Small Space Kitchen Ideas

You may love living in a small space, but sometimes a kitchen can be the hardest room to handle, especially when you spend a lot if time in there. Here are some tips for making the most of the space in your kitchen, no matter how small it may be.

• Full height cabinets pull the eye up; recessed lighting makes the ceiling seem higher.

• Tiles used for the backsplash can be laid on the diagonal, making the splash seem taller.

• Under-cabinet lighting makes it possible to use dark countertops without giving them a closed in look and feel.

• Light (though not necessarily white) coloured walls and cabinets open up a space.

• Using the same flooring in the kitchen as the other rooms helps the spaces flow into each other.

• Place wood flooring perpendicular to the cabinets to make them feel father apart.

• A galley-style kitchen is the most efficient use of space.

• Keep the floor colour close to the cabinet colour to keep the space from feeling chopped up.

• Glass panels on the front of some cabinet doors opens up the room, giving the impression that your kitchen is larger.

• A built-in microwave, or an under the cabinet microwave frees up precious counter space.

• Roll out shelves double usable space. Also use shelf stackers and lazy Susans where convenient.

• A built-in bin saves floor space. It can also be easier to disguise and more hygienic.

• Identify your least used appliances and gadgets. Items like crock pots and deep fat fryers are not used daily. Be brutal, if you can live without them, let them go. If you must keep them, store them outside of your kitchen.

• If you find you have spare room in your fridge, use the space for non perishable items like cereal, rice and pasta, to free up cabinet space.

• Store baking pans inside your oven. Why take up cabinet space with roasting pans, cake tins and loaf tins when you can pop them in the oven?

• Use wall hooks for hanging mugs, cups and utensils.

• Hang pans from a rack suspended from the ceiling.

• If your kitchen has a window sill use it. Store bottles of oil or jars of spice if they are in dark glass containers.

• Free up a drawer by putting your silverware in a caddy on the table.

• Attach devices like can openers and kitchen towel caddies under the cabinets to save counter space.

• Hang a wire mesh basket from the ceiling to hold fruit and vegetables.

• If you want a table in your kitchen but you are really short on space try a folding wall table, then you can simply fold it away when it's not in use.

• Bench seating with concealed storage area is another great space saving idea.

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