Space-saving ideas for kitchens

[allegretto]

Soon moving from our quite small kitchen to a very small kitchen! Panicking a little - any ideas (layout, gadgets etc) for saving kitchen space?

Tall cabinets where possible, integrated appliances, place hob and sink so that you still have decent amount of worktop between them (ie, don't go for some symmetrical look if it breaks up too much worktop), U-shape if possible. Ikea have extra tall base cabinets which are slightly deeper than normal and disproportionately capacious, I believe they also do under cupboard storage (pull-out drawers where the kick boards are).

The pull out drawers are my "must haves" in current kitchen planning. Normal cupboard door, each drawer pulls out separately. From kitchen showroom conversation this weekend, each drawer can hold more than the whole of a pull out larder thing.

Go for free standing slimline appliances and don't get a drainer on your sink.

Instead of pull out drawers where the whole unit comes out at once, I would have a regular cupboard drawer and then shelves which pull out individually. DM had the former and it annoyed the crap out of her as you can't easily access stuff when it's got a shelf straight above it. Whereas if you could pull each shelf out one by one you wouldn't have that issue.

Not sure if that makes sense to anyone!!

Other ideas: is there somewhere else you can store your fridge? Maybe a hall or dining area just outside the kitchen?
Have bare minimum bench top appliances and store them outside of the kitchen.
Use corner units in your cupboards so you can access everything easily. Have racks for plastic ware to keep the cupboards neat and tidy.

I mean this

If appropriate, you can make the slimmer wall cupboards into low level cupboards on one side of the kitchen and have a shallow piece of worktop above. I find kitchen cupboards too deep anyway.

That's a good one namechange. Some of them are wired together so you can only pull the whole unit out at once and that's a right pain in the bum.

Use the inside of cupboard doors!
Attach a few hooks or a small basket shelf to the inside of the door for things like chopping boards, clingfilm, foil, teatowels
It means you don't have to dedicate a drawer or cupboard to them and don't have to have them shoved down the back behind other stuff. And you only lose a couple of inches of storage from the front of the cupboard

Thanks for all the ideas - keep them coming!

Don't compromise worktop area too much for full height cupboards. You can manage less than ideal cupboard space by honing down your Stuff and having overflow storage elsewhere (sideboard, understairs cupboard, even wardrobe) for least often used crockery etc. But there is no way of mitigating too small a worktop area, and it will drive you demented every day. Tall storage solutions can be very gadgety, appealing and expensive so beware kitchen designers including too many of them to the detriment of the functional worktop.

You need at least one drawer for cutlery.

Consider losing a kitchen door if you have a patio door elsewhere, but get good corner storage in this case.

Don't forget you need somewhere to put the rubbish. Shame to lose a cupboard to that if you can avoid it.

www.aplaceforeverything.co.uk/home-storage/kitchen-storage have a look on here.

www.aplaceforeverything.co.uk/home-storage/kitchen-storage have a look on here.

You can buy chopping boards that fit neatly over the sink, to extend the worktop area.

Most standard wall units come with a single shelf.
I had a sheet of white laminate cut down to make loads of extra shelves so all my wall units have three levels inside (at different heights)

Fold down table

Drainer grooves in worktop plus slimline dishwasher. Handleless doors. Integrated telescopic cooker hood to keep continuous line and illusion of space. Likewise built in microwave freeing up worktop and flush induction hob without knobs. Light colours, sleek clean lines.

Sparechange good thinking. Along similar lines, a cooker/hob that's either plate glass or has a fold down lid.