Adding a reflective backsplash is a reliable way to make a kitchen look bigger without a large renovation. Using materials such as glass, stainless steel, glossy tiles, and mirrors can provide that reflection to make your kitchen look far bigger than it is.
Use a striated backsplash to make the kitchen look bigger
You can even choose bigger or smaller tile cuts — the idea is to trick the eye into making the kitchen feel longer than it is.
'Lighter wood finishes and paint colors work well to expand the perceived space of your kitchen,' says Tom Howley, Design Director at Tom Howley. 'Pair light tones with very light-colored countertops, and your kitchen will look spacious and airy.
There are many timeless options for a kitchen backsplash such as hexagon tiles, picket tile, penny tile, and square format tile (just to name a few). Timeless Backsplash Tip: Opt for a natural stone like marble or slate for a more traditional and timeless look. For example, marble or slate mosaic tile!
Subway tile is the most enduring choice for a backsplash. Avoid bold, trendy colors, and instead look for white or neutrals. Keep it simple, and bring in color elsewhere in the kitchen, with more easily replaced items, such as dish towels, art, bowls of fruit and rugs.
Natural materials, like wood and stone, are always in style. Have your contractor install maple, birch, or cherry cabinets. Look for stone options such as granite, limestone, or slate. Your kitchen will be stylish and trendy both now and in the future.
Go with Light Colors
Light colors are more reflective than dark colors and they will make your kitchen appear bigger as well as more open and airy. Light blues, greens, or pale yellows are other great colors to make your space look larger than life.
Light greens, yellows, blues and even greys can work well too. Whatever colour you choose, try to make the cabinet doors and walls one consistent colour. This removes any visual barriers that cause the eye to stop short, thus making the room appear much larger than it actually is.
A small kitchen design can actually benefit from a large tile. With fewer grout lines the walls and floor are less cluttered and the room visually expanded.
The design should be used to balance out the light and dark shades of the other elements, so if you have light cabinets and countertops, you may want to choose a dark backsplash to bring more depth to the kitchen. If you have very dark cabinets or countertops, a light backsplash will help the kitchen feel fresh.
As mentioned above, blues are going to continue to be on-trend in 2021 but green is an overlooked colour that works great against white. Polished Marble like the Layla Verde with their geometric patterns are sophisticated and are guaranteed to look impressive across any kitchen wall or floor.
Hexagon tile is definitely trending right now, but retailers are just now getting a large selection and variety of tiles in stock. This means that hexagon tile will remain stylish and popular for years. And because hexagons are a natural shape, they'll always be in style.
The U-Shape design is the most versatile layout for both large and small kitchens. It surrounds the cook on all sides and allows for ample countertop space and storage. The U-Shape kitchen creates an efficient work triangle, and creates a large amount of storage space.
It's recommended that an island is no less than 40 by 40 inches (1 by 1 meter) for a small kitchen, but if you're using an elongated table as opposed to a square, you'll want to go for something no less than 24 inches (61 centimeters) wide to give yourself enough work space.
It's a visual illusion—tiny floor tiles make your small kitchen feel busy and cramped; large tiles make it feel airier and larger. One reason for this is that with the large tiles, you're reducing the number of grout lines. Go for nothing smaller than standard 12 x 12-inch tiles, but preferably larger.
A 10x10 kitchen is a standard kitchen in size, it is a total of 20 feet of wall space. 10x10 pricing is a common method used by kitchen cabinet retailers to help customers gauge which cabinets cost less and which cost more.
Tiny Backsplashes
Skinny backsplashes are out of style, we are happy to report. A ceramic tile or glass backsplash that stretches from counter to cabinets is much easier to keep clean, and is more likely to catch spills and splatters.
First, let's talk about white kitchen cabinets … these aren't going anywhere in 2022. A white kitchen is classic and never goes 'out of style'. It may not always be the current trend, but white kitchen cabinets are always beautiful. We'll also continue to see the two-tone cabinet color trend in 2022.
Quartz now comes in many colors, patterns, and finishing techniques that mimic's the look of natural stone. One of the most current and trending finishes right now is matte. In 2022, Quartz manufacturers will continue to impress us with manufacturing improvements to keep this countertops option king.