How To Organize a Small Kitchen

With the trend of eating healthy and home-cooked spreading throughout our busy lifestyles, a lot of people are spending more time in the kitchen. But as living quarters are getting smaller, the kitchen is often the first space to suffer, and we don’t exactly have space to spare. But don’t worry – you can still have a fully functional kitchen, even if you’re working with a small space. You just have to organize it well and most importantly, keep it tidy. Let’s see how you can achieve that:

Multipurpose tools

The first rule of any functional kitchen is to make sure it’s not cluttered. This means getting as many multi-functional tools as you can and learning to work with what you have. Perhaps you don’t need both a blender and a food processor, or you can get an oven with an integrated microwave. You really only need one frying pan, a few pots of different sizes and a baking dish. You can make any dish smaller by sectioning it off with aluminum foil and bake several items at once. Any tool that just simplifies a process that you’d normally do with a knife should be replaced by practicing actual knife skills and putting them to good work.

Work with the space you have

With small kitchens, off-the-shelf pieces probably won’t work well as they won’t maximize the potential of the space you have. You would be better off working with professionals who design and make custom kitchens. Perhaps you’re someone who loves baking and needs added counter space that you can expand in a second, or maybe you have a big family and need to be able to set a table for seven people while having it out of the way for the rest of the day. This is where custom design really plays in. It’s more work and you’ll have to plan it out well, but it will be well worth it when you start enjoying your new kitchen. Think about using every dead corner, every nook and cranny, and all of a sudden, your kitchen will seem a lot bigger than it did before.

Use vertical space

As with every smaller space, you’ll want to use every single square inch, which means the walls need to be fully utilized. A good way to do this is to hang a peg board to the wall, equip it with hooks and start hanging up anything from pots to spatulas. It will clear out a lot of the space from the cupboards, giving you more storage room. If you have tall ceilings with a detached counter in the center of the room, you can consider a hanging element over the counter which will carry additional cookware. The space below counters, tables and skins should be used as well, so make sure you’re not letting it go to waste. If you have a free wall, creating a vertical indoor herb garden could be a great way to use the space, bring in some color to the room and improve your cooking.

If you think you don’t have enough space, it’s probably just not organized well enough, and you have things that you don’t use. If spending time in the kitchen is a priority, you should probably look for a property with added kitchen space, but a coat of white paint and some decluttering can go a long way in transforming your kitchen. Just make sure you make a habit out of washing dishes regularly and putting things back into their designated space, because even the biggest kitchen won’t be any good to you if it’s too messy to use.

 Guest Contributor, Diana Smith