Clever Ways to Optimize Your Space in a Tiny Kitchen

Cooking in a tiny kitchen requires patience and ingenuity. You may not have the storage space for all of the ingredients you’d like to have on hand. You probably won’t have the counter room for every appliance you fancy. But smart planning and focusing on the essentials can accomplish most of what you need to make stewing, sautéing and baking in a small kitchen satisfying, even fun. Below are guidelines and hacks to get you there.

Appliances: Choose Smart Essentials

When you’re shopping, you may see a lot of appliances you wish you had — the gelato maker and popcorn popper — but will you regularly use them? Ariel Kanter from Serious Eats recommends avoiding single use cookware and, instead, focus on those multi-use items. 

Storing Appliances, Utensils and Containers: Look above the counters

Most cooks quickly run out of counter space in a small kitchen. You need to be creative to find more. Tasha from I Heart Planners recommends hanging utensils — like spatulas, knives and spoons — on the wall. She also found space for her slow cooker and food processor on top of her fridge. If you have the overhead space and carpentry skills, a pot rack can hang from the ceiling. 

Under the Sink

In most kitchens, the area under-sink space is a wasteland where random items, like garbage bags and cleaning supplies, huddle together in dreaded fear of a plumbing leak that may never happen. By mounting baskets and shelving, this area can be used for appliances, cookbooks and items that are only occasionally needed.

Food and Pantry Storage: Jars Bowls and More

Food storage in a small kitchen requires planning and focusing on essentials. For example, if you’re not regularly using corn flour, it probably doesn’t make sense to keep a five pound bag of it around. Cooks who like to keep a lot of dried goods in their pantries may want to develop a system with uniform size containers. Perhaps all of the flours and sugars are stored in mason jars to make them look visually appealing as well as practical. Plenty of space racks optimize storage space. A bowl on the counter or kitchen table can be appealing storage for fruits and vegetables. 

Be Smart with Your Fridge

Each kitchen’s fridge and freezer is personalized. In a small room, you can't afford to waste any space. If possible, buy a smaller than usual refrigerator. Also, consider one that has at least two compartments to separate meats and other perishables. One will a built-in ice maker increases functionality. In a tiny kitchen, every inch counts.