How To Make Your Small Kitchen Feel Bigger
The majority of homeowners in the UK know that space is at a premium in the kitchen. Whether an older Victorian terrace or a modern city apartment, square footage is squeezed to the max and invariably, the kitchen is the one area to suffer from a lack of space. However, with some clever use of hacks and space saving ideas, storage and worktop areas can be made to feel a great deal bigger.
Try just of few of these ingenious ideas and you’ll make your small kitchen feel instantly bigger and more practical:
Use Every Inch of Your Cabinets
Inside the backs of your cabinets doors is potential to hang many small items such as measuring cups, utensils or even pan lids. With some simple hooks and rails, items that usually cause clutter can suddenly become organised and easy to reach.
You could even convert decorative fixed drawer fronts into pulldown storage spaces, simply by adding hinges and pop latches.
Use Every Inch of Wall Space
Every kitchen will have a section of wall that is either unused or seemingly dead space yet offers a quick and easy way to declutter other parts of the kitchen.
Racks and wall shelves are a simple, cost-effective way of adding more storage for awkward items that demand a lot of room. By placing pots, pans, cups, saucers and other items on the wall, they become easy to access and free up cupboards for food storage and other items that you wouldn’t normally have out on display.
Even simple hooks to hang your best stainless steel pots and frying pans is a great way to showcase your prized cooking items. Or shelves around windows spaces and ledges can make for a decorative look and free up room for other things in the cupboards.
Magnets Work Wonders
Magnetic strips on walls, the sides of cabinets and even the fridge open up a load of space saving options. Instead of having a bulky knife rack taking up vital room on the counter, your knives could easily be stuck to a neat set of magnets, making for a cool looking display as well as being easy to reach for the chef in the house.
You could even create your own magnetic racks or spice jars by placing adhesive magnetic strips to the bottom of the plastic containers and then stick them to the side of the fridge for each access.
Just remember, if it’s metal, it can be stuck practically anywhere you like in the kitchen!
Hang Items from the Ceiling
Don’t forget to look up once in a while. A ceiling mounted rack or above head height shelf is very inexpensive and is a great way to store pots, pans and jars out of the way and be right there, easy to reach when you need them.
Use Every Inch of Every Corner
Corner units offer by far the biggest and most spacious storage areas in the kitchen, so make the most of them. For items than you want hidden away, there’s a number of great ways to make your corners functional. Lazy Susan carousel corners as well as pull-out shelves offer practical, space saving solutions.
Fold Away Your Dining Furniture
If you need a place to eat in the kitchen yet have little floorspace to do so, try installing a simple folding table and chairs. That way, they are only using the floorspace when you are seated for your meal and can be easily folded away when not in use.
Opt for Smaller Appliances
Every kitchen needs appliances but all come in different shapes and sizes. Decide which appliances could be downsized to a slightly smaller model such as the refrigerator or oven and you could help create a few extra essential inches where they’re needed most.
Create a Moving Cart Island
A kitchen island on wheels is the best of both worlds as it serves as a extra storage and preparation area, yet can be rolled out of the way when not required. With a little extra overhanging worktop, it could even serve as a small dining or coffee table in the kitchen and be an invaluable multifunctional piece of furniture.
