About the easiest way to brighten up a room is to give the walls a fresh coat of paint. The room is brighter and warmer, and it's as though the space has been opened up. This approach works in almost any room, with one major exception. It's difficult to open up a kitchen in this way, often because the walls are serving double duty. Not only are they holding up the ceiling, but they're also home to numerous storage cabinets. How can you brighten up the walls in your kitchen when those walls also house your storage cabinets?
A New Home Is Needed
Outright removal of the cabinets is the most logical way to open up the walls, but this might not be the most practical course of action. Those storage cabinets serve a specific purpose, and removal of the space means their contents must find a home elsewhere, which isn't always so easy. That being said, it's certainly not impossible.
Culling and Reorganizing
You'll find it extremely helpful to cull the contents of your kitchen storage spaces. You'll encounter a lot of cookware and tableware that you haven't used in a while. There's likely to be a reason for this (and it's because you probably don't need these items). These items don't necessarily have to be in the kitchen, but if you have a kitchen peninsula or floating island, this can quite easily have storage space added beneath its surface to handle any overflow from your cabinets. This is a simple enough task for a kitchen remodeling contractor. These items could also be conveniently stored in a sideboard just outside of the kitchen. Alternatively, they could be downgraded and stored in a closet or the garage. Of course, you could just get rid of them — whatever it takes to reduce the contents of your storage cabinets.
Upgrade the Walls
Now you'll have a more accurate idea of how much storage space you'll actually need. Ideally, your contractor can simply take down your overhead cabinets. The walls can then be painted. If you have tiled walls, these tiles can extend upwards (as opposed to painting). Your contractor can then (if needed) add open plan storage to the walls by adding floating shelves, creating surface space that's not enclosed.
While it might take some major reorganizing, you'll find it's not all that complicated to discard your boxy kitchen cabinets to truly open up the room, making it seem larger and brighter. Contact a kitchen remodeling contractor to learn more.
