How to Decorate a Small Kitchen

Need fresh ways to decorate a small kitchen? These 19 clever ideas pack maximum style and storage into minimal space.

Your small kitchen need not feel cramped. Decorating a small kitchen can feel daunting but with smart planning and the right design tricks, even the smallest UK kitchen can feel bright, organised and stylish. Good interior design can turn a small kitchen into a joy to cook in. Below are 19 small kitchen decorating ideas to help maximise space, using clever layouts, light colours, smart storage and multifunctional elements.

19 Small Kitchen Decorating Ideas

1. Paint With Reflective Colours

Light, reflective finishes make a small kitchen feel more expansive. Here, soft white cabinets and gleaming surfaces bounce daylight around the room, helping walls recede. The high-satin white cabinetry and glossy tile backsplash amplify the natural light. Using whites, creams or pale greys for most surfaces creates a bright, airy atmosphere – a cornerstone of decorating small kitchens to feel open and inviting. Try white metro splashback tiles or a light, high-sheen kitchen wall tile to brighten tight spaces.

2. Add a Controlled Accent to Your Kitchen

Introduce a bold splash of colour in one concentrated area to energise a small kitchen without overwhelming it. A single bold hue, perhaps on the lower units or a feature wall, injects personality without overwhelming. Two tone schemes anchor your kitchen while letting the lighter top half lift the ceiling line. Anchor the scheme with colour: mint-green or black metro tiles for a two-tone splashback, then echo it with a matt-black pull-out kitchen tap.

3. Introduce Mirrors and Glass

Incorporate reflective and transparent elements to double the visual depth of a small kitchen. This design uses glass-front upper cabinets to lighten the look of storage and provide a sense of openness. You could also install a mirrored backsplash to bounce light and make the room feel twice as deep. Reflections and see-through surfaces expand sight lines – a proven decorating trick for homes short on square footage

4. Layer Your Kitchen Lighting

Combine multiple light sources to eliminate shadows and brighten every corner. In this stylish kitchen nook, ceiling pendants, under-cabinet LEDs, and wall sconces all work together. The glass pendant lights illuminate the island, while warm wall lamps highlight the coffee station shelves. Such layered lighting ensures no dark areas, which is crucial because balanced illumination makes a compact kitchen feel more open. Good lighting design truly lets a small space sparkle. Add LED under-cabinet lights, run flex LED strips along shelves, and finish with a single dome pendant over the perch point.

5. Maximise Natural Daylight

Take full advantage of any windows or openings to make the kitchen feel bigger. More daylight equals a more spacious feeling kitchen, so consider enlarging a window or adding a skylight if possible.

6. Choose Handle-Less or Slimline Kitchen Hardware

Flat front doors with finger pulls or push‑to‑open catches create uninterrupted planes. Removing protruding knobs is a small tweak with a big impact when you’re decorating small kitchen cabinetry in a tight corridor. Look for slimline dishwashers, tall but narrow fridge-freezers and combination ovens. Hidden behind matching panels, they preserve a continuous cabinet rhythm and uphold the sleek feel vital to small kitchen decor.

7. Swap Base Kitchen Cupboards for Deep Drawers

Install full extension deep drawers in the lower kitchen cabinets so you can easily see and reach everything without kneeling on the floor. Deep pot drawers like the one pictured are ideal for plates, pans, and groceries – they bring items out to you. This not only improves ergonomics (no more rummaging in the back of a cupboard) but also reduces visual clutter because the drawer interiors stay hidden until opened. It’s a smart upgrade that makes a small kitchen much more user-friendly. Pair drawers with an undermount sink to reclaim more wipe-clean worktop and keep the look streamlined.

8. Create a Tall Pull Out Larder

Make use of narrow gaps by installing a vertical pull-out pantry unit. In the design pictured, a tall pantry closet with shelved storage occupies what could have been wasted space. Many kitchens have a 15–20cm gap near the fridge or oven tower – a perfect spot for a pull-out rack to store spices, oils, and tins. These tall, slide-out larders embody the clever storage solutions that small kitchens require, keeping pantry items organised and easy to access without expanding the kitchen’s footprint.

9. Add Wall Rails, Pegboards and Magnetic Strips

Hanging utensils, knives or mugs keeps essentials handy and worktops empty. Vertical thinking is at the heart of decorating small kitchen walls to make every centimetre work.

10. Curate Open Shelving

Replace a few upper cabinets with open shelves to give your small kitchen an airier feel. On these rustic wood shelves, only attractive everyday pieces are on display – neat stacks of plates, glassware, and a bit of greenery for colour. The open shelving up top prevents the upper half of the kitchen from feeling too heavy or closed-in. To succeed with this look, curate the contents: keep it minimal and cohesive in palette so it looks styled, not cluttered. The result is a lighter, more spacious vibe overhead while ensuring daily essentials are still close at hand.

