If your kitchen feels cramped, you may not need to move a single wall to make it feel more open. At Low Country Granite, we help homeowners from Charleston, SC to Brunswick, GA, including Hilton Head, Bluffton, Beaufort, and Savannah, use thoughtful stone selections and smart surface design to create a greater sense of space. From maintaining visual continuity to maximizing countertop real estate and drawing the eye upward, our team brings expertise to help you make every inch of your kitchen work harder and feel more expansive.

Tip #1: Use Visual Continuity

A small kitchen can feel larger when the design of the room has been unified, which we call visual continuity. We recommend this strategy for those with smaller spaces who still want their kitchen to feel light and airy when they walk through the door, and it’s easier to achieve than it may sound!

Start with color: lighter, reflective materials bounce natural and overhead light around the room instead of absorbing it, which helps brighten tight corners that would otherwise feel closed in. When it comes to deciding countertop color, lighter stones like the Claremont quartz from Cambria Palette can do wonders to visually expand your space:

*Claremont quartz from Cambria Palette adds soft, warm tones while remaining light enough to brighten up any space.*

Once you have a general sense of the colors you’re gravitating toward, it’s time to pull it all together and make the space feel cohesive. We recommend carrying the countertop material to a matching backsplash to increase the visual depth of the space. For the rest of the room, we recommend choosing materials that are similar in color. For example, in the kitchen below, the space feels open because the white countertop visually blends into the pale marble backsplash and white cabinetry. The space isn’t huge, yet it still feels bright and airy.

*By unifying the materials and colors used, this kitchen feels bigger than it actually is!*

Tip #2: Maximize Countertop Real Estate

Counter space is prime kitchen real estate, and a kitchen that’s on the smaller side can’t afford to waste it. Waterfall edges and overhangs for countertop seating do wonders to extend your usable space. In both examples pictured below, the countertop space has been maximized, making each kitchen look and feel more open:

*Design features like waterfall countertops and seating extend your usable space, making it feel bigger.*

Tip #3: Think Vertically

Even if you’re short on floor space, your walls offer an opportunity to make your space feel open. Stone backsplashes that extend up the wall draw the eye towards the ceiling, making the space feel taller. Open shelving, especially in a lighter stone or wood tone, can also keep the space from feeling boxed in behind cabinet doors. By strategically drawing the eye up with a stone backsplash and opting for open storage, a smaller space can still feel light and airy.

We’d Love to Help!

A small kitchen has more potential than many realize, and the right stone can be the difference between a room that feels closed in and one that feels bright and easy to move through. Visit our Savannah, Georgia showroom to see granite, marble, quartzite, and quartz in person.

Contact us to start planning a kitchen that feels twice its size.