Make a small kitchen look larger

Bring the outdoors in. Where possible, enlarge windows or replace one with a garden window, installed at worktop height. Add a skylight or pipe light.

Streamline your kitchen. Just as you go through your clothes closets once or twice a year and give away or sell items you no longer need, you should do the same for your kitchen. Simply reorganising the kitchen and getting rid of things you don't use will make your kitchen feel larger. A cluttered kitchen feels smaller.

Build a useful island. If you have an eat-in kitchen with no room for an island, consider replacing the kitchen table with an island. Then the island will serve as the eating area, and there will be added storage for seldom-used items. To accomplish this, start with base cabinets, either table height or traditional counter height. Top them with a worktop material extended 12 to 16 inches over the sides of the cabinets to accommodate chairs or stools.

Install storage trays. You can do this on the back of false drawer fronts at the sink and cook top with specially made trays (they are very narrow) available at hardware stores and home centres. It helps eliminate clutter around the stove and sink and is very easy to do.

Free up counter space. Install an under-the-counter microwave, can opener, spice rack or toaster.

Open up walls. If your kitchen has an adjoining dining room, consider opening the wall between them. This could be a do-it-yourself project if the wall is not load-bearing.

Create open shelving. Designing a kitchen with open shelves, especially if you have colourful plates and glasses, teapots or other collectibles - always makes a small kitchen look larger. You can simply take the doors off your cabinets and paint the inside a bright colour, or take down existing cabinets and add colourful shelves to make the room feel more open.