Tips for Designing A Small Kitchen

BeachyRustica Find some stunning cabinet knobs... they can have a big impact in a small kitchen!

the_misfit Most of these kitchens are not really small. I think "too small for an island to fit" is a good bright line for a truly small kitchen (before you get to galley-style small). Any suggestions for kitchens of those dimensions?

Jill Asher the_misfit. Ahh..... in my area, these are really small kitchens! It seems that with new home construction, the one place everyone expands upon is kitchen size. Bigger is definitely "IN". And I mean super grand! :)

Would love to hear feedback and suggestions on design for super-tiny kitchens

Kim Here is a small kitchen that i really like:


tiny and gorgeous!

mw0263 I have actually added led under cabinet lighting to my small kitchen and you are correct that it gives the feeling of being bigger. I don't have any pictures at this moment but will return once I download them. I purchased the Connexx LED Under Cabinet Lights Contractor kit and put 24 lights in my kitchen under the cabinets, toe kick and also in the cabinet with the glass front. Looks great and I love them and the lights are under $200.00 for the 24 light kit. PS also saying money electricity. Good luck with your kitchens!

silver69 Sometimes an unused corner can turn into a functional, useful kitchen.
Also, an island doesn't need to be big. It can be small and add both storage space and dining area. Take a look at this one:

magic_happens I downsized two years ago to a very narrow galley kitchen with a blank wall at the end. It has enough counter and storage space but no windows. The thing that kept me from feeling completely claustrophobic was hanging a round mirror on that blank wall.

cheapdiva I agree, most of these kitchens aren't that small. We are in the process of remodeling our kitchen - 10 x 12 - not big at all. When you start putting cupboards in, you're left with about a 5 x 8 corridor to move around in. While we could not change the footprint of the kitchen (live in a condo), we did move doors and windows to offer a better flow.

deodand Sometimes a big kitchen is a liability. I feel like I take too many steps and get worn out in really large kitchens - and no, I'm not lazy :D I just prefer to work in a space that's only a few steps wide, more like a prep station than a grand eating space.

Peggy Deras, CKD, CID As a long-time Bay Area Certified Kitchen Designer, I am very familiar with our small kitchens. Most of the homes in the Silicon Valley area were built post-WW2, when servicemen and their families moved en-mass to Golden California for the sunshine and beauty our state offers. I myself grew up in Palo Alto, living in two of those small homes (We moved to San Francisco when I was in junior high school). In the fifties outdoor living was the practice of most families, so the houses didn't seem so small.
Nowadays, owners have been adding on and blowing out interior walls since the end of the eighties. I have long thought that the trend toward McMansions in the Bay Area was a big mistake, preferring a small home myself. Small homes are easier to maintain and more affordable. What in the world is the point of a 5 bedroom behemoth for the 2.3 people that occupy the average household? I LOVE helping my clients with their small kitchens. It is challenging and rewarding to coax the very most function, storage and counterspace in a small kitchen, while maintaining an airy, uncrowded feeling. Long live small homes and small kitchens! Great post!

Terrie Dochy For some really small kitchens, visit apartmenttherapy.com and click on the house tours, and look for the link to the "Small. Cool" competitions.

Marcy Tate These kitchens are completely dreamy. Size doesn't always matter! Hanging pots and pans in a smaller kitchen is so great. I did it in my previous house and people always complimented me on it.

sisileah These are small kitchens?! The kitchen in the home I just purchased is a quarter the size of any of these kitchens. A small kitchen is too small for an island. I haven't seen many real solutions for kitchens that are truly small. It seems that if you have a kitchen that is 7.5 by 11 with a door to the basement, outside, family room AND dining room you must expand. But the local zoning regulations don't allow us to expand the envelope of the house. It would be nice to see something seriously written about truly small kitchens for those of us who don't have a million dollar house. To have a kitchen the size of these (and dated) would cost me nearly 650k in my neighborhood.

coffeedesk such lovely ideas... check out this one.

