7 Smart Solutions for Tiny Kitchens

What do you pay the most attention to when choosing an apartment? Some of us check the size of the bedroom, others check whether it’s a shower or bath situation, and there are even people who immediately start thinking of what’s the best place for a TV. Kitchens are often overlooked by the young people, because we tend to think we won’t spend much time there, and because rent is expensive. If we manage to find something affordable we grab it ASAP, kitchen space be damned. However, once we move in we find our hands full with small kitchen problems like “Where do I put the dishes?”, “There’s literally no counter space!”, “I need more storage”, etc. Lucky for you, we’ve got a couple of smart solutions for super small kitchens, so keep reading.

 

 

1. Not Enough Cabinets
A lot of small kitchens don’t have a lot of cabinets. It might seem fine at first, but once you move in you’ll quickly realize you have no place to put your pots and pans. They’re much bulkier than dishes and cups, and almost impossible to stack. So what’s the solution? Easy! Just put a rail on the wall and hang them up on little hooks. Not only will this free up the cabinet space for you, it’ll also add a nice visual element to your kitchen.

 

 

2. No Drawers
This might come as a shock for some, but it’s true – some super small kitchens don’t even have drawers. “But where do I store my silverware?”, I hear you ask. In sleek yet functional little buckets, which, you guessed it, you can hang up on a rail as not to clutter the counter. When space is an issue, you gotta take advantage of the vertical storage.

3.Little To No Counter Space
Counter space is important, because as soon as you attempt to make anything more than a cup of coffee, you’ll realize you have no space to cut, chop or mix things. Here you have two options. You can either extend your counter space by getting over the sink and over the stove cutting boards, or, if you have enough space – get a kitchen cart. It’ll divide up the space and on days when you’re not cooking it can serve as a table, work desk or a bar.

4. No Dining Table
Most people with small kitchens just eat in their living room, on the couch or on their little magazine table. But if you’re determined to eat in the kitchen, yet you don’t have enough space for a dining table you still have a choice. You can either install a pull out table, get a collapsible table mounted onto your wall, or just get a little bar table and some stools.

5. Need More Storage
If you’re one of those people who has a lot of kitchen appliances, but only pulls them out for Christmas or other holidays, we feel your pain. You can’t really place those appliances on the counter, because that would eat up precious counter space, same with cabinets. So where do you store them? Get storage boxes that match your kitchen and place them on top of your kitchen cabinets. This way you’ll know where those things are when you need them, without them getting in your way on a daily basis.

6. I Have Too Many Appliances
This is hard, but we all face this problem at some point. We look at all of our immersion blenders, nutri-bullets, vitamixes, toasters, panini-grills, etc and realize we have no place for them. You might have to let them go (you can re-sell them) and get yourself a Kitchenaid or some other multi-tasker for your kitchen. Basically you need a machine that does it all, instead of individual appliances.

7. How To Create Storage Out Of Thin Air
We’d like to end this list of smart solutions for super small kitchens by saying that you can always create storage space out of thin air. In small apartments you have to take advantage of vertical storage – a.k.a. walls. Put up open shelves, install rods to hang things on, get little hooks to hang things on. Get the most out of your cabinets by installing shelves and then get under-shelf baskets. It’s all about being creative!