5 Best Tips for Designing Small Kitchens
One of the ultimate favorites in our homes is a kitchen. We all enjoy cooking, sipping morning coffee, relaxing in the evening there. What a pleasure to welcome our nearest and dearest in the kitchen and spoil them with something delicious! That’s why we strive to make our kitchens comfortable and cozy, complement them with various kitchen accessories, and create a special atmosphere there. But also every kitchen must be functional and practical.
Unfortunately, not all of us are blessed with a spacious kitchen. Designing a small room always seems like a challenge. Sometimes we sacrifice beautiful kitchen design for a function or vice versa. However, we really shouldn’t! Actually, it’s a good opportunity to pull out several smart tricks for increasing the small kitchen’s visual size and maximizing its functionality.
Here, we are sharing small kitchen design ideas. Small size doesn’t matter, really!
1. Declutter Your Small Kitchen
If you want to create a perfect kitchen interior design, your first step will be decluttering this room. Look around, if there are lots of things on the worktops, consider such clever solutions as rails to hang utensils, mugs, pans, spice jars, cutlery bins, and wall-mounted magnetic knife strips. Then, you should think about which items you really need every day in your kitchen (wooden spoons, chopping boards, washing-up liquids, etc.), and which can be stored away until needed.
Furthermore, wall cabinets may also encroach on space, so one of the smart kitchen design ideas is to do away with yours. Consider open shelving; you’ll be impressed with the huge impact it can make in a small kitchen. Such a solution will create an open and airy feel; however, there shouldn’t be too many shelves with too many items on them.
2. Tend to the Compact & Sensible Kitchen Design Layout
On the one hand, the range of kitchen designs is limited in small kitchens. On the other hand, there will be fewer unused dead spaces; you just need to maximize the functionality of the available space in this room. Plus, let’s face it, high ceilings and open expanses of flooring are great but they will never help you cook a mouth-watering meal.
One of the most popular layouts for small kitchens is a corridor-style or galley. It’s a simple kitchen design when services, e.g., sink, stove, dishwasher, are usually clustered within a small area. There are upper and lower cabinets for storage and counter space is free for cooking purposes. A corridor-style kitchen can be accommodated in the narrow room of 7-8 feet. A corridor-style, well-organized modern kitchen design can still be perfectly practical and functional.
If you don’t really enjoy cooking, prepare meals quite rarely, or simply lean toward restaurant food or takeout over cooking at home, you may find it wise to sacrifice some services, e.g., a dishwasher. Such services are nice but not essential. So, if you’re one of these homeowners, a small, one-wall kitchen design with minimum appliances may be the right solution for you.
Do you think that your kitchen is an obvious place to keep a washing machine there? Well, not always! In continental Europe, you’ll find a washing machine in the bathroom. So, if you tight on kitchen space, do consider this option for your home!
3. Choose the Right Materials, Accessories, and Lightning
When you’re thinking about kitchen cabinets design for your small cook-room, opt for handleless furniture with a sleek, streamlined appearance. Avoid overdoing materials, a small kitchen design should include a maximum of three different materials, better in muted colorways. Light, reflective colors, minimal designs, and accessories are your best friends.
If you prefer contemporary kitchen design, choose frosted glass or white cabinet doors, stainless steel, white, or composite countertops, and white/light splashback tiling. Furthermore, adding interior illumination to the cabinets can also make a significant difference, the kitchen will feel more spacious and airy.
4. Choose the Right Color Scheme for Your Small Kitchen
Your best small kitchen design tool is the right color. The color solely can make the room look brighter and larger, especially if you choose the right shade. Nothing will make a kitchen seem more spacious than white walls with sleek, contemporary details, such a combination will definitely open up space.
If you don’t like white, you can opt for other neutral colors like cream or beige. Here is another design solution for small cook-rooms: pair duck egg blue kitchen cabinets with marble worktops and pattern tiles for a crisp color scheme. It’ll bounce light around, making the kitchen feel spacious. Next, you can paint cupboards in the same color as the walls, units must mingle with the kitchen walls. It’ll also create an illusion of more space in the room. In such a kitchen every extra inch of the room is crammed with storage, however, due to modern kitchen design and light colors, the room will look tidy and large.
When you decide on the color of cabinets, worktops, and walls, you should think about flooring. It’s a good idea to go with bold tiling in a small kitchen since a bright pattern on the floor will distract an eye and the cook-room will feel bigger.
5. Invest in the Right Storage
A tiny kitchen requires you to make use of every inch you have. If your kitchen is boxy, don’t cram all your dishes deeply into a cupboard, or it’ll become a trial for you every time you’ll need to find particular kitchenware. Swap a cupboard for a drawer; a well-thought pullout drawer will maximize space and make finding your favorite dish effortless.
Put a recess, windowsill, and shelves to work, add there a range of baskets, or beautiful boxes. Use them to stow packets, bottles, or even fresh herbs in pots. Baskets and boxes are also a perfect way to keep spices so that you can take them to the table in one go.
Furthermore, try to utilize every corner as a storage space. Identify wasted spaces in your kitchen, it can be a gap between shelves, below the sink, at the back of a cupboard, unused windowsills, and corners. Use these places to stack things that must always be under your fingertips. Don’t forget to clear out of utensils and appliances that are rarely used or only have one purpose, this way you’ll have fewer things to keep.
Consider relocating these items elsewhere in your house. Next, the space on the kitchen walls and doors can be used for storing various things too. Place a magnetic knife board, utensil rail on the wall, racks hung over a door, hooks on the sides of your cupboards, etc. Extra shelves across alcoves or in corners will also be ultimately useful.
Conclusion
As you can see there are numerous ways and ideas on how to design a kitchen, even if it’s tiny. We do hope that with the help of our tips you’ll be able to create a unique and comfortable atmosphere in your cook-room.
If you’d like to share any ideas on kitchen design, feel free to write in the comment section!
Author’s Bio
Alex Green is a copywriter with 3 years of experience. He is fond of healthy living and knows everything about home improvement. In his spare time, Alex likes walking with his golden retriever, meeting with friends, and attending the gym.
