A small kitchen is always an opportunity to be more organised and put together since you must find a place for everything and be included in approaching a more ergonomic kitchen design. However, it’s easy for a small room to become chaotic, which can overwhelm people when it all becomes too much.
That’s why small kitchens are the trickiest to design, organise, and maintain. Compact spaces must fit different lifestyles, usually based on consumerism. Numerous appliances, whether egg cookers or avocado mashers, promise an experience but will only clutter your countertops.
On the other hand, kitchens are now also used as spaces for catching up with friends and spending time with our families, so it’s easy for them to become unwelcoming and busy. So, here’s how to update it while sticking to a budget.
Approach multipurpose storage
One of the best ways to clear out the kitchen is to hide most of your belongings, or at least the ones you use less frequently. That's why close drawers and spaces are efficient. Incremental storage, nooks, and add-ons can save your kitchen from getting cluttered with knickknacks and daily tools.
Open shelves, despite their helpfulness, can create visual clutter that won’t disappear even if you keep the spaces clean. Overstaking dishes and using countertops as storage space are mistakes we all make in our kitchens, but having close storage units from Kitchen Warehouse is still a helpful method to keep the kitchen in check.
Take advantage of dead spaces
Dead spaces are seemingly impractical, but you can make them work through proper planning and designing. For example, the space above the sink seems like it cannot be used due to the lack of space and the possibility of you hitting your head in whatever drawer will be placed there.
For example, an over-the-sink dish drying rack will save space for placing dishes after washing them, and you won’t have to clean the standing dishwater, which can be quite smelly at times. The excess water from these products goes straight into the sink, so there’s no mess on other surfaces.
Try sticking to light colour combinations
Most of the time, you might get overwhelmed by all the colours you see in the kitchen, especially when the tones are rather dark or too fiery. Instead, you can try sticking to one light colour combination across the kitchen that doesn’t make you tired and enhances relaxation.
Some of the chilliest and “cleanest” colour combinations include the following:
- Warm white and safe green combined with wood furniture;
- Navy blue and white with gold hardware and fixtures;
- Cream and any earth tones with copper pots and fixtures;
- Icy blue, white, and grey;
Have an appliance garage
As funny as it sounds, appliance garages have become trendy on the internet recently. People use them only for appliances, and they can hide them with functional doors. For example, you may want to place your coffee maker on a countertop whose door opens top-down, making it useful for also placing your cup and adjusting your coffee in the same spot.
The same concept applies to your microwave, stand mixer, or any bulky appliance you use frequently. Several door ideas save space, such as models that slide back, making them perfect for a small kitchen.
Create a small breakfast bar
Breakfast bars are great for saving space in the morning when everyone’s rushed somewhere, and you can’t properly make breakfast. You can also use them for making simple meals and drinks or eating at, so they’re considerably useful.
Anything can be a breakfast bar if you’re inventive. A tall table with stools, a part of the cabinets or simple built-in shelves will save you money and space while bringing balance to the family. It would be best for this bar to be cleared of anything after use so it doesn’t add to the clutter.
Natural light and layered installations
Light is a crucial element in any room, but in the kitchen, it can make the difference between a cluttered waterway and a welcoming one. During the day, it’s best not to block the natural sunlight entering the room because it will not only light up the room but also refresh it.
However, the problem persists during the night. Usually, one big light centred on the room can tire your eyes and make it feel cold, which is why layered lighting is key to changing this. Task lighting, for example, is great for providing light only when needed, so you can use cabinet lights or desk lamps when you need a quick snack instead of the big light.
Maintain cleanliness
The final and most challenging thing to do is ensure the kitchen is clean. Usually, the smaller the space is, the easier and faster it is to organise it, but that’s not entirely true, especially if you have a big and happy family roaming around.
The secret is to pick up small habits done frequently that will help you clean less at the end of the week. For example, creating and maintaining a counter zone helps you know where to place things immediately after use, so there’s no confusion for anyone in the house about how to help. At the same time, wiping as you go and cleaning as you cook ensure constant cleanliness.
You might also want to devise a waste system to better handle clutter. Having a space in the kitchen for recycling the most used packaging, composting, or regular trash is essential for not letting things lay around and waste space.
Did you find these tips helpful?
Having a small kitchen is great because you can move around it faster and don’t spend that much time cleaning and organising it. However, the lack of space can make it quickly cluttered and unwelcoming. So, if you want to stick to a budget but change the kitchen, you could try buying or making space-saving products, maintaining a single colour around the room, and keeping the kitchen clean at all times.