Given its pivotal role in the home, a kitchen's décor and design understandably matter a great deal. While some favour a neutral aesthetic, other homeowners go for something far bolder. Unfortunately, certain elements can all too easily push a kitchen towards looking tacky rather than tasteful. To help steer clear of any design disasters, interior decorator Penny Modern has turned to her YouTube channel to reveal what she believes needs "removing" from kitchens that make homes appear cheap and tacky. She 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 are guilty of this one, but having an "exposed" bin on show in your kitchen is the first major mistake. Yet no matter how beautifully designed your kitchen bin might be, it's still something nobody really wants to look at. 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 need a bin, but it's worth considering concealed bins tucked inside cabinets to create a more streamlined appearance. Alternatively, 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 keep your pots and pans can prove tricky when you're short on storage space. This prompts many homeowners to install pot racks to suspend their cookware up high. While this might create a professional kitchen aesthetic, in the majority of 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 setup can obstruct your sightline and make your kitchen feel more cramped, and cautioned that the pans wind up "collecting a lot of dust and grease". As an alternative, Penny suggests investing in some dividers so you can arrange your pots and pans horizontally in larger cupboards. Or, if you're really tight on space, a final option can be to store pots and pans in your oven.
3. Decor on Top of Kitchen Cabinets
If you've got kitchen cabinets that stop short of the ceiling, Penny advises resisting the temptation to pile decorative items up there. The interior designer observed that homeowners who have a gap between their cabinets and the ceiling are prone to displaying pictures, wine bottles and artificial plants, and what ends up happening is that it "makes the kitchen look cluttered, smaller and cheap". She went on to say that it's simply "clutter that draws the eyes upwards", and it's "very distracting". Penny explained that the ideal approach is to clear away all the clutter from the top of the kitchen cabinets and embrace that empty space.
4. Word Art Signs
Those ubiquitous 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 the majority of these signs are mass-produced and can "make your kitchen feel generic and not very luxurious". Rather than opting for 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 with Mismatched Finishes
This is a tricky one, given that appliances can pack in at different times, but mixing 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 suggested that households might want to think about 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."
