Many realtors will agree that the kitchen often sells the home! It attracts good buyers and can even let you close above the asking price. However, having a small kitchen could make it challenging to take advantage of this selling point. But with the right staging and small kitchen ideas, you can pack a punch in such a limited space in your home.
In this post, we’ll discuss the advantages of staging your small kitchen and some small kitchen design ideas you can try. Read on and see how you can spruce up the heart of your home!
Why first impressions matter for your kitchen
Your kitchen is one of the rooms that can make or break the sale of your house. Homebuyers often inspect this area closely and consider it a huge part of their decision process. With that said, here’s why you should take tiny kitchen ideas for home staging seriously:
- It’s one of your home’s main rooms. In our 11 years of real estate experience, we often see buyers bee-line straight to the kitchen during showings. In fact, the kitchen is a huge consideration, and it’s the most popular search online when buyers are looking for a home.
- Buyers don’t like fixer-uppers. A kitchen that looks like it needs a lot of work can put off a lot of prospective buyers instantly. After all, they are already spending a lot of money on buying a house and remodeling isn’t usually in their immediate plan. By staging your kitchen well, you’ll prevent buyers from mistakenly thinking that it needs a lot of work.
- Functional kitchen layouts are buyer magnets. A functional and ergonomic layout can actually compensate for the small floor space of your kitchen. You can maximize kitchen design ideas for small kitchens to ensure that this area of your home will feel big both in functionality and perceived value.
- Kitchens help buyers connect to your home. The kitchen is where you can tug on your potential buyers’ heartstrings. You can help them picture preparing meals for their loved ones or remind them of the happy memories they had in their own kitchens. Styling your kitchen properly can give this advantage, especially in such a tight Los Angeles market.
10 small kitchen ideas to attract homebuyers
Are you staging and looking for ideas for small kitchens? Below are some of the tried and tested hacks we use for our professional home staging projects:
1. Declutter your kitchen
With a small kitchen, you simply have no room for clutter. You’d want to maximize every inch you have to make sure the kitchen will look organized and attractive to potential buyers.
First off, you’d want to box up your collection of refrigerator magnets and other personal items. Also, you should pack away your grandma’s china collection, your stack of plastic cups, and so on.
Aside from that, you should stow away your air fryers, crockpots, and other small kitchen appliances that eat space counter space. You should only keep some items visible if they add an aesthetic and functional touch to the small kitchen without being overwhelming.
2. Maximize clever storage options
You can also utilize unique storage ideas for small spaces to maximize the space of your tiny kitchen. For example, you can use stackable containers, over-the-door organizers, rolling carts, drawer organizers, wall-mounted racks, and more.
Another thing that our home stagers suggest is using clear glass jars and containers to stage some kitchen items. By making the ingredients visible, you’re making it feel like potential buyers can walk in and start cooking.
If you need more storage ideas in the kitchen, feel free to reach out to us! Our house staging experts can provide you with an onsite consultation and give recommendations on how you can prep your kitchen even better.
3. Consider open shelving
When it comes to small kitchen layouts, open shelving would be a smart choice. This way, you can maximize vertical space and reduce the space it takes for the cabinet doors to swing open. It will create an airy feel while allowing you to display functional kitchen decorations at the same time.
However, you should use open shelving wisely. Make sure you limit what you display and avoid placing heavy items at the top – god forbid it falls off and hurts a potential buyer.
Also, you should maximize the shelf space by displaying actual cooking needs. It can be jars of cooking ingredients, spices, tools, and so on.
4. Utilize vertical space
With a tiny kitchen design, you can maximize vertical space to hang pots and pans. You can also install wall-mounted racks to free up space on your cabinet and eliminate the need to add another piece of furniture to your already small floor space.
Aside from mounting racks, you can also use tall cabinets. This way, you can draw potential buyers’ eyes upward, which will make your small kitchen feel larger. Just make sure that you pair it with a step stool or ladder to complete its functionality.
5. Choose the right color palette
When thinking how to design a kitchen small, we always prioritize the right choice of colors. We always swear by neutral hues like beige, off-whites, and soft grays when staging any kitchen, especially small ones.
You should avoid dark colors as this will make your kitchen appeal smaller and uninviting. If you want to add some contrast, our interior designers suggest soft pastels, monochromatic schemes, and natural earth tones. You can also play with bold accent colors like vibrant yellow or deep green.
Still, avoid flooding your kitchen with very bold colors, as this may be overstimulating to potential buyers. If you’re unsure what color scheme suits your small kitchen, you can request a color consultation as part of our home staging services. Contact us today to talk to one of our interior designers!
