Will Putting a Kitchen Cabinet Close to the Ceiling Make the Room Bigger?
The only thing that will make the kitchen bigger is a renovation, but you can create the illusion of a bigger kitchen by following a few design guidelines. Cabinets positioned to the ceiling may make the room appear larger if the color scheme follows the design guideline concerned with color schemes. The color scheme of the room is the most important component of the visual perception of size of a room. Online room planners and paint viewers allow the uploading of an actual photo, and the walls, floors, surfaces, and cabinets in the "virtual" world can be colored to replicate what the result could be with different color schemes. Does this Spark an idea?
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Contrast
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Contrast will make an area appear smaller; items that contrast with their surroundings stop the eye. Rooms of little contrast encourage the viewer's eye to continue around the room or up and down a wall without stopping. Lines of demarcation between the walls, floor and furnishings are blurred in a monochromatic color scheme. Choosing this type of color scheme, and relying on texture for interest, will help create the illusion of a larger room.
Flooring
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A horizontal pattern in the flooring -- the pattern running from the left side of the room to the right when entering a room -- will increase the illusion of a wider room. A vertical pattern --the pattern running from the far wall to the entry on entering a room -- will increase the illusion of a longer room.
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Lights
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Lights positioned on the top of cabinets and directed up toward the ceiling will increase the illusion of taller walls.
Clutter
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Keeping surfaces clear of all clutter will increase the visual size of a room. Counters should be kept clear of appliances and any carpets or area rugs should blend into the floor color. Furniture with exposed legs -- no skirts on chair slipcovers, for example -- and pedestal tables will add to the illusion of increased visual space.
Glass
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Glass tabletops reduce the visual weight of a table and should be balanced with chairs that are in keeping with the color scheme.
Cabinetry
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Cabinetry with vertical lines will increase the visual perception of the wall height. A kitchen without upper cabinets will appear larger than the same kitchen with upper cabinets. Knobs and pulls will create unwanted contrast unless they are in the monochromatic color scheme.
Window Treatments
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The color of the window treatments should be one similar to the surrounding wall.
Drapes should leave the windows totally exposed when drawn, creating the illusion of larger windows. The guideline of contrast is important with regard to window treatments, contrast between fabric and wall colors should be avoided.
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References
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