Ideas to Get You Cooking in Your Small Kitchen

You don’t have to have a cavernous apartment kitchen to make it work for you. Even if your kitchen is the size of a ship’s galley, there are plenty of creative small kitchen solutions you can employ to store your stuff and enlarge the usable space.

Create visual space
Drawing the eye upward is a great way to create space in a vertically-challenged kitchen. With the okay of your landlord, consider a repaint of your kitchen using neutral colors near the floor and bright, energizing colors for top cabinets. With approval, consider removing cabinet doors, a kitchen decor trick that creates depth and openness, making the kitchen seem less confining. (Store the doors for future use, of course.)

Brighten it up
Shadows detract from space, so banish them with better lighting. Keep window coverings as sheer as possible and don’t let knickknacks hog the space. If your counter space permits, try a lamp or LED lights (tap lights, for instance) that can be mounted under cabinets with adhesive or a bracket, giving you a brighter, more welcoming work area.

Hidden storage space
Do you eat in your kitchen or another room? Many times, the kitchen table is a redundant piece of furniture, one that takes second place to a dining room table. If yours is getting ignored, get rid of it! You’ve just created an empty wall, available for a hutch, shelving unit or cabinet that can store many of your kitchen wares.
You don’t have to store all of your kitchen items directly in your kitchen. Do you have a nearby closet that could serve as a pantry? With more shelving, you can even store away your small appliances and create more counter space. Perhaps you have some free wall space? A dish shelf can help you display bright, collectible pieces and free up cabinet space. You can also mount stemware or store coffee mugs under your top cabinets to free up shelves for other items.

Keep it clean and clutter free
Even in a spacious kitchen, a cluttered countertop is a dismal site; in small kitchens, it’s a “keep out” sign. Be sure to clean and store your dishes after every meal, as well as all tools and ingredients. If you’re running short on space, make time for some kitchen organizing: go through all of your cupboard and drawers, and discard items you’re not using often. (We’ve all bought dishes and tools that seemed like a must-have at the time, but have never seen the light of day since.)
Ready to reclaim your kitchen? You can accomplish a lot in a modest space with some smart storage and space usage.