6. Create a focal point
Creating a focal point in your small kitchen can divert potential buyers’ attention away from the limited floor space. Instead, you can create a visual hierarchy and make your home more memorable to prospective buyers.
To create a focal point, you can paint an accent wall, like a patterned backsplash or the wall behind the stove. For this, you can choose an accent color that ties up with the entire color palette of your home. Some of the safe options are navy blue, charcoal gray, soft green, mustard yellow, or taupe. When in doubt, you can always call us for professional advice.
However, you should be careful when choosing the location of your focal point. It should be visible on high-traffic spots like the entrance of your kitchen, above the stove, or a central wall if you have one.
7. Upgrade your kitchen lighting
Lighting can be your bosom friend when looking for clever, very small kitchen design ideas.
For starters, you need multiple light sources to create a layered effect. That means you need ambient or general lighting as well as task lighting like under-cabinet lights, pendant lights over the kitchen island, or wall lights near the sink.
Make sure you also let natural light in as much as possible. This will make your small kitchen feel airy and breathable.
However, don’t overcrowd your small kitchen with too many light fixtures. If you want to stage multiple lighting options, you can opt for dimmers or adjustable lighting instead.
8. Use multi-level furniture
One of our favorite small space kitchen design ideas are multi-level furniture. In fact, we use this not only when staging kitchens, but also when we’re working on small bedrooms or even living rooms.
For small kitchens, our essentials include tiered shelving units, stackable bins, and drop-leaf tables. This way, we won’t skimp on functionality but still let potential buyers see the potential of such a small space.
Still, it’s very important to limit the number of furniture you bring into your small kitchen. Scale is also important, so each furniture will tie up the whole room.
If you need help choosing the furniture for your kitchen, call us at HolmeStage and we’ll be there to help. We also offer luxury furniture rental, so you can stage your home with ease.
9. Highlight your flooring
With small kitchens, it can be challenging to create a sense of space during staging. But one thing you can do is to showcase your flooring, so it creates a visual continuity throughout the kitchen.
For example, you can use area rugs to define functional zones like the dining table or sink. Aside from that, you can also opt for furniture with an elevated leg design so they don’t sit flatly on the floor. All these will create openness, which will make your small kitchen appear spacious to potential buyers.
However, our interior designers want to warn about the use of heavy and dark rugs. We suggest light and patterned rugs that don’t look bulky when placed on the floor.
Also, you should pay attention to how lighting showcases your kitchen floor. Make sure it illuminates the floor well so it doesn’t look uninviting.
10. Use scents to your advantage
Lastly, don’t forget that staging your small kitchen isn’t just about the visuals but also all the other senses! You should add finishing touches, like the scented candles with the odor of freshly baked cookies. This will help potential buyers create an emotional connection with your home, which will become remarkable to them even as they visit other properties later.
Still, keep the scent light and neutral. We usually opt for scents like vanilla, fresh lemon, and clean linen to add a subtle whiff in the air.
At the same time, be hyper-aware of any bad odors. Any foul smell can distract buyers and even make them suspect that there’s something wrong with your kitchen’s plumbing. You should have it fixed during staging to avoid any problems.
Additional decorating tips for small kitchens
Just because you have a small kitchen doesn’t mean you can’t do some decoration. Here are some of the additional tips our home stagers recommend if you want to add some finishing touches:
- Prioritize cleanliness. We always want a clean canvas before we start staging any room in a home we’re working on. In this case, make sure you start by decluttering, polishing, and cleaning everything thoroughly. Also, do minor repairs as needed so your kitchen will be spotless.
- Add some greenery. Some of our clients shy away from bringing plants into their small kitchen because it might consume precious space. You can still do so by incorporating a small herb corner or potted succulents to make the space feel fresh.
- Don’t make it personal. Always remember that home staging is all about the next owners of your home. The same goes for prepping your kitchen for showings or open houses. Make sure that you don’t leave personal items or make the kitchen too gender-specific.
- Set the table. We always say a well-staged kitchen feels like a buyer can walk in and start cooking. The same goes for your dining area – make sure that the buyer can picture their own family having a hearty dinner in that space.
Let HolmeStage make your kitchen stand out during showings!
Your home’s kitchen can be the main feature you need to make a quick sale, even above the asking price. And to make sure yours will stand out in the competitive real estate market, you can partner with HolmeStage for professional home staging in Los Angeles!
At HolmeStage, we are a team of interior designers, stagers, handymen, movers, and more who will transform your small kitchen into a buyer’s magnet. We’ll make sure that your kitchen will impress during showings and open houses, so your property will have the shortest possible stay in the market.
Ready to make your home stand out to buyers? Contact us at HolmeStage today for a consultation and a free quote!
