Ideas for improving a small kitchen

How to improve a small kitchen

A small or tiny kitchen is nothing to worry about. Just because your kitchen doesn’t have enough space for a huge oven to roast a whole piglet and a double sink to wash glassware and saucepans separately doesn’t mean you should give up and sacrifice design and rationality. These tips and strategies will help you improve the functionality of your kitchen and solve the small, narrow gaps. Hopefully one of these solutions will be right for your kitchen.

1. Choose tasteful but powerful appliances. When buying appliances for your new kitchen, pay more attention to the design and quality of the appliances. When choosing a cooker, fridge, cooker hood or tap, don’t try to save on the cheapest models and manufacturers. These are the things that can bring out the unique style of your kitchen, whether it’s vintage, classic or modern. These are things that will be used on a daily basis and should be comfortable to use and last you a long time. Major appliance manufacturers offer special models for smaller spaces, which are more economical in size but not as powerful as larger appliances.

2. Use walls rationally. If you have a patch of wall space in your kitchen, don’t rush to fill it with contemporary art or a hanging calendar that you forget to move the dates of the days. Think rationally – this space may be the perfect place to install racks or unconventional shelving for kitchen storage. Such systems are very practical, space-saving, good-looking and inexpensive. These can be different types of solutions – magnets for knives, bars to dry kitchen towels on, hanging containers on “S” hooks to store forks and knives, or hooks for pans and casseroles. You can also grow herbs in hanging pots – they will add liveliness and practicality to your kitchen. The pictures show how such walls were painted black – a practical use, they didn’t smudge and weren’t so conspicuous when they wore out. You can also choose a chalkboard colour for the background, which you can decorate as you like from time to time.

3. An island worthy of MacGyver. If you want to radically change the layout of your kitchen, this technique can work perfectly. Instead of placing all your kitchen appliances in columns along the walls, you can place a multifunctional island in the centre of the room, integrating everything you need – worktop, table, sink, hob and storage containers. This would open up an area of space that was previously inaccessible.

4. Pull-out pantry. If your kitchen is no longer full of cupboards or shelves, but you need an extra room to shelve your household. A vertical pull-out shelf/drawer is easy to use and maximises space saving. Particularly suitable for very tight, small spaces and when it seems like you can’t fit anything sensible in that space.

5. Without doors. Dismantling doors can visually and practically increase the size of a small kitchen. Removing them gives the impression that the kitchen has been enlarged, even though this has not physically happened. You can also enlarge the doorway by creating a larger opening or a stylised arch. Sometimes, demolishing the wall is an even better solution. If your kitchen is too small, connecting it to the living room will be even better, and the result will be more space for your everyday life.

6.Minimalist design. It may seem simple and obvious, but it is often forgotten when renovating or redesigning a kitchen. Choose a design that is unobtrusive and simple – straight shapes, no unnecessary embossing and distinctive cabinet or drawer handles. Prefer unobtrusive, neutral but tasteful and modern solutions. A light kitchen unit with a glossy surface can do wonders for the visual appearance of a much larger and brighter kitchen, with the right lighting. Also, when choosing appliances, pay attention to their design and size – if your kitchen is very small, try to incorporate appliances into the appliance as much as possible – things like extractor hoods and fridges.

7. Get rid of excess. Just like in modern art – the simpler the better. Get rid of all the unnecessary items and appliances you don’t use on a daily basis. It’s enough to dust Soviet-era tea services and BEST BOSS mugs. Keep only the things you actually use, acrylic and glass look best in displays. Replace your 4 plastic boards with one decent solid wood one. You’ll be pleasantly surprised when shelf space opens up out of nowhere. Review your stock of teas, spices and pickles…

8. To the ceiling. Why stop before them when you can get extra storage space for jars or household utensils. Use the full potential of the space – from the very bottom to the very top. It’s not that these shelves are easy to reach – remember that there are things that are seasonal, too – maybe they’ll find a place there. Tall wardrobes and ceiling cabinets visually expand the space.