SMART IDEAS FOR A SMALL KITCHEN SPACE
DO YOU HAVE A SMALL KITCHEN? ARE YOU LOOKING FOR NEW IDEAS TO BE SMARTER WITH SPACE?
The trend seems to be that people love large and sociable kitchens with plenty of room for a kitchen island, range cooker and dining table you can cram your guests around, but in reality, many of us have smaller kitchen and we have to make the best of what we’ve got. However, there are a wealth of different ways we can make your small kitchen feel bigger with clever use of space.
The most important element in creating space in your kitchen is storage. If you can maximise each inch and reorganise the areas that aren’t living up to their potential. You can even add extra storage solutions where necessary to help turn your small kitchen into a Tardis. To start, you need to think about how you actually use your kitchen and where everything needs to be to be most practical for your usage and this will help inform how much storage you require. For example, it’s more optimal to store items by how often you use them, putting everyday dishes in easier to reach places and reserve the higher shelves for dishes you keep for special occasions.
MAKE MORE SPACE
Have a good look around and identify where you’re wasting space— gaps between shelves, behind cupboard, below the sink, unused corners and even windowsills. Try to stack stuff wherever you can and have a good clear out of all of the kitchenware that you don’t use anymore and therefore have no reason to have taking up space. Of course, some of these items will be harder to throw away than others, so find somewhere else in your home to store them. Then, think about the space you have on your walls and doors, as they make the ideal place for utensil rails, magnetic knife boards, hooks and racks. You could even install extra shelving in the corners of your kitchen or across an alcove if you have one.
ADD STORAGE HELPERS
Obviously, cupboards and drawers are going to be the biggest resource you have for storage in your kitchen, but you’re probably not utilising them fully. This is why you should be installing internal storage solutions into your cupboards and drawers and even retrofitting wire racks that pull out from the corners of your kitchen or even slimmer cupboards. There is also the option create further storage by employing the use of a mobile solution such as a trolley or butchers block on castors. Finally, you could pop a basket or container on top of your wall cupboards to create additional usable storage.
CLEAR AWAY THE CLUTTER
Wall cabinets may be a kitchen staple but they can be big space hogs in your kitchen, so getting rid of them could be a good option. There has been a trend recently of moving to open shelving to create a massive impact on small kitchens in the UK. They create an open and airy feel, if you limit the amount of shelves you use and what you actually want to keep on them.
TIDY YOUR WORK SURFACE
Storing too many items on your worktops can clutter them, so there are some clever storage solutions that can help tidy up your worktops. These include wall-mounted magnetic knife strips, rails to hang utensils, pans, mugs, spice jars and even cutlery bins. To decide on which clutter can stay and which clutter has to go, you need to think about what you need to have to hand every day, such as chopping boards, wooden spoons, washing-up liquid and what can be stored away until you absolutely need to use them.
KEEP YOUR KITCHEN SIMPLE
There is no design trick that works better on interiors to create the feeling of space than simple white walls. Why not take this further and extend the colour to sleek and contemporary details that will really open up your kitchen space? Utilising light, reflective materials with a minimal design will help extend the sense of space in your kitchen— such as white or frosted glass cabinets, white stone or composite worktops and white splashback tiling.
