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?

I'd the work surface on the right ever used to sit at? If not, how would some IKEA kallax units with drawers fit underneath. You could either have tins and things in there, or loads of utensils?

The letting agency said I couldn't, and it's in the contract too.

I'll look at the charity shop to see if there are any shelving units or dressers I could fit in the dining room, but it would be extremely tight.

I agree with shelving in the dining room. Ikea do all sizes and you can put doors on them if you want to hide the contents. The end of the kitchen below the boiler, is it possible to take the cupboard door off and put shelving there? I've done that before. Just put a nice piece of material across where the door used to be, that can be done cheaply. Years ago I used teatowels stitched together.

It's not used for sitting at, no. The kallax unit is too deep, the work surface is only 29 cm deep.

Ach. There's a radiator. Something under the worktop shelf as suggested above?

Crossposts. How handy are you? Can you get wood and build something? What about a cd storage unit? They are narrow.

I don't drive, so can't get to Ikea, I need to be able to order online. Ikea delivery is too expensive!

I'm not sure where you mean under the boiler? The cupboard is already full. Otherwise there's a tiny gap that I have a little trolley in and the radiator is under the boiler.

Cross posted!

How about asking on your local fb for sale page? I've seen people do that. You never know. Someone may have a small shelving unit they don't use.

'Tight' is usually bearable as long as you can actually do it. (You're freeing up general living space after all.)

Hav you tried any of these for your cupboards? m.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/art/60136623/
I have a small under sink cupboard and this has been really useful for me. IKEA also have lots of small crates and boxes with lids which could stack and go under that bit on the right hand side of your kitchen.

Ah sorry, saw what you wrote about ikea, wonder if homemade/b&q would have anything similar

Ugh. Your LL is an idiot. As long as it's made good at the end of the tenancy, then it's just AWFUL restricting people from living their lives properly.

Fwiw, we had a similarly small kitchen but with wall cupboards. We threw out A LOT and don't miss any of it. I agree that if you can store things elsewhere in the dining room (glasses, extra crockery, serving dishes, anything really) then you can get more done.

Ikea BILLY bookcases are only 28cm deep - small ones any good for under your worktop? You can then use them as open shelving for tins/packets etc. People often get rid on Freecycle, you could post a wanted ad.

It may not actually be the landlord's view, No. Sometime you just receive a stock response from letting agents and an emailed specific and polite request is OK'd.

After all, if the landlord has allowed pets and children, I would have thought that they might well be amenable to one more request from a good tenant.

What about a couple of small freestanding bookcases under the breakfast bar?

I have a small kitchen too and have used my hall cupboard as storage for tins, bottles etc.

Oops sorry just spotted that wee bookcases have already been mentioned

True, cozie. But the LL OK-ed the clause in the contract, which is so restrictive. I've been a LL and would never have refused this. Then again I always dealt direct and didn't use a letting agent. When I rented myself I did everything possible to avoid the letting agent and deal direct - I agree that they are generally not on the tenants' side!

I had to be a landlord once and I have to say that I never actually saw the precise terms of the various contracts. (The letting agents just told me that they were issuing their 'standard contracts' and I said 'Fine'. )

I also would have been fine with things like shelves as long as walls etc were made good on leaving.

Freestanding narrow shelving all the way across under the freestanding worktop (possibly cheap bookcases or just budget shelving). You could just make a simple curtain to attach to the unit to hide the contents. In a kitchen that small it would probably double the available storage.

I know it's not what you asked but your airer takes up a lot of space considering the amount of clothes it takes. I have an 8kg machine and easily get one load with bags of room to spare on this one. Floor space it takes is 72 x 72cm. www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/8500368.htm

I know, but it's heated and I wouldn't be without it. It only cost me £30 and without it I don't think I'd have got the washing dry through the winter. Hopefully I can put it away now though, as I mostly dry the washing outside, but I have no airing cupboard so tend to finish the washing off on the airer. The dining room is rarely used really.

Hafele make a drawer that can be fitted behind your kickboards (for oven trays and other big flat things). Also try those bathroom vertical poles that go from the edge of the bath up to the ceiling, which have small corner shelves all the way up. There are types that go floor to ceiling. Joseph Joseph make a roll out rack that goes over your sink for extra draining space, stackable bowl sets. Muji do stacks of drawers that could go under your breakfast bar. And one that sounds daft; use small pasta only, 500g of orzo takes up a quarter of the space of 500g of pasta shells. Find a kitchen towel holder that holds on the wall with suction cups, and have a look at the sugru website, loads of ideas there. Find a chest of drawers that fit under the stairs, chop out the bottom drawer and the base, slide the litter trays under.

See if you can chat up the letting agents? Landlords are often not so doctrinaire as the letting agents/contract make them out to be - especially if it's a good tenant who promises to make good on leaving/pay a small extra deposit. (If you can afford the latter.)

Wow, thanks for the ideas! Money's a bit of an issue, so I'll have to choose what I'm going to do.

Good luck.