Find out how to maximise the potential of your small space
We’d all love a huge kitchen, large enough to entertain as many guests as possible. Unfortunately, in this modern world – not everyone has this luxury.
However, that doesn’t mean you cannot design a truly stunning space, that would rival even the grandest of manor houses. Check out our style tips below – and as usual, if you see anything you like – please do not hesitate to get in touch!
1. Hang lots of hooks
Hooks keep many things off worktops, giving you a clean and tidy appearance with plenty of usable space. Tying hook and rail colours in with your kitchen colour scheme can also extend the visual appearance of your kitchen breaking up otherwise block colours with your chosen accent.
Hanging cups and utensils on hooks keeps your drawers clutter-free and allow quick access during daily use.
Coupled with open shelving in place of cabinets, you have a wonderfully open space with no element of boxed-off or out-of-sight feel.
2. Painted ceiling – leading lines
Painting your walls to ceiling in primary colour gives the eye a constant leading line to follow, giving the overall appearance of a much bigger space.
This works best when the primary colour is a light and naturally airy colour.
3. Blend white paint and wood – Scandi style
A combination of white wooden cabinets and exposed wooden accents & features throughout follows a typical scandi design. It also gives a light, airy feel to an otherwise closed and possibly gloomy lit space. The white bounces any natural light beautifully, with the wooden accents giving a warm homely feel to any space. If colours are more your thing, you can always work in additional accent devices, plants and other kitchen décor.
4. Mix open & closed shelving
Small spaces shouldn’t dictate the colour scheme you can or can’t use; darker colours naturally absorb light and make it feel overall darker.
One way of combatting this is to incorporate a mixture of open and closed shelving space – thus giving a roomier feel to any coloured cabinets whilst still providing maximum storage space.
Along with allowing a broader range of colours to work in your enclosed space, a mix of cupboards also allows you to incorporate ‘easily accessible’ tech and other kitchen appliances for easy day-to-day use.
5. Stack/think vertically.
Breaking out of the mould a bit for this one, but storing certain kitchen objects in vertical orientation can save masses of space, allowing you to incorporate unusual space-saving design features & show off your very best porcelain dishes if you choose. Besides giving space-saving features, the useability of any items stored vertically with open front access is greatly increased.
Planning the vertical storage of your kitchen make-over will pay dividends, granting easy access to the most commonly used cutlery, bottles and dishes without a second thought.
6. Build a slim breakfast bar with storage!
Although you may struggle to ‘see it’ initially, and it may take some work to make it fit, working in a slimline breakfast bar where possible is well worth it for overall aesthetics & added points for usable space. An excellent choice if you’re a 2-person household requiring little storage space, this multifunctional space can be used for temporary storage, dining and food preparation depending on placement. You are turning any available space into a functional and multipurpose workspace.
7. Plan the flooring carefully
When working with particularly small spaces, it pays to spend more time in the planning stage on all aspects of your build, most notably the flooring.
Planning a bright & airy colour scheme with bright neutral flooring can make even the darkest small rooms feel more spacious. Not forgetting the most common of floors in any kitchen, tiles. Opting for a larger physical tile, meaning fewer tiles overall in numbers, gives off a less cluttered and more spacious feel.
This is because the amount of grout required on larger surface area tiles is much less than on smaller tiles. Grout naturally doesn’t have a very light or airy feel to it. Eliminating the need for more grout and covering more floor space with tile also helps brighten the room with more surface area for light to bounce.
Like the kitchen you see above? Click here to find out how we completed this project.
8. Sliding doors – saving space
Working in tight spaces can often be made worse by people coming in & out of said small space, taking up additional room with a door infringing on the already small space you have. This can be solved completely with the use of modern-style sliding doors.
Not just used for main access but also built-in pantries and storage cupboards, sliding doors allow maximum use of all space whilst taking up minimum space with installation & storage.
If you’re concerned about blocking out the light from a small space, consider going for the premium option of a single-pane glass sliding door to allow light to spread throughout your home whilst still serving as a divider when required.
Like the kitchen you see above? Click here to find out how we completed this project.
9. Dedicate space for 'floor-to-ceiling' storage
Check out the project images above for a great example of “floor-to-celing” stroage!
When working in extremely small kitchens, certain design elements are naturally swayed by the need for usability and aesthetic design.
Floor-to-ceiling storage is exactly that. Dedicating an entire wall to install floor-to-ceiling storage grants you maximum storage space in the available area, often giving you much more space than any ordinary kitchen storage solution offers.
This design is utilised much more in modern designs where ovens are integrated around the storage to provide an all-in-one kitchen wall. Broken down into smaller designs, this cabinet style can save you from a storage nightmare and provide a modern & crisp design element to your kitchen.
10. Be creative with corners
Having a smaller space doesn’t always mean you need fewer things. Leaving the task of cramming everything you need into your tiny space is no fun – trust us. A trick we like to use ourselves is to use every bit of available space, corners included. With various modern fixtures and mechanisms to help further maximise the space available in any given corner, there’s sure to be a solution to work for every kitchen.
The possibilities are endless when utilising corner space with open shelving, compact dish storage or even a vertical storage solution fixed into an otherwise unused corner space. But certainly, don’t write off those corners as unusable when working with smaller-than-usual spaces.
