the lighting. Lighting affects our perception of space and, with a few clever tricks, you can create the illusion of a larger, brighter kitchen.

Manipulating natural light

Make the most of natural lighting by keeping windows clean and throwing curtains or blinds open in the daytime.

Site focal points like a kitchen table or island near or under windows. If the areas you use most are illuminated, your whole experience of the space will improve.

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Check out our Oak worktops

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Using artificial lighting cleverly

A well-lit room feels bigger than a dark one. By using bright lighting, your kitchen will feel open and more inviting. One of our favourite bright kitchen ideas? Go for cool white bulbs over yellow ones. While warm lights are cosy, they can make a space seem more compact.

Mix and match your light sources: go for overhead lighting, under-cupboard lighting, and one or two accent lights to create depth and make your small space feel larger.

Choosing kitchen cabinet colours

Colour is just as important as lighting to help a small space come into its own. Combining colours can make your kitchen feel larger and airier: opt for a soft main shade with a supporting accent colour to add subtle contrast and make your room feel spacious and cohesive.

Colours that brighten small kitchens

Open up your kitchen by opting for clever cabinet colours and combinations. Light colours and neutral tones will help make a small kitchen appear bigger. Our top picks are:

• White: Clean, airy and bright, white is a true classic.
• Cream or ivory: Warmer, off-white tones open up a space, but retain a hint of cosiness.
• Grey: Warm or cool shades of neutral grey add a modern, spacious touch.
• Brown: Combine natural wood worktops with pale cabinets to add volume and texture. Ultra-pale ash worktops can help to brighten up a small room, too.
• Beige: Natural tones have timeless appeal. Go for sandy hues or greige (a grey-beige palette) to add light to your small space.

Colours to avoid in small rooms

Dark colours can make a cramped space feel more closed in. Avoid choosing cabinets in heavy tones such as black, navy and charcoal. While you might want to incorporate bold colours like reds, yellows and greens into your decor, these strong shades can make a small kitchen feel claustrophobic and are best saved for accents in a tiny space.

Selecting perfect paint and tile pairings

While you can match your kitchen walls and floors to your cabinets to create a seamless look and make the room seem larger, some clever paint and tile colour combinations can add new dimensions to a small room and elevate it beyond its diminutive size.

Stick to pale colours and neutrals to help your kitchen feel roomy. Some of our favourite small kitchen paint colour combinations are:

White and beige

Pair these pale neutrals and transform even the busiest kitchen into an oasis of calm. Go for ivory walls and beige splashback tiles, or match a white worktop with sandy-coloured paint to add a sophisticated, timeless contrast.

Brown and cream

Natural wood colours can bring a small kitchen to life, adding light and texture. Oak and ash worktops are a great choice for adding subtle colour. Team them with cream tiles and pale walls for a classic, elegant look.

Sand and grey

Let elemental colours give your kitchen a lift. Use soft stone-coloured tiles for the floor and a golden sandy tone for the walls, or vice versa. Alternatively, go for a cool grey worktop and buff-coloured paint for a grounded aesthetic.

Discover more of our favourite kitchen colour pairing combinations, for rooms of any size.

Kitchen design ideas for small kitchens: choosing the right worktops

Choosing the right worktops can create the illusion of a larger surface area. The most successful small kitchen designs have well-considered countertops, to make every space count.

Pale coloured worktops

As with the walls and cabinets, pale colours are essential to make your kitchen feel larger.

Our top worktops for small spaces are:

• Carrara Solid Surface: A marbled stone-effect worktop that will brighten your room while adding style.
• Crystal Stone Quartz Effect Solid Surface: The realistic quartz effect of this light and airy worktop will add a little sparkle to your kitchen. With a smooth, semi-gloss finish, it’ll bring the illusion of spaciousness to even the tiniest kitchen.
• Ash Worktop: Ash timber is naturally very pale. Durable and distinctive, this worktop will add light and interest to your small space.
• Arctic Solid Surface: The pale flecks across the surface of this white worktop result in a terrazzo-type effect. It’s versatile, long-lasting and the ideal surface to make your room feel brighter.
• Grey Avenue Solid Surface: Go for a matt, granite-effect worktop, finished with grey and black freckles. The cool tone will ground your room and add a feeling of openness.

Slimline worktops

While colour choices are important, materials also play a key role in opening up small spaces. Instead of opting for a robust, chunky-feeling worktop, choose a compact laminate counter to streamline and balance your room. Our favourites are Cranbury Marble Compact, a sophisticated marble-effect countertop with elegant veining and Lucida White Compact, a no-nonsense, all-white matte worktop with modern vibes.