Marilyn Davis Revitalized Interiors Allied ASID Faux paint cabinets instead of replacing them

Katie Pepin I wanted to say that I agree that what most consider small is truly not the small kitchens I have seen. With that said I am putting a link to an idea for a small but very capab le kitchen. It is crammed full of eveverything needed but doesn't have that crowded feeling, as small kitchens do. Now, if you were to have this done I am sure it could be quite pricey, but, if you use this as an inspiration, I think most of us could pull it off with some planning. BTW, I love this site!


http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/kitchen-ideas-the-tiny-kitchen?fb_ref=fw-vert&fb_source=group

aedubois We are renovating the kitchen in our 1899 row house on Capitol Hill in DC. The kitchen is 9' x 13', which is obviously much smaller than most of these, so I agree with others that the true small kitchen issues are not being addressed. I would also add that anyone who actually cooks wants a small kitchen. Take a look at the size of the kitchen in most of the 4 or 5 star restaurants in a big city. They are very small because that is the most efficient layout. A real cook wants to be 1-2 steps for fridge to prep area to stove to sink, so don't make apologies for not having one of the all too common pretentious mega-kitchens...

Carrie Lucke We dropped our island and opened up a world of other possibilities that we loved even more!
With the shift in the economy we abandoned our grand plans for a huge bump out and an island kitchen and kept our remodel in the existing space. We opened up two walls with arches that match the rest of the home and got super efficient with our space planning to make up for the loss of wall/storage space. Every contractor we spoke with insisted on busting open more walls to squeeze a small island in (you have to have an island! right?). We said forget it. We designed it without an island and spend all our money on top quality customized high end finishes and appliances. We will love it! We use the dining room more since we are connected to it (almost treating our table like an island), our kitchen is highly efficient, and our white cabinets with the bead and inset door look like they may have been original. We obsessed over every detail and got the lights, bead board ceiling and hardware all right. Island are great- don't get me wrong- but if it just does not work in a small space you gain so much by letting go- and we think we were more respectful to the original architecture in this process.
(we are awaiting our cabinets next week and once the project is tied together with tile and fixtures I will post some pictures)

Carrie

indiablue Mis_fit is so right. I need ideas for a real life small kitchen!

cabinlady I agree with the other posters... these kitchens aren't that small. We recently bought a vacation log cabin with a TINY kitchen. It really needs to be gutted, but the budget doesn't allow that right now. It does have an island, but that's because the 2 support posts are necessary to support the floor of the loft bedroom. There is storage inside the island, thank goodness! To the left of the frig is the front door with about a 3 foot walkway thru the kitchen. We have considered downsizing and making this our full-time home... looking for ideas to expand counter space... microwave over range would be too low; smooth top electric range would help, but need the gas for power outages. The hot water heater is in cabinet under microwave. There are only 2 of us, but it's TIGHT! Any suggestions?

mom2521 These sites are so frustrating! The kitchens arnt that small, and don't accurately depict the average small kitchen! i have 5 ppl in my family ( 3 boys ) and a very tiny eat in kitchen. there's about 5 small cabinets on one wall, and a frig and portable dishwasher on the other wall. my husband and i cant be in the kitchen at the same time, but we pack in so we can have a family dinner. ive been all over the web trying to find practical, and cheap solutions, cause lets face it, most ppl cant afford to remodel there kitchen! its not just my kitchens thats small, we have a 900 sq ft home but i wanted to start with the kitchen......so if anyone has any practical advise for the average person, please share!

BY DESIGN Builders Enjoyable article, but will have to agree that these kitchens shown are all still pretty large. We recently completed a small 6'x8' kitchen. Yes, only 48 sq ft! The design process was tedious and required many changes due to clearances and functionality. In the end, all the time on design was well-spent as the client LOVES her new efficiency kitchen!

nancybrandon One of the best places for tiny, efficient kitchen designs is Jay Shafer's Tumbleweed Tiny Houses: http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/. Jay's designs are simple, compact, and elegant.

kowsowitz I'm so glad for the comments on real-life kitchen limitations. Also, I don't want my kitchen wide-open to my LR/DR.

