An interior decorator has shared five common kitchen design mistakes that can make your home look tacky.
Given its pivotal role in the home, a kitchen’s appearance and layout naturally matter a great deal. While some favour an understated look, others go for something more striking.
Unfortunately, certain design choices can quickly push a kitchen from stylish and luxurious to cheap and tacky.
To help steer clear of any missteps, interior decorator Penny Modern has turned to her YouTube channel to reveal what she believes should be “removing” from kitchens that make homes appear cheap and tacky.
The expert highlighted that what truly makes a space “look expensive” isn’t what you add, but actually what you take away.
1. Exposed bins
Plenty of households fall into this trap, but having an “exposed” bin on show in your kitchen is the first blunder. Yet no matter how well-designed the kitchen bin might be, it remains something nobody really wants on display.
Penny said, “Nothing cheapens a beautiful kitchen more than a dirty, grimy trash can sitting off in the corner.”
She added: “If you have an exposed bin, it can make it [a kitchen] look cheap because it’s just extra clutter; it reminds people of trash, and it can also lead to smells.”
Naturally, in a functioning kitchen, you’ll need a bin, but it’s worthwhile considering concealed bins tucked inside cabinets to create a more streamlined appearance.
As an alternative, Penny suggests choosing a stainless steel bin and positioning it discreetly, as the aim is to “make it disappear” and keep it “as unobtrusive as possible”.
2. Visible pot racks on display
Working out where to store your pots and pans can prove tricky when you’re short on storage space. This prompts many homeowners to use pot racks to suspend their cookware up high.
While this might create a professional kitchen aesthetic, in most domestic kitchens, these pot racks often end up “looking cluttered, chaotic and a jumbled mess”.
Penny highlighted that it can make the kitchen appear “cheap” if you haven’t got fancy pans that all match. She also observed that having this can obstruct your line of sight and make your kitchen feel more cramped, and cautioned that the pans end up “collecting a lot of dust and grease”.
Instead, Penny suggests getting some dividers so you can store your pots and pans horizontally in large cupboards. Alternatively, if space is tight, a final option can be to keep pots and pans in your oven.
3. Decor on top of kitchen cabinets
If you’ve got kitchen cabinets that don’t extend all the way to the ceiling, Penny advises resisting the temptation to place loads of decorative items up there.
The interior designer observed that people who have a gap between their cabinets and the ceiling often put photographs, wine bottles and artificial plants there, and what happens is that it “makes the kitchen look cluttered, smaller and cheap”.
She added that it’s simply “clutter that draws the eyes upwards, and it’s “very distracting”.
Penny explained that the ideal solution is to clear away all the clutter on top of the kitchen cabinets and enjoy that negative space.
4. Word art signs
Those typical word art signs declaring “kitchen” or “eat, pray, love” are going to “make your space feel cluttered”, and they’re “not going to look charming”, according to Penny.
She pointed out that many of these signs are mass-produced and can “make your kitchen feel generic and not very luxurious”.
Rather than these word-art signs, Penny suggests investing in genuine art – perhaps a landscape from somewhere you’ve visited. She said it “doesn’t have to be expensive”, as you can simply print numerous options from Etsy or source smaller pieces to display in your kitchen.
5. Appliances that have different finishes
This is a tricky one, as appliances can break down at various times, but having a mixture of appliance finishes is “definitely something that’s not going to make your space look luxurious”.
She said, “You definitely don’t want to have a white dishwasher, a black fridge and a stainless steel stove; it’s just going to look like a jumbled mess and that you just bought anything that was on sale.
Penny noted that households may want to consider investing in panel-ready appliances. She said, “Having a panel on your fridge to hide the finish altogether is definitely a trend we see in luxury homes.”
