Help me organise my tiny kitchen

[JustHereForTheLaffs]

My house has a tiny tiny kitchen, with one single cupboard under the sink and one other base unit, and a double and a single wall unit. The hob is right next to the sink and drainer, then there is one metre of work surface. On the other side of the kitchen there is 2 metres of narrow work surface on legs (no cupboards underneath). The space inbetween the two sides to stand in is just about a metre max. Apart from this I have a fridge and freezer, the fridge is on top of the freezer.

My cupboards are full to bursting and my work surfaces constantly full, as is the window sill. There is no room on the walls for shelves and my landlord won't allow me to put them up anyway.

It's driving me mad. If I don't wash up each piece individually I end up with either a sink full of dirty crockery or the work surfaces full.

Anything I can do to maximize space?

[MrsLettuce]

Do you use the space on top of the wall units? Obviously no good for everyday stuff but space none the less.

Do you keep the general cleaning stuff in the bathroom already? The under the sink is fine for pans. Well, unless your plumbing is leaky but I suppose you do that already.

Any space for things like this / this / this under the leggy work surface? Random examples just for the idea.

[CinderellaFant]

Following! I've just moved from a house with a huuuuuuge kitchen to a tiny one! Literally tiny- me and DH barely fit in it together!

[cozietoesie]

How many people is it having to cater for, Just, and what is the household routine/layout etc? Ie - do you have a separate dining table, sitting room or nearby utility place etc?

[MrsLettuce]

Oh. I assume you've already taken everything out of the kitchen that can possibly be rehomed elsewhere in the house. You have, haven't you?

[cozietoesie]

PS - what sort of things are the work surfaces and windowsill constantly full of?

[CinderellaFant]

I'm going to get these. I'm sure I seen them in IKEA. They attach to the bottom of your cupboards. And I've seen a spice rack that attaches on the inside of your cupboard door

[MrsLettuce]

TBH Wine and wine glasses don't really need to be in the kitchen at all, not really. Better off it the sitting room / dining room (ha) if the kitchen is small.

[TwoLittleBlooms]

We had a small kitchen, even smaller gap between the two sides! We had two double cupboards, one normal size on the wall and one narrow, about half the depth of a normal worktop beneath that (that was the total length/area of work surface in the kitchen as well). The fridge was in the dining room with microwave on top as this was adjoining the kitchen. Not much advice with regard problems with washing up etc, we would end up with the pans at Christmas in the bath (the bathroom was downstairs and tacked on the end of the kitchen). But for storage space we put a couple of narrow shelf units in the under-stair cupboard and used this for storing pans, baking trays and food like a pantry. This totally saved my sanity.

[MrsLettuce]

yy, cupbord under the stairs works a treat.

[kissedbyamoonbeam]

Get rid of everything you don't use. Look at a pull out cupboard. Are you thinking a complete revamp or minimum spend making the best of what you have? In the past I have had shelves all the way round rather than top cupboards. Jars and tins are very cheap now. Only have crockery you need. A good joiner is worth their weight in gold.

[cozietoesie]

Trouble is, the OP isn't allowed to put up shelves, kissed. (And says there would be nowhere for them to go in any case.)

[mrsmeerkat]

apartment therapy has brilliant ideas and hacks. Totally agree that you could keep a lot in a dresser or unit elsewhere. Do you really need everything. Be ruthless.

Can you store baking tins and stuff in a shed or under the bed. I got rid of my colander and use the steamer part of my saucepan for straining.

Ikea is the job really. it's hard though when you are bound by landlords rules but try Lakeland for cupboard dividers.

[kissedbyamoonbeam]

Bum. I completely missed that bit. Sorry op.

[kissedbyamoonbeam]

I know the landlord says no BUT I put shelves up at my window. Glass ones. Would landlord agree to that?

[evelynj]

Could you put a 'shelf' in the window-e.g. balance a shelf on a couple of tins to put some glass jars with pasta, lentils, sugar or whatever you use .

[JustHereForTheLaffs]

I keep my pans on top of the wall units.

Some cleaning stuff is under the sink, I could move it into the bathroom, but that's fairly tiny as well

I'll see if I can find a trolley that will fit under the leggy work surface, good idea. I have one in a corner next to the base unit, as nothing what would fit there.

There's just myself and dd15, but also a dog (small) and three cats! I already feed the cats on my bedroom windowsill to avoid the dog eating their food!

There's also a living room to sit in,a dining room, but that's full of the clothes airer, book shelf, cat scratching post and dining table that is currently serving as a desk too.

No utility place, just an understairs cupboard that houses the litter trays.

On the work surface there's the microwave, toaster, kettle, sugar bowl, butter fish. The window sills are full of liquid soap bottle, washing up liquid, utensils jar for wooden spoons, knives etc, cookie jar, radio, jar full of pens, kitchen towel holder, scales, dug dog food container ..

Good idea re wine glasses - I rarely drink wine anyway, so I'll box them up and out put them away.

I can't use the cupboard under the stairs, I don't have anywhere else to keep the litter trays and cat litter.

Definitely looking at minimum spend - I've no money and don't know how long I'll stay here.

I've no room for a dresser elsewhere unfortunately.

I've attached a photo of the kitchen (before I moved in).

Thanks for all the suggestions. Not sure about a window shelf, I'll have a think.

[JustHereForTheLaffs]

Another photo ... After I moved in!

[kissedbyamoonbeam]

Mmm. No real depth to the windows. That's a shame. Should we look at the dining room too? You seriously need to look at dejunking. There are threads in housekeeping. I navel gaze quite often then just chuck stuff. Amazing what you don't miss. Shame the landlord is not on board. Some areas there crying out for shelves. The wall between the windows, can you put a shelf unit sitting on the work surface?

[JustHereForTheLaffs]

I threw out loads before I moved in - came from a 4 bed house But I'll see what else I can put away.

[JustHereForTheLaffs]

I can't put a shelf unit between the windows, the hob is there, almost right up to the wall.

[JustHereForTheLaffs]

Dining room

[cozietoesie]

kissed is absolutely right - you really are crying out for some shelving. Not just in the kitchen but on some of the other wall spaces as well.

Any chance of you having another chat with the landlord about it? I think that shelving would be your salvation - and it shouldn't be that expensive.

[JustHereForTheLaffs]

The landlord won't allow anything on the walls, not even a picture hook

I've just measured and the gap between work surfaces is only 71 cms! The leggy work surface is only a foot deep, not sure I'll get much below it.

[JustHereForTheLaffs]

Found this which might be useful:
[Aojia Microwave oven rack Kitchen Shelves 8204-2 www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00GET5X5I/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_AIigxb7PVW151?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21]

[cozietoesie]

Are you sure it was the landlord though, Just, and not just some rote reply from someone?

I could (almost) see their point if you were throwing up some awful junk but proper shelving where you formally undertake to make good any issues when you leave should, I would have thought, actually improve their property.

In the absence of any permission, is there any way you could obtain some more shelved 'units' to free stand in eg the dining room? Looking at those pictures, it would be tight but eminently doable and I reckon that you'd be better off if you could use the whole space in the place and just leave the kitchen for purely functional stuff.