If you have a small kitchen and have lamented that it will never be luxurious like all of the spacious designer kitchens you see around…. think again! You can create luxury in even the tiniest kitchen, so you’ll have the style you love without having to clean the gigantic kitchen of your dreams! I’ve got 8 ideas to help you create this look in your kitchen. (image via Better Homes and Gardens)
This post contains affiliate links. Find our full policy and disclosure here.
8 Tips to Create Luxury in a Small Kitchen
1. Add Height and Style to Cabinets
Remove the doors to add depth to the room, and add height and crown molding like we showed you here. And some white paint never hurts! White, on top of being stylish, reflects light to help the room feel bigger and gives a crisp and clean feel to the room, even when the sink is full of dirty dishes.
2. Create Space
Removing the cabinet doors creates more open space, so the room feels bigger. If you’d still like to have doors, install glass front cabinets for the same spacious effect. Using “open” storage like glass canisters and a plate rack contribute to the openness, plus they keep everything readily at-hand.
3. Upgrade Your Dishes
The effect of this kitchen wouldn’t be the same if the plates were the thrift store special, mismatched and chipped and stacked haphazardly. You can keep most of your dishes neutral and add a few pops of color, like the aqua colored bowls and platters featured here, or paint the back of the cabinets a fun color to offset a set of entirely neutral dishes. Wayfair has great options for beautiful dishes — I love the color and design of these Whitaker dinner plates by Paula Deen.
4. Add Warmth With Wood
Keep the kitchen feeling homey and warm by adding some wood accents, such as flooring or butcher block countertops. There are many ways to bring wood countertops into our home. see the tutorials our guests have shared: easy butcher block countertops, $100 wooden countertops, reclaimed wood kitchen counters.
5. Install Luxurious Hardware
I know, you’ve probably never thought of a cabinet pull as luxurious, but look at what a difference the black knobs and drawer front decorations make to the look of the white cabinets! The high contrast adds style to a simple cabinet design, and is matched by the dark faucet and soap dispenser and echoed in the deep tones of the wood countertop. Paint the existing knobs, or find some knobs and decorative pulls at your local hardware store. Wayfair and Amazon also have great selection so you can find exactly what you’re looking for! (We love these wrought iron knobs and these French twist style drawer pulls.)
6. Give The Sink a Leg Up
Installing a farmhouse sink looks great and can make you feel like a superstar when you’re doing dishes (okay, maybe not, but it’s worth a try!). Make the nice sink even more luxurious by installing full-length newel posts (such as a premade table leg) on either side to give it a custom, built-in look.
7. Style The Floor, Too
Traditional wood flooring is classic and would look great in this kitchen, but if you don’t have the budget or prefer a different style, try paint. You can paint vinyl linoleum flooring: try a tutorial from DIY Network, Lindsay and Drew, or The Ugly Duckling House. The floor in our inspiration kitchen is white-washed and then stenciled! Get the stencil and learn how here at Better Homes and Gardens.
8. Find Luxury in the Details
There’s no built-in butler in this kitchen, but the sum total of all of the details add up to a beautiful and distinctive kitchen. The chandelier light fixture, subtle patterned backsplash, and upgraded sink are fairly simple updates that make a big difference to this little kitchen.
PS: If you love this kitchen, you can see the before and after and more views over at Flea Market Trixie.
More inspiring small kitchens with luxury and style:
Create featured on Remodelaholic
Amie Wietzman via Design Sponge
Find inspiration for other rooms in our Get This Look library…
 |  |  |
Living Room Library | Rustic Neutral Bedroom | Built-in Banquette Bench
I love all the details that went into this kitchen. I used many of the same (if not all) of these elements when giving mine a facelift-glass cabinets to break up a bank of cabinets, woven wood blinds for a natural element, bun feet on the base cabinets, extra mouldings for a custom look, etc. It really is all in the details when it comes to kitchens!
These are all great ideas. Love giving the sink a ‘leg up’!
Love that small kitchen! I’ve been torn on the open cabinet thing for a while. I would go with some open some not, because in a small kitchen especially, where do you hide all your food? And I’m a strong believe in cans & such NOT showing – they just aren’t as cute as plates. haha. I’m imagining there’s an opposite side to this kitchen with the fridge & some extra cabinets for that stuff. Looks great!
This kitchen is originally from fleamarket Trixie!!!
Great tips!! I am excited to try the cabinet molding and change out my current silver knobs to dark knobs. Thanks 🙂