I am going to make a small island by pivoting my dishwasher, sink, and trash drawer out into the middle of my square kitchen. I get a handy workspace on top of the dishwasher and get rid of difficult to use corner cabinets. The result may be tighter to work in, but I'm taking to heart the idea that aedubois (above) has that cooks need "1-2 steps for fridge to prep area to stove to sink."

Holly Green This was one of the first sites that popped up for small kitchens and when people write articles for "small kitchens" they should really consider more condo sized renovations. We are living in a time where there is the ever growing city scape and most first time home owners are probably going to be buying into a 600sqft-to-1100sqft condo. I was very disappointed with what I have seen here. These look like kitchens for medium sized houses not practical for small spaces. I would love it if the author gave it a second try but this time focusing on condo type spaces. I did get some great ideas from the commenters though so thank you- Coffeedesk and Terrie Dochy ( apartmenttherapy.com) as those were more practical design ideas for what I needed. Time to go back to the drawing-board Jill.

allieandme How disappointing! My kitchen is 8x12, wall to wall, INCLUDING washer and dryer space at one end. It is galley shaped, meaning no room for an island, an eating nook or other suggestions here. Even hanging pots would be next to impossible (not to mention dust collectors, just as open shelves are - can't imagine how yucky that would be!).
Get real - these are NOT small kitchens.

roni934 None of these are as small as my kitchen. So, not much help, oh well. I live in Huber Heights, OH, and I own a Pimlico model Huber home. It will be a challenge to 'make-over.'

livesmall I came here looking for idears on remodeling my "small" kitchen. After reading some of the comments, I feel blessed to have my space. Kowsowitz, I to am thinking of forcing an island. Did your plan work for you?

smallhousecatalog.com We are currently cooking A LOT in a 3.5 ft. by 8 foot kitchen space. Even in the tiniest of spaces, layout and organization are the difference between comfort and craziness. There are some superb space saving appliances that make very small, well laid out kitchen spaces a joy to use. Some of the kitchens profiled here are way larger than I plan to use, but many of the design techniques that make them work well are fully applicable to truly tiny kitchen spaces. Thanks for the post.

pt8648 Nice photos and ideas, but I don't consider them "small Kitchens." Maybe you've never been in a NYC apartment kitchen.

karris128 My husband and I are moving to a condo with a 7' 2" x 9' 4" kitchen. We won't be able to renovate for 2 years or so which is really frustrating since the kitchen is poorly laid out. While apartment hunting, we saw a couple of small renovated kitchens that looked great and had loads of storage space for their size. I hope we'll eventually be able to find a contractor who specializes in renovating small kitchens and understands how to utilize every inch of space. For now, I will consider adding the under cabinet lights, but I have no idea what else I can do to make the space workable without a professional renovation.

Christine Sakariasen These are not small kitchens---these are huge kitchens! My kitchen allows for maybe one person at a time. I'd love to have any kitchens the size of the ones in these photos!

justjill8870 These are by no means small kitchens.
Here is my kitchen. You open the oven door and you have very little clearance between it and the counter. As a part of our rental agreement, we remodel this home and it goes towards the rent. The homeowners already had the counter with sink in when we moved in.
We took part of the wall and made an inset space that took the non used space behind the bathroom door. Here is where the fridge went, otherwise you could not get into the kitchen as the fridge would be blocking the doorway. We just, after a year, put a stove/oven in the kitchen, who knew it would be so difficult to adjust to having one again. There is no storage space and this is very frustrating for me.
We did just get the owners permission to "push out" the SW corner and square off the house so that will add 4'x7' of space to the kitchen. I would still like to get some ideas on how to best utilize the space to make the kitchen functionable.

Ma Ni Ni Wai Thanks for all post.