Small kitchens don’t have to put limits on your culinary prowess.
Making the best use of every nook, cranny, tip and trick can help you to get the most out of your storage, surface and dining spaces without having to compromise on what goes in. The key in any kitchen – a room filled with hazards – is to keep everything neat, tidy and safe.
How to maximise space in your kitchen
Declutter
To make the most of the space in your kitchen, your first port of call should always be to cut back on what’s in there. How about that stack of cookbooks that have been gathering dust since you bought them? Or that juicer that’s not been used since January 2014? Get rid of them, and you’ll gain something much better: space.
Use the walls
Every inch of wall can become valuable shelf space, and the best news is that on-display storage is bang on-trend right now. Put up shelving and racks to stack crockery, plates and pans. If you have dead space between the tops of cabinets and the ceiling, an extra shelf here will give you somewhere safe to store your best china and gadgets.
Want a clear worktop? A magnetic knife rack fixed to the wall clears a knife block from the worktop.
Install rails
Rails can be attached to the walls, under shelves, inside cupboard doors, edges of cabinets and any other spare nooks and crannies. Use butcher’s hooks to hang utensils, small pans and serving cutlery, freeing up space in your drawers.
Need somewhere to keep your pan lids? They slot nicely into a rail inside a cupboard door.
Be super-organised
Storing your cupboard ingredients and foods inside stackable containers and jars is far more space-efficient than a jumble of untidy, oddly-sized packets and boxes. Plus, you’ll feel like the tidiest, most organised person in the world.
Hack your cupboards
Maximise the space inside your cupboards by using temporary shelves (the kind that stand on legs on a surface). You can make the space work even harder by attaching magazine racks to the inside of the doors for storing lightweight stuff like linen, packets, snacks and cleaning supplies.
Got one of those awkward corner cupboards that you’re forever rummaging around in? Install a lazy Suzan to make the space neat and easy to access.
Think about fold-away furniture
In a really small space, consider installing a table or surface that folds away into the wall when you don’t need it. Foldable chairs can also be hung from hooks on the wall or slotted into a space beside the fridge.
Make the most of every nook
Narrow spaces between appliances, cabinets and walls can be turned into a handy wine rack or space to stack trays and chopping boards with a few nifty DIY tricks.
Shoe racks
Canvas shoe racks designed for wardrobes can be attached to the back of a kitchen door or the inside of tall cabinets to create extra storage for spices, ingredients, pan lids and more.
Create extra surface space
Large wooden chopping boards can sit over the top of your sink to transform it into a temporary preparation area. If you need even more space, a trolley or butcher’s block on wheels gives you that as well as extra storage.
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