Very Small Kitchen Designs That Work

Many apartments and townhouses come with small kitchens or perhaps a better word to describe them would be tiny. You usually can’t expand them either, because there isn’t anywhere to expand them to. So how can you make the best use of the tiny kitchen you have, with the idea of actually being able to cook in there?

Making Your Very Small Kitchen Work

• Eat somewhere else. If your kitchen is very small, you probably won’t have space to eat in there, so don’t try. Have a dining table somewhere else in the house. If you have a truly tiny kitchen this won’t be an issue because it is obviously impossible. However, if you absolutely must eat in the kitchen consider built-in benches, folding tables hung on the wall, tables which slide out of cabinets, or a snack bar on a window wall where it’s not possible to put cabinets anyway.

• Don’t keep equipment you don’t use. If you never use those jelly molds because you hate jell, get rid of them.

• Store seldom-used equipment elsewhere

• Make a food pantry somewhere else, and keep your canned and dry foods there until the week you’ll need them. Keep the emergency-preparedness food kit outside of the kitchen, too.see http://www.housebeautiful.com/kitchens/small-kitchen-ideas today!

• Attach the microwave to the bottom of the upper cabinets to get it up off the counter. There never seems to be enough counter space in small kitchens, so you want every inch you have to be available for food preparation and a dish-drying rack. This also holds for other small appliances and equipment: if you can get them up off the counter, do so.

Even Dish Drying Racks Come Foldable And Wall-Mountable.

• If there’s only one person living in the home, get rid of the dishwasher. It takes ages to fill up, and unless you have lots of dishes and pots and pans you will run out before you can do a full load. Having lots of dishes means you have to find somewhere to store them all, which monopolizes space that might better be used for other things. Washing up for one person isn’t very onerous anyway. Once you’ve gotten rid of the dishwasher, you have gained space for a large cupboard.

• If you live somewhere that barely has a kitchenette, a toaster oven is as good as a full-size oven unless you are cooking big things. It also heats up faster so your food cooks quicker and it uses less energy than a full-size oven.

• If you need extra freezer space, try buying a small chest or upright freezer and putting it elsewhere in the house.

• If you have a corner cupboard you can’t reach the back of, try buying a Lazy Susan for it. These don’t increase the space available – they actually reduce it slightly – but they make it easier to reach what is in there, thereby making the space more useful.

• If you have space on top of the top cupboards, put things you need but use less frequently there. In most kitchens that space collects dust and grease so you should expect to wash these items before you use them.

• Place items on top of the fridge. The usefulness of this space depends on how tall you are, and/or if you have a stepladder available. Just make sure your stuff is on top of the fridge, not just balanced on top of the door, or next time you open the door you’ll get a surprise!

• Keep a folding stepladder so you can reach everything in the kitchen without climbing on the countertops. This lets you use all the space in your kitchen. A folding stepladder will fit into a surprisingly narrow space when folded – between the side of the fridge and the base cabinets or wall is a possibility, or in the kick space under the base cabinets.

• When picking appliances, don’t forget that they come in many sizes. Pick the smallest one that can do the job. Also try picking ones that can be slung underneath the cabinets for items like ovens or microwaves unless you really need a big oven. If all you need an oven for is cooking a turkey once a year, consider doing a chicken instead and buying the smaller appliance.

• If you need more storage space and have an unused wall because there isn’t enough depth to fit cabinets, try putting something there. You have many options: wall cabinets (used as base and wall cabinets) that match the rest of the kitchen, open shelves, plastic cabinets, or a rack and hook system will all provide extra storage without taking up lots of space.

• Hang pots and pans on the wall or from a pot rack to save cabinet space.

Making Your Small Kitchen Look Better

The key to a better looking small kitchen is to clear away the clutter, especially on the counters. It’s amazing what a difference it makes when even just one section of counter is clear (and it will make a big difference to how easy the kitchen feels to use, too). Get rid of or put away anything you don’t use every day and get as much of the rest onto racks or shelves as you can. Narrow shelves on the backsplash can hold a surprising amount and keep things accessible but tidy.

small kitchen designs

Under cabinet lighting won’t make your kitchen bigger, but it will make it look bigger if you are feeling cramped. It also improves function and safety as a bonus. LED light strips are coming down in price all the time and give a nicer look than fluorescents.

Use pale colors for walls and cabinets. Dark colors tend to make small spaces look oppressive, and while they hide the dirt, wouldn’t you rather know when something needs cleaning?

Consider laying diagonal tiles on the floor. Depending on the existing floor you may be able to lay ceramic, laminate or vinyl tiles right over the top, and in a tiny space it’s a quick and economical project. The diagonal lines help to make the floor space and thus the whole room seem larger.

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