5 Ways to Make the Most Out of a Small Kitchen

By Alicia Geigel on March 17, 2019

This article is brought to you by CORT Furniture Rental. We take the hassle out of furnishing your new place so you can do more important things like read this article. Learn more about why furniture rental is the best way to get a great looking apartment.

Whether it’s by choice or by circumstance, at some point in our lives, we all live in a small space. Small spaces are great in many ways, yet difficult in others. A small kitchen can be especially difficult because of bulky appliances and furniture that can take up space and leave little left for functionality or storage. When you have a small kitchen, there are plenty of ways to make the most of your space all while embracing its size. Are you someone who has a cramped, small kitchen? Looking for ways to maximize space? Unsure of what to do or where to start? Check out these five ways to make the most of a small kitchen below!

kitchen, sink, cabinet, small, space

Image via Pexels

1. Hack Your Drawers: For a lot of us, drawers are an absolute disaster that are to be avoided at all costs. However, this drawer horror story can be completely alleviated just by simply doing a few easy hacks! For instance, reuse an old shoebox to create dividers in your drawer and eliminate unnecessary clutter in your kitchen.

Laura Wheat of Houzz writes, “Switch all your cabinets to drawers to gain maximum usability of the available area. Drawers allow easy access to every item, unlike cupboards, which require rummaging and can result in a cluttered cooking space as things pile up while you find time to make space on their bulging shelves. ” You can store kitchen utensils, cookware, dish towels, and other small essentials in drawers to eliminate clutter and create more space on countertops and tables!

2. Floating Shelves: Shelves are awesome pieces of furniture that help you store cookware like pots and pans, cookbooks, art pieces, etc., however, shelves can take up an awful lot of space, making your already small kitchen seem like a hole that is going to swallow you up. No one wants to be buried by their abundance of kitchen supplies — am I right?

To help free up some space, try adding floating shelves to your walls! Floating shelves look great wherever you place them, however, if you try adding the shelves around a focal point in your space, such as around your stove or nearby your cabinets to help to tie the whole style together.

3. Explore Storage Options: Part of a problem in any space, whether it be big or small, is appropriate storage. Often times, there just isn’t enough space to properly store your items, which can leave your space feeling cluttered and suffocating. In a small kitchen, storage is essential to having a functional and breathable space. To help reduce excess clutter, invest in textured cloth boxes to hold items or electric appliances (i.e. stand mixer, blender). This will add some style to your kitchen, all while being functional at the same time!

Rebecca Orlov of HGTV additionally suggests, “install high pantry cabinets to eliminate extra-small cabinets. Add pullout shelves, rotating inserts and tilt-out bins to increase accessibility and storage within the cabinets. Light-colored cabinets, open shelves, wire organizers and glass-front doors will help to lighten the space.”

kitchen, cabinet, counter, stove, shelf

Image via Pixabay

4. When in Doubt, Go Minimal: Have you ever heard of the phrase, “less is more”? Well, in the case of a small kitchen space, less is more and will give you more! The minimalist lifestyle is definitely not for everyone, but if you are someone that doesn’t already have a lot of belongings, then you should look into taking on a minimalist style in your studio. Try incorporating the color white into furniture pieces, accessories, or on your walls! White will help to make the kitchen feel more open and less cramped and tight.

5. Stay On Top of Cleaning Up: Piles of dishes and pans in the sink or excess trash on the counter and make your kitchen space seem small and not spacious at all. Letting dirty dishes gather in the sink will make the task of cleaning up harder in the long run, so to alleviate that responsibility, just clean up little by little every day. Having a clean and clutter-free kitchen space will make it feel open and spacious.

In a blog post by Allison Norton of LaurenConrad.com, she notes, “It doesn’t take a neat freak to notice how a sink full of dishes can make a kitchen feel claustrophobic. If you really want to make your small kitchen feel bigger, you’re going to have to put in a little elbow grease each time you have a pile of dirty dishes.”

Making the most of a small space isn’t always easy. There is some compromise involved as you may have to declutter a little, but ultimately it’s about organizing and storing your belongings effectively. No matter what, don’t forget to have some fun and play around with decor too! As always, good luck!

Looking for an easy way to furnish your off-campus apartment? Renting furniture from CORT saves you time and money. See how easy it is to get great looking furniture without breaking the bank.

Follow Uloop

Apply to Write for Uloop News

Join the Uloop News Team

Discuss This Article

Back to Top

Log In

Contact Us

Upload An Image

Please select an image to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format
OR
Provide URL where image can be downloaded
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format

By clicking this button,
you agree to the terms of use

By clicking "Create Alert" I agree to the Uloop Terms of Use.

Image not available.

Add a Photo

Please select a photo to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format