4 Open Kitchen Design Ideas for a Spacious Home

1. Create Zones

One of the easiest ways to differentiate your kitchen area while keeping it open is to use certain features to highlight different locations. Repeated use of elements creates smaller “zones” that separate the open kitchen from the living area and dining area. For example, you can designate kitchen areas through different colors or fixtures, such as rugs or lighting changes. You could also distinguish different areas through the countertop and cabinet materials. 

2. Expand Outdoors

Most open kitchens are contained entirely indoors—perhaps with a few windows over the cookware. A unique twist on an open kitchen design is to take advantage of your outdoor living space and expand outside. Opening your kitchen to the outside world takes full advantage of square footage and integrates well with other features, such as inside/outside bar seating. 

3. Open Shelving

Cabinets are an important storage feature, but an open kitchen works better with more streamlined elements and less clutter on the walls. You can eliminate cabinets and maintain storage space through an open shelving design. Open shelving can create a modern, minimalistic look that has excellent decorative potential. 

4. Focus on the Island

Kitchen islands are a great idea as they allow for more counter space. You can make the island the focus of your open kitchen design by expanding its size and adding cabinets to increase functionality. A large kitchen island can not only act as a dining table but can also house kitchen appliances, such as a range stovetop or dishwasher. You can also add more cabinets to your island to increase storage and free up space on your walls.