How to give an elegant look to a Small Kitchen ?

Planning for a small kitchen area is a difficult task but c

As there's a surprising lack of good advice for small kitchen owners, I recently combined my own knowledge and experience with that of kitchen designer colleague to offer those with a small working space some great tips on how to make the best use of it.

Good planning is essential and knowing how to measure the area and elevations correctly to utilise the space without overcrowding your design, is important.

Making good use of modern accessories to minimise work effort in the kitchen is another important consideration.

Kitchen Islands, dining tables and larger appliances may not be possible in your small kitchen design but there are a number of great alternatives that can offer you a satisfactory outcome.

Tall pull out larders, carousels and tall integrated appliance housings are among a wide choice of kitchen components that can provide effective space-saving solutions for limited kitchen spaces.

Narrow kitchens that cannot accommodate a two-sided galley kitchen solution can be adapted by utilising reduced depth kitchen cabinets on one side and should your kitchen be sited on one elevation only, smaller width doors incorporated into the design will provide you with more space whilst working in the kitchen.

Keen cooks using more fresh ingredients should consider maximizing their countertop area whilst reducing their freezer space. An undercounter fridge with a smaller freezer compartment will fulfil your needs better in creating more kitchen space if you're at your happiest using fresh ingredients daily to put your culinary skills to the test. If however, you're the type whose skills lie more in placing frozen ready cooked meals in the oven, then your needs too, can be accommodated in a small kitchen arena.

Mini or compact kitchens are available from a growing number of niche manufacturers and for some, such as the revolving pod kitchen, you don't even require a wall for installation. Other examples are compact kitchen packs designed for location on a single elevation.

Design solutions and examples of these are covered by the sequel post and this provides mini kitchen owners through a number of options and tips to suit your needs - Tim Foley 

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Maximising your small Kitchen space - DIY

You might take one look at your small kitchen and think there's hardly any way to fit all your cooking utensils, dishes and pots and pans in that room. However, with a little ingenuity and some moving around of your items, you can maximize your small kitchen space and make the room aesthetically appealing.

When maximizing your small kitchen space, the most important goal is to make your necessities more accessible, thus saving time and energy. You will especially need both of these when cooking.

Clear Up Space

Sort through your pots, pans, lids and cooking dishes to see which ones you use more often and which ones are hardly used. Put the rarely used items to the side to clear up space for the commonly used ones. You may get rid of the underused items or store them somewhere else in the kitchen.

Use Cabinets and Drawers

Pantries, drawers and cabinets underneath the sink are obviously great storage spaces. Put racks into the cabinets and sort the pots and pans according to size, with the larger objects on the bottom shelves and the smaller ones on top ones. That way, you don't have undo stacks of pots and pans to get the largest ones, which are usually at the bottom. Flip the lids upside down so the handles are inside the pots and pans, thus storing them more easily. Use dishware organizers for your silverware and cooking utensils in drawers.

Rack Them Up

If your kitchen has the right ceiling height, you can use an overhead pot rack to suspend your pots and pans from. However, if the ceiling is too low, store your pots and pans on wall shelves and hang them on hooks.

Make a Case for Baskets

For items you may not give a second thought to once you put them away, you can use the space on top of your refrigerator. Put baskets on top of this and toss rarely used items into them.

Relocate Your Spices

Remember, your kitchen space should be just as much about easy access as it is about finding ample storage space. In the case of spices, take them out of the cabinet and mount them on an attractive spice rack next to the kitchen stove. Your spices will be within reach while cooking.

Store Pantry Food in Containers

Seeing a pantry cluttered with half-opened packages can be a real eyesore. For this situation, use a set of reusable, stackable containers that come in different sizes. Label each container according to their contents like "cereal" or "spaghetti." You can even cut out the recipes on old packages and apply them to the new containers.

Add Your Personal Flair

When all is said and done, it's your kitchen. Therefore, you should personalize it with your taste. Put a colorful centerpiece like an eye catching vase full of flowers on your counter-top or hang some artwork on your wall if wall space permits. Open baker racks are okay to use, but for extra cabinet space, consider getting a stylish cabinet instead-Alexa Campbell

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Make your Small Kitchen Appear Larger - 5 Ways

Incorporate Open Shelving

Break tradition by removing your full blocks of cabinets. Replace them with an open shelving scheme that allows your eyes to travel to the wall instead of the front of a cabinet.

There is one sticking point with open shelves that does not always make them the best choice for homeowners. You have to cut back on the clutter-open shelves have to look open. So you need to choose very carefully what you can store there.

Open shelves can also be a design feature for your kitchen. This can make a transition between a traditional kitchen to a transitional or contemporary kitchen.

Use Glass Cabinet Doors

If you do not want to lose your cabinets altogether, consider switching out the full doors for glass-front doors. These also draw the eye back to the wall, adding depth to your room. As you do not have to use glass-front cabinet doors on every cabinet, you get to store a larger number of items. You still need to consider the amount of clutter in cabinets when using a glass door.

Embrace White

White is the primary color kitchen designers use to open up a small kitchen. White reflects light, which makes the walls and ceiling look farther away than they actually are. If you aren't the biggest fan of white, choose lighter colors that make your space feel brighter and bigger.

Eliminate Clutter

All too often, kitchen counter tops become the go-to storage spot for small appliances, utensils, spices and more. Just as you want your open shelving or glass-front cabinets to look clean, you also want to keep your counters clear. This means finding a home for all of your kitchen goods, and removing non-kitchen clutter altogether. (Note: custom cabinets for your kitchen can solve many of your storage woes!)

Incorporate Smaller Furniture Items

We all love the added storage and workspace that an island can offer any size kitchen. Instead of building a stationary island, however, consider instead adding in a small movable island for workspace that can tuck away nicely when not in use.Jenn Newville 

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