The kitchen is a great place for family and friends to come together, however if you live in an apartment or the city chances are that your kitchen is fairly small. Here are a few tips to help make your kitchen appear larger and more inviting for those family gatherings.

FlooringConsider using a light colored flooring option. Something that matches your kitchen walls and cabinetry will help open up your kitchen. You'll also want to try and match the flooring to the room that connects to your kitchen. Any abrupt change will make a clear division between your kitchen and other rooms, making it appear smaller. Also, try and avoid using patterns. They tend to make a kitchen appear smaller.

A few flooring options to consider:Linoleum flooring provides you with a variety of options. It comes in hundreds of patterns and design colors, it's easy to maintain and clean.

Wood flooring can make your kitchen look larger especially if you use long wood planks. Make sure to install the wood perpendicular to your cabinets.

Marble, while expensive, can be a good option for a small kitchen. It can make your floor the focal point, causing the eye to move down and making your kitchen appear more spacious.

LightingProper lighting not only helps with creating an illusion of more space, but it's also great for making your kitchen appear warm and inviting... perfect for the next family dinner! Try using decorative lighting or hanging lights to make your kitchen appear more attractive and spacious.

GlassThe use of glass, or frosted glass, can fool the eye and think that there's more space than there really is. Try removing a few of the cabinet doors and replacing the solid fronts with glass. This will help with making the walls appear further away as it makes you gaze into the depths of the cabinets, pulling your eye away from the frames. If you do install glass cabinet doors, make sure that you keep the inside of your cabinets orderly. Clutter makes a room feel crowded, which brings me to my next point.

Avoid ClutterClutter takes up visual and physical space, making even the largest of rooms seem tiny and cramped. It can also wear on your mind and affect home security. To the most of your kitchen and maintaining peace of mind, rid it of all clutter. Some ideas for reducing your kitchen of its clutter:

Hanging a pot rack to store your pots and pans so that you can free up your cabinets for other kitchen appliances and dinnerware

Install an in-door cabinet organizer to store cooking spices and other utensils

Use of well-placed shelves not only allows your kitchen to look larger by storing appliances that would otherwise clutter your countertops, but it can also make your kitchen look more attractive

Keep your refrigerator door clean; if you want to store pictures and magnets, think about a well-placed bulletin board, or put them on the side

Remove anything that doesn't belong in the kitchen. Keys, mail, and other junk should be moved out of the kitchen. Organizers that hang on the wall can also be made or purchased for these items to keep them off the counter.

When you open up your countertop space, you'll notice that your kitchen looks more roomy and spacious.

We hope some of these ideas helped inspire a remodeling or clean up project of your own. Play around with different ideas - be creative and let your imagination work. Then share them with us!

About The Author: Shafayet Hossain is the owner of Multi Construction Company that was founded in 1989. Multi Construction Company is a full-service contractor specializing in residential and commercial roofing, along with commercial and industrial property maintenance, bathroom remodeling, and kitchen remodeling.

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