It’s a common saying in real estate that kitchens and bathrooms sell homes.
It can be easy to miss the mark when trying to create a luxury kitchen, though. That’s why Business Insider spoke with two interior designers about the details that can make the space look cheap.
Here’s what they had to say.
Dull colors and lighting
It’s common for modern kitchens to have neutral color palettes, but the experts said that’s often a mistake.
Charlotte Eustace, a UK-based interior designer who founded Eustace Studio, said she especially dislikes millennial gray kitchens.
“It just looks so cheap,” she said, adding that gray can look “cold” in a kitchen. Harsh lighting does the same thing.
“If your lighting is very cold or if you’re doing all neutral but everything has a cold undertone, I think that can really cheapen it,” she said. “Generally, the spaces that feel the most luxurious and welcoming are warmer spaces.”
Juliana Ghani, an interior designer from Minneapolis, said she tries to avoid “anything that looks sterile” in kitchens, which is often white, black, or gray. In the same vein, she said LED light bulbs are a huge no-no for her.
“It looks like an operating room when you have those blue LED lights on your island,” she said, adding that warm lighting is “the easiest way to make your kitchen look richer and homey.”
Pops of color in your cabinetry or wood accents can also help make a kitchen feel warmer.
The design is in the details
Ghani said basic kitchens often make appliances the focal point of the room, whereas in luxury spaces, they’re more hidden.
“I think a mistake people make when designing a kitchen, especially an open-concept kitchen, is that they let the appliances dominate the space,” Ghani said. “In a luxury kitchen, we would have paneled appliances, integrated hardware, or even different finishes on the actual appliances that kind of hide them in a way.”
“A row of stainless steel appliances, pretty much, is not giving luxury,” she said.
Eustace said the smaller details can also make a big difference to how your eye perceives a kitchen as a whole. That includes elements such as cabinet handles, countertop materials, and even outlet panels.
“A kitchen can be really nice, and then if I see cup handles or something, immediately I’m just like, ‘Oh gosh, that really just cheapens the whole feel of it,'” Eustace said, referring to curved handles that don’t look high-end.
Upgrading your hardware is an easy way to give your kitchen a luxurious feel, though. Ghani recommends brushed chrome, brushed nickel, or lacquered brass.
Too much on the counters
Ghani said it’s also a mistake to have too much sitting out on your counters because it can look “messy” or “cluttered.”
At the same time, cookbooks or appliances you use daily on your countertops can help a space look lived in. Eustace agreed, saying you don’t want your kitchen to look uninviting.
“I think there’s an obsession these days with having everything hidden, as if it’s like a showroom the whole time and no one lives there,” Eustace said. “I don’t think people should be afraid to have things out or, you know, have a little bit of mess or clutter.”
“Things that you’re actually using every day, and just signs of life, don’t make it look cheap,” she added, though she said microwaves sitting on a counter aren’t aesthetically pleasing, in her opinion.
“It has to make sense for you,” Ghani said about what sits on your countertops. “It would be obnoxious if you eat toast every day and you have to take out your toaster.”
“If you’re doing a custom kitchen or you’re remodeling, a lot of times we try to fit in a butler’s pantry or a walk-in pantry where you can put in a lot of those countertop appliances, your sugar, and your salt and pepper,” Ghani added.
Most importantly, both designers advised people not to be afraid to bring their own personality to their spaces, as a homey kitchen is the best kitchen.
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