11. Tame Corners With Carousel Shelves

Swivelling trays or bi‑fold pull‑outs bring hidden pots into view, transforming dead space into functional storage without enlarging the footprint.

12. Build Banquette Seating with Storage

Swap out bulky chairs for a built-in bench along one wall. A slim cushioned banquette not only saves floor space (since it can sit right against the wall) but also offers hidden storage underneath the seat. You can lift the seat to store cookware, linens, or pantry items in the base. This turns a small dining nook into a hardworking multitasker. Plus, banquette benches create a cosy, restaurant-style vibe in your kitchen corner, making the most of a small eating area.

13. Streamline Waste & Recycling

In a small kitchen, a tidy rubbish solution is essential to maintain the clutter-free aesthetic. Opt for an integrated pull-out bin system that fits in a lower cabinet (often under the sink). Choose bins sized for your recycling needs (paper, plastic, etc.) and hide them away. This keeps unsightly trash cans off the floor and out of view. A dedicated pull-out bin/recycling drawer means your floor space stays clear, and it’s surprisingly convenient – just slide it open when you need it, then make it disappear. Keeping refuse sorted and concealed contributes greatly to a clean, open kitchen feel.

14. Lay Pale, Seamless Flooring

Extend the illusion of space by using light-coloured, continuous flooring in your kitchen. Whether it’s bleached wood-look vinyl, pale ceramic tile, or white-painted floorboards, a light floor reflects more light and visually enlarges the area. Aim for a seamless installation, large format tiles or sheet flooring with minimal grout lines, for example, to avoid busy patterns chopping up the room. By matching the floor tone to the walls or cabinets (such as soft grey or white), you create an unbroken plane that makes the kitchen feel wider and longer than it really is. 

15. Add a Washable Runner Rug

Introduce a narrow runner rug to soften the floor and add a pop of colour or pattern – without permanently covering the whole floor. In a tight galley kitchen, a long runner visually draws the eye through the space, delineating the walkway. Choose a rug with a durable, washable material (like an indoor-outdoor or cotton flat-weave) in a pattern that complements your scheme. The runner in a small kitchen adds warmth and character underfoot, and because it’s textile, it can be easily cleaned. It also helps define the “zone” if your kitchen opens to another room, all while being thin enough not to trip on in a high traffic area.

16. Dress Windows Lightly

For window treatments, less is more in a petite kitchen. Avoid heavy curtains that block light; instead choose sleek coverings or slim roller shades that can be mounted above the window or within the frame. They should be easy to retract fully during the day. In a small kitchen, you want to expose as much glass as possible to maximise light. Sheers or translucent shades offer privacy at night but still let daylight through. By keeping window dressings minimal and pulled back, the kitchen feels more open and you preserve that vital natural light.

17. Bring in Living Greenery

Add a touch of life with potted herbs or houseplants in your kitchen. Even a small plant on the windowsill or a hanging herb planter can make the space feel fresh and inviting. Greenery not only purifies the air, it also adds a friendly, organic accent that complements any decor style. Small kitchens benefit from this natural element, as it softens hard surfaces and can be grown vertically (think wall planters or tiered stands) to save counter space.

18. Use Functional Decorative Pieces

Let your everyday tools double as décor by displaying the good looking ones. For instance, prop up a couple of wooden cutting boards against the backsplash or decant dry goods into pretty glass jars on the counter. In the image above, frequently used utensils and jars are arranged neatly on a small shelf, and cutting boards rest by the sink. These items are useful, yet when chosen in a consistent wood or neutral palette, they also act as design accents. By keeping ornamentation purposeful ,only exhibiting items that you actually use and that fit the style, a small kitchen stays both attractive and uncluttered.

19. Coordinate Your Accessories

Finally, pull the whole look together by sticking to a tight colour palette or material theme for your visible accessories. In a small kitchen, the details stand out – so choose one or two accent colours and repeat them in your dish towels, utensil holder, canisters, and other decor pieces. For example, you might go with all white and light wood: white ceramic jars, a wood knife block, and matching white dish towels. This way the eye reads a harmonious whole rather than a bunch of disparate items. In the kitchens we’ve seen, notice how the tones are consistent (the rustic kitchen uses natural woods and greens, the modern one uses whites and stainless steel). This deliberate cohesion is the finishing touch that makes a small kitchen design feel polished and thoughtfully decorated. Each piece feels like part of a set, elevating the style and preventing visual clutter.

Match metals for a pulled-together look: For example, a brushed brass kitchen tap + brushed-brass undermount sink; or black tap + black sink for a modern contrast.