Tiny, tiny kitchen ideas

[Lilboots]

I'm hoping to renovate my kitchen this year so have been hoovering up all of the advice here from people who have been there, done that.

My kitchen, though, is SERIOUSLY tiny. A joke of a kitchen. 4qm with a sloped ceiling. Lots of the recommendations (larders, American fridge freezers, double ovens...) come from people with actual adult sized kitchens and just don't apply to my tiny wee space.

Are there any other micro kitchen veterans out there with smart ideas for wringing every bit of function from my little slice of kitchen?

The space on the floor behind the kick boards is wasted space, have drawers fitted instead.

In my tiny kitchen I got rid of a stud wall and got a cabinet builder to make me a ceiling mounted cabinet with glass sides and then put a v v cheap kitchen island with worktop underneath (gap between the two into the sitting room. So much more space and feeling of light

Plinth drawers are great, draweboxes.co.uk will make them to size though you will need a minimum plinth height of 120mm, which is higher than Ikea's standard 80mm (this is not really a problem as you can buy adjustable cabinet legs not from Ikea and have the cupboards hung a bit higher. Plinths can be cut from MDF). I love ikea kitchens though, the internal organisation is amazing. Drawers within drawers are brilliant.

*drawerboxes.co.uk

I have a small kitchen - units in a U shape where the floorspace is just over 2 feet wide. The amount of worktops & storage are fine, the problem is the base units have massively wide drawers/doors.

Floor space is so limited that if someone is at the hob, another person can’t get to the sink to fill a kettle, nor can base unit doors be opened and I can’t have the oven & fridge doors open together. Emptying the dishwasher is a nightmare because with the door down I am either trapped in a corner or can’t get past the open door but either way I can’t open the very drawers I need to put the clean dishes in! I have to empty them onto the worktop then close the dishwasher door before I can out them away.

Its a rental, so I can’t change it. It must have been designed by someone who thought oh that all fits on plan’ but didn’t consider actually using it.

Ceiling mounted shelving.

My first flat had a tiny kitchen. I loved it. I had a wooden shelf with a fold down breakfast bar bit that I could set up if I wanted to eat there or have extra food prep space. I had fold up bar stools that tucked underneath when not in use. Fridge under the work top, next to the stove. It meant I didn;t overstock with food. Just kept enough for a day or too - so fridge was always fresh and clean (not like our current US style fridge freezer which is crammed with half-full jars of pickles.) I love a tiny kitchen.

Pinterest is your friend!

Search for ‘kitchenette’ and (as others have said) also look at a boat, caravan and RV kitchens.

I had a doll’s house size kitchen in two places I have lived. My recommendations would be:

1. Consider how much counter space you need. What is the absolute minimum (you’d be surprised) and what is actually comfortable for you? This can really effect your floor plan as an unused section of counter space could have floor to ceiling cupboards or shelves instead.
2. Then consider how much storage space you need for a) food and b) kitchen equipment, plates etc. What depth do you need? More for plates and less for food storage. The ideal food storage is actually closer to a bookshelf so you don’t need to stack the spices in front of the canned tomatoes which are in front of the boxes of cereal. Ideally, you want to see everything in one row and at a quick glance.
3. Keep things that are used once a year (eg Christmas themed wine glasses, a massive serving dish) with the Christmas decorations instead.
4. Sloped ceilings can be hard to work around - is their headroom to have usable counter space? If not, put shelves or floor to ceiling cupboards in.
5. Plinth drawers are great.
6. Reconsider everything in the kitchen. If you normally store your plates stacked on top of each other, could you creat more room by stacking them side by side? Things that would normally go in cupboards, could it make sense to put them in drawers instead? And vice versa - you probably use a cutlery tray - could you stand up your knives/forks/spoons in a container instead? It’s all about turning things around and seeing if that becomes more practical in your space.

Good luck!

And, seriously, visit Pinterest!

My previous kitchen was pretty small, and we had integrated under-counter separate fridge and freezer to maximise worktop space. It was enough cold food storage for the 2 of us.

