Small-Kitchen Decorating Ideas

Use these tips and ideas to create a small kitchen with big style.

By Kelly Eagle

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Showstopping Backsplash

Display Collections

Add Accessories

Showcase Color

Cover Walls with Color

Choose Bold Textiles

Paint an Accent Wall

Maximize Every Inch

Add Style Overhead

Choose Art with Personality

Go Beyond Removing Doors

Make the Most of Wall Space

Interesting Texture

Put In a Plate Rack

Play Up Pattern in Tile

Choose Colorful Stools

Add Organization

Wall Decals

Utilize Rolling Storage

Display Colorful Linens

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Showstopping Backsplash

This otherwise-subdued kitchen goes glam with stainless-steel tile behind the range. In a small space, even a tiny portion of showstopping backsplash tile adds drama and personality.

Display Collections

Make use of the space between cabinets in front of a window by adding simple shelves and displaying a collection. Plus, the light coming in the window will make any collection look beautiful.

Add Accessories

Like any good outfit, a kitchen needs accessories. The wall at the end of this galley kitchen mixes hanging art with leaning frames and pretty dishware. Below, a bright red stool adds a fun pop of color.

Get creative ideas for decorating your small spaces.

Showcase Color

In a one-wall kitchen, open upper cabinets help the room feel spacious and allow space for displaying colorful dishware, potted herbs, and accessories. Closed cabinets below are perfect for storing items you don't want on display.

Take our quiz and find your color personality!

Cover Walls with Color

Give walls in a basic kitchen a cheery coat of a color. In this clean-lined white kitchen, kiwi-green walls add modern flair and inspire the rest of the decor.

Choose Bold Textiles

A bold Roman shade sets the tone for this all-white kitchen. Playing off the window covering, red, orange, and yellow accessories spice up the rest of the room.

Paint an Accent Wall

Add pizzazz without pressure by painting one wall in your kitchen in a bold accent color. The terra-cotta-orange accent wall spices up the otherwise subdued kitchen.

Maximize Every Inch

There isn't an inch of unused space in this kitchen. At the end of a run of cabinets, a recessed bookcase was added and is a drop point for mail, magazines, and miscellaneous papers; below is a small house for the cat.

Add Style Overhead

Beyond cabinets and countertops, add style overhead with patterned drum shades or unique pendants. By choosing interesting light fixtures, your kitchen will feel distinctive and sophisticated.

Choose Art with Personality

Step outside the standards of kitchen art and choose unique pieces that showcase your personality. Vintage signs, classic advertisements, and art intended for other rooms of the house often look right at home in the kitchen.

Go Beyond Removing Doors

Instead of just removing cabinet doors and displaying dishes, outfit the now-open storage with textured baskets, bins, and pretty glass storage containers. The baskets add texture and color, while the glass storage containers keep what you need neatly on display.

Make the Most of Wall Space

The combination of metal shelving and a magnetic board corrals spices, tea, mugs, pictures, and recipes all in one easy-to-reach place.

Take our quiz and find your color personality!

Interesting Texture

In a classic kitchen with cherry cabinets, the marble countertops, gray linen roman shade, and raw-wood shelves all add interesting textures to the room. This small amount of juxtaposition with the traditional cabinets creates great contrast.

Get inspired! Find ideas for decorating your small spaces!

Put In a Plate Rack

Often found in traditional cottage-style kitchens, a plate rack is perfect for breaking up a run of cabinetry and putting pretty dishware on display.

Play Up Pattern in Tile

In an otherwise standard white kitchen, the patterned backsplash tile adds personality and much-needed movement in the room. A classic black-and-white color scheme can be easily accented by different colors as styles change.

Choose Colorful Stools

The simple lines of these stools get an extra dose of style with turquoise paint. Now the stools are a focal point in the kitchen and are the perfect starting point for the rest of the decor.

Add Organization

Unused space next to the fridge is the perfect place to tack up grocery lists, coupons, or family calendars on a simple framed corkboard. By painting the frame the same color as the rest of the wall, the frame isn?t the focal point.

Wall Decals

Whip up some whimsy in your kitchen by adding fun wall decals and colorful artwork. Decals can be swapped out at any time to make changing the look of your kitchen quick and easy.

Utilize Rolling Storage

A rolling storage cart is the perfect addition to a small kitchen. Add color and keep clutter out of sight by hanging a colorful curtain.

Display Colorful Linens

Colorful towels and vintage aprons are practical and pretty when hung on hooks in plain view. Mixing colors and patterns adds extra interest to the room.

Small-Kitchen Decorating Ideas

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