Small Kitchen Design Tips, I have been working with homeowners over the years who believed that their small kitchens could not be salvaged. My first apartment with that corner galley kitchen? Barely seven feet wide. However it was there that I learned how to make complete holiday dinners and the considerations that I had to figure out then would influence how I approach small kitchen design today.
The fact is that little kitchens are not a curse about design but a design problem. And using the proper tactics you can have a kitchen not only useful, but really nice to work in.
Beginning with What You in fact Do.
Spend a week digging through your kitchen to see how you actually use it before tearing out kitchen cabinets or purchasing organizers. Do you bake every weekend? Then counter space around a fireplace is of more value than an expensive wine rack. Reheating and putting together the food mostly? You cannot have the same answers as an individual who meal-preps to a family.
I observed my friend persevere with her small kitchen months before she could understand that she never fired up her oven- she was a top and microwave cook. Taking off the lower cabinet in the oven and replacing it with drawers has completely changed her working process.
The Game-Changer in Vertical Space.
The most significant one I can make is to lose the usefulness of the vertical space in small kitchens. The majority of individuals limit their storage space to the normal height of a cabinet leaving them with a foot or more of unused space towards the ceiling.
Home reveals stretching the cabinets to the ceiling serves not only purposes of storage, but also attracts the eyes upward and makes the room look larger. Yes, you will have to get a step stool on the tallest shelves, but that is where you store the punch bowl that you use once or twice a year, and not your daily coffee mugs.
Open shelves are effective with the limited kitchens provided you are not ambitious about stability. I had open shelves in my existing kitchen where some of the most commonly used products are located: olive oil, spices, everyday dishes. It does get rid of the dead air that happens when swinging doors of the cabinet occupy the tight area and I can get what I want with one hand and stir with the other.
Light Colors Are not the Only Alternative.
They all advise to paint little kitchens white, and although light colors are bouncing with light, I have witnessed beautiful little kitchens which were deep navy, dark green and even charcoal. Constancy and completeness is the key.
The galley kitchen of one of my friends is a comfy blue with brass scrumble instead of cramped since the color is consistent straight throughout there are no irregular patterns of chopped up contrasting colors, which division of the visual space. The semi-gloss finish is light enough not to generate the cave feeling. Combine deep colors with under-cabinet lighting and one statement light source and you have the lack of darkness, rather than depth.
Get Choosy About Appliances
All kitchens do not require all the appliances. I also replaced my toaster on the counter with a toaster oven which is stored in a cabinet, and only pulled from its rest whenever necessary. My coffee maker is placed on a pull-out shelf that recedes when I am television as I am finished brewing.
There is the issue of counter-depth refrigerator debate. Normal profundity fridges may consume the space on the floor of a tiny kitchen, protruding in odd places. I have observed the transformation of a small-looking kitchen to using counter-depth models which fit with the cabinets, despite the loss in interior capacity. To a large number of individuals, the sacrifice of the improved flow is compensated by the loss of a few less stored things.
Combination appliances can be taken into account. An oven that uses microwaves and convection can be used to substitute one of the two devices. Induction cooktop has an inbuilt ventilation system, therefore, it does not require a hood opening.
Redirections thinking about the Kitchen Triangle.
The standard triangular work setup sink, refrigerator, stove was intended to be installed in big kitchens. You can have that work line in a small kitchen even to a single wall construction. That’s fine. It is important to minimize wasteful processes.
I have designed my small kitchen in such a way that the things that I most use including a cutting board, knife and main pan are in the reach of the sink and the stove. The spice drawer is directly beside the cooktop. Needless to say, it seems very clear but I have been in so many small kitchens where the coffee maker is not more than six feet away.
Strategic Surfaces Matter
In small kitchens, all surfaces must preferably have dual functions. I placed a cutting board that fits exactly on top of my sink providing me with automatic extra space when preparing vegetables. An acquaintance has a piece of wood board on her stove when she will never be preparing a meal just to provide space to place groceries in or even roll out dough.
Rolling carts save lives in case you have a couple of feet of floor space. I am using mine as a coffee station which can be wheeled out whenever I require the space on the floor to accommodate several cooks. It is turned into a bar cart in the living room during parties.
The Bottom Line
However, small kitchens are best when available around your particular cooking style and not generic concepts of what kitchens should be. To find the best solutions, you can watch your frustrations and be creative to get yourself out of them.
Your tiny kitchen will not resemble a magazine advertisement with huge marble islands. Nevertheless it can be efficient, beautiful, and honestly yours–which is frequently more of personality than these sterile show rooms. Among my favorite meals were the ones that were made in small kitchens where every meal was in its place and reason.
FAQs
Which would be the most suitable color of a small kitchen?
Light neutrals are excellent, however, a deathly shade of any single color well-lit continuously with consistent and cohesive color can transform small kitchens into designed, but not cluttered space.
What about putting some counter space into such a small kitchen?
Install cutting boards that straddling your sink, place a wall-mounted table that folds closed, or place a skinny rolling cart, which can be moved up against a wall when not necessary.
Would upper cabinets better be scrapped in favor of open shelves?
Just in case you will actually keep them and do not require the enclosed storage. Combine open shelves of daily stuff with closed ones of the less attractive needs.
Small appliances? Are they worth it in a small kitchen?
Yes, you can, but be selective, that is just keep appliances that you use at least once a week, and possibly store others in a pantry or in a cabinet instead of stationary on counters.
What improves a galley kitchen?
Optimize the use of vertical storage, light on either end, one side prep and other cooking, and may be able to remove upper cabinets on one side should it be too narrow.