We also had a slimline dishwasher which i loved, and a single bowl sink with small drainer. Most of our storage was hanging racks (ikea grundtal rail shelves) with S-hooks for pans, mugs, utensils, and nesting bowls sitting on the shelves, also those little ikea cardboard boxes with lids for storing all our herbs/spices. And a shelf under our one row of wall cabinets.

We also stored things you don't use daily in another room. And put in a drawer under the oven. And a magnetic knife rack above/behind the hob. Ikea has chopping boards sized to fit over the sink (as mentioned by others) which is definitely handy for extra worktop space.

We removed the radiator and installed an electric plinth heater. We had a pull out shelf under the sink with space for a small bin and recycle bin and some cleaning products.

My current kitchen has a hot tap, so no need for a kettle.

Can you put bits of kitchen in other rooms? My kitchen is teeny, so I've expanded with kitchen things elsewhere. The dining room has an IKEA kitchen island thing on wheels so I can move it if I need to pull the table out for extra people. It has appliances on it, storage underneath for things I use less often, and extra counter space if I need it. I also use a built in cupboard in the hall for pantry storage.

As well as the stackable pans look at things like the Joseph Joseph stackable food prep bowls and compact cutlery trays, these can save valuable space when every inch counts! Don't forget the backs of your cupboard doors, there's usually a bit of dead space towards the top of cupboards and you can claw back some of this by mounting holders for things like kitchen roll, cling film and spices on the insides of your doors- it means things are easier to find as well. Make sure your cupboards go right to the ceiling and use plinth drawers too.

If you can’t get an induction cooker, one like this would be great. The glass top does double duty: splashback and prep space.

@SailingBuddy

Induction hob. We’re in a holiday cottage with very little counter space and being able to use the hob as counter space for food prep, unpacking shopping, even putting a parcel down for a while is very handy. It made me realise how impractical a gas hob is - taking up counter space when it’s not actually being used for cooking is wasteful in a small area.

Lots of cookers are available with glass lids to cover the burners, like these. We use the closed lid of ours (a cheapie Hotpoint Ultima, all we could afford at the time but it's been fine) for food prep and as spare worktop surface all the time.

When we're cooking the upright glass lid acts like a splashback, and it's easier to clean than the tiled wall behind.

Obviously if you want an induction hob anyway then fair enough, but there are alternatives available, even for gas hobs.

My previous house's kitchen was allegedly 9 feet by six feet, but the EA lied. It was rather less than that, and if I had had the money available to do it, I would have knocked through into the dining room adjacent. Then I could have had a decent sized kitchen diner with my utilities in the old kitchen part.

I put a worktop saver over my gas hob, like a lid but without replacing the hob.

It does mean you have to move it to use the hob. But then I just put it on the worktop/drainer/ leaning precariously on the toaster.

Another vote for induction. It took some getting used to but I love ours now and wouldn't go back - the extra space when not cooking was a huge bonus + it is so easy to keep clean. A win all around for us.

A very strong recommend for a larder cupboard. The majority of our food / condiments etc can go in it and we can then maximise cupboard space.

Marking my place to catch up with this later. We have a tiny kitchen and I’ve finally come up with a design I think is half decent.

As mentioned upthread, move whatever you can to other rooms. In our case that means the plates, mugs etc live in a dresser in the adjoining dining room.

We have a gas oven with fold down glass lid as linked to above, but it is never folded down as we need to keep the saucepans on top of the hob due to space.

Have a similar issue to PP where we get trapped in by having the dishwasher folded out.

Many houses with similar layouts have knocked into the dining room to make open plan but I’ve always dithered because losing that wall means losing a lot of potential storage place. I also like to have some private time when I’m cooking and don’t always want to be ‘social’!!

We are going to get a Neff slide and hide oven as mentioned above .

Also think about things like which way microwave or oven doors will open. Even more important in a small space. For us it will be worth paying the extra for a Neff microwave with a right hinged door as it will open out of the way.