by Jamie McCormick

Created on: July 29, 2011   Last Updated: July 30, 2011

In a small kitchen, there's a fine line between cozy and cramped. Add too much detail, and you'll crowd yourself out of the room, but add too little, and you'll bore yourself and your guests. Cooking is a hard enough job without having to do it in an uncomfortable room, so here are some tips to make your kitchen more cook-friendly and eye-pleasing.

1) Paint or install accents on your cabinets. White walls and cabinets will open up a small room, but they will also get dirty easily and can make your kitchen look sterile instead of scrumptious. So keep the light colors, but add little splashes of accent – stripes or colored handles and brackets will do the trick. This will keep the room lively and give it a theme without condensing the space with solid-colored dark walls and cabinets.

2) Install any extra shelving near the ceiling. These shelves might be a bit more difficult to reach, so store things that you use less often or items that are purely decorative on these higher shelves. But adding shelving near the ceiling, above eye level and out of sight, will give you extra storage space without detracting from the usable space on ground level.

3) Use table mats and napkins that match your theme as the table centerpiece. Small kitchens usually mean small tables, so there is little room for the salt shakers, napkins, glasses, plates of food, and a giant floral arrangement. Instead, choose napkins and table mats that match the colors of your kitchen and use them to spice up your table setting.

4) Use old wine bottles for candle holders. These are cool accent pieces that lend a little bit of character while only taking up a small amount of space, so they are great for small tables. As opposed to tall taper candle holders that may outstrip a small table and make it look even smaller, wine bottles fit in with the homey, cozy feel. And any kind of bottle will work well for this type of accent, if your family prefers not to use wine bottles.

5) Buy an antique or decorative wall-mounted spice rack. Rather than the varieties that hide in kitchen cabinets, wall-mounted spice racks give a little bit of flair to empty wall space and show that you pay attention to taste and look. Wall-mounted wine racks serve the same purpose. Instead of filling the space with art that might be damaged from the vapors of cooking, or just leaving it blank, fill your empty wall space with unique versions of things you actually use to cook.

6) Keep and open fruit and produce bowl. Fresh fruit and vegetables add both color and character to your kitchen, and can replace the earthiness and brightness of the flower arrangement you don't have room to keep on the table. Instead of locking bright yellow squash away in the fridge, let it add some sunlight to your small kitchen space.

Hopefully, these few tips will open up your space and make it an inviting rather than a cramped place to be. Just as with household finances, the key to kitchen bliss is budgeting – of space and color. Especially if you also eat in your kitchen, as in many small apartments, a few flourishes will make your cooking time and your meals that much more enjoyable.

Learn more about this author, Jamie McCormick.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.