Small Kitchens

A spacious kitchen with sky-high ceilings and ample natural light is the absolute dream. However, most of us have to make do with awkward layouts and less-than-ideal storage space. But a small kitchen doesn't have to be so bad. In fact, with the right small-space solutions and functional design ideas, it won't matter what square footage you're working with. Ahead, we've rounded up more than 80 clever and chic small kitchen ideas to pull inspiration from so that you never feel like a claustrophobic cook again. We promise these tricks will help you make the most of your counter space and cabinetry—and they might even make you want to spend even more time in your kitchen.

Opting for an all-white kitchen can instantly make a space feel bigger thanks to the shade's light-reflecting nature. Smooth, glossy cabinet fronts (no hardware here) and a cooktop set in matching countertops maximizes the gleaming effect.

In this small kitchen by designer Corinne Mathern Studio, a counter-height work table doubles as an island and eating space. You can easily push a piece like this against the wall or move it out of the room anytime it starts to feel cramped.

Small Kitchen Design Ideas You'll Wish You Tried Sooner

Make it appear bigger: Use three blue shades to create depth, as designer Garrow Kedigian did here. Stretching the lightest one up to the ceiling emphasizes its height, making this space feel airy.

To ground a small kitchen without making it feel cave-like, use a dark color on only the bottom half, and swap for a lighter shade on top. Natural wood connects this space to the forest outside.

To open up this kitchen, designer Kevin Isbell painted an oversize glossy checkered print on the floor. The light, bright colors coordinate perfectly with the cafe curtain fabric.

Cool Design Tips For Small Kitchens

Take a note from designer Matthew Ferrarini, and install pocket doors to hide your kitchen's hardest working wall when you're not cooking or cleaning up. We love this idea for open floor plans and studio apartments.

Have a farmhouse sink or exposed plumbing that has seen better days? Skirt the issue. That is, install a sink skirt hide the mess, the way they did in old English country kitchens.

The hangout side of an island can absolutely work harder. Design it with cabinets instead of a solid slab of wood, and it's ideal for storing not-so-frequently-used items.

Tiny Kitchens That Prove Bigger Isn't Always Better

To make a narrow galley kitchen feel more intentional (and less like a dark alcove), install statement pendant lights. This ombré pair brightens it from end to end and draws eyes up.

Don't have much counter space? Consider adding an appliance garage within your cabinetry as designer Natalie Chong did in her former Toronto townhouse. The cubby held her Nespresso machine. Underneath, a push-to-open wood panel hid a Vitamix.

For a Georgia kitchen connected to a back door, designer Laura Jenkins turned some cabinets near the built-in refrigerator into a mudroom closet. The seamless construction also hides a coffee station and pantry, making the room feel larger.

Small Kitchen Design Ideas

With a neutral-leaning color palette, your kitchen can feel more open and serene. Just take note of this tranquil kitchen by Lauren Nelson Design, which incorporates handmade tile, marble countertops, and cabinetry in Benjamin Moore's Caldwell Green that subtly reference the outdoors.

In this kitchen designed by Sarah Robertson, a slide-in cutting board and drying rack flank the range—making cooking a total breeze. Not to mention cleanup: You never have to worry about fitting them into other drawers or cabinets.

Consider maximizing your dining arrangement with a nook for a built-in bench as designer Nannette Brown did for this moody galley kitchen in a New York apartment.

Everything I Used To Organize My Small Kitchen Layout 2021

Backsplash—make everything look and function smoother. Pro designers are embracing the style, including designer Melanie Millner who chose Cielo quartzite for this European-inspired estate in Georgia. Enhance the spacious, cohesive feel with a little display shelf in the same material.

If hanging a pot rack from the ceiling isn't ideal for you, opt for a short rail secured to a small open shelf. In this kitchen by designer Augusta Hoffman, a small rod displays a few go-to tools and cookware for easy access while cooking.

If you tend to charge your phone or iPad in your kitchen, move that clutter into a drawer with docking outlets like this sleek setup by designer Sarah Robertson. That way, you'll have more counter space to cook and flip through recipe books.

Small But Beautiful: A Complete Guide To Designing And Maximising The Space In A Small Kitchen

Amplify the character in your small kitchen with the look of exposed brick for less. In this San Francisco kitchen, designer Lynn Kloythanomsup chose a classic red brick, but since it was just for looks, went faux. “It’s like a thin brick tile, ” she explains.

Save counter space with a built-in electric cooktop. A slim version—like this one with two burners in a working pantry by Rob Klein and Amy Kreutz of Conceptual Kitchens & Millwork—will give you more room to unload groceries and prepare meals.

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Welcome To Our Best Small Kitchen Design Ideas

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The 12 Best Kitchen Drawer Organization Ideas 9 Comfortable Futons to Transform Your Small Space 86 Tiny House Ideas to Add to Your Mood Board A Complete Guide to Luxury RVs and Mobile HomesLiving with a small kitchen is invariably frustrating, whether you’re a diehard gourmand or the type of person who uses the oven as wardrobe overflow. Spatial gymnastics, like chopping vegetables on a counter the size of a postage stamp or sucking in your stomach to navigate the passage between your refrigerator and kitchen island, can get old—fast. But being short on square footage should never inhibit the design potential of your kitchen. In fact, you might be surprised by the myriad methods out there to make even the most pint-size of cooking areas look and feel grand.

“Always extend your cabinets to the ceiling no matter the size of your kitchen, ” advises Lauren Buxbaum Gordon, a partner at Nate Berkus Associates. “It will make your ceilings feel higher and your kitchen bigger.” She recently incorporated this spatial trick into a Manhattan apartment with a tiny kitchen. If sky-high cupboards aren’t possible (we hear you renters), Buxbaum Gordon recommends thinking small: “Invest in details that will add up visually and feel impactful. Whether beveling or adding a brass band to the face of the countertop or bringing in vintage hardware…use these little details to make your personal imprint.”

Small Kitchen Layouts: 20 Ideas To Maximize That Small Space |

Swapping a dreary paint shade for a light-and-bright one on your cupboards can go a long way too, in addition to a bevy of other tips and tricks. So we’ve rounded up 81 small kitchens from our archive to show you precisely how. Read on to see gorgeous homes that make the most of their small layouts with bold cabinetry, double-duty accent pieces, sleek lighting solutions, and more.

This Victorian farmhouse in the Oxfordshire, England, digs of Toast CEO Suzie de Rohan Willner may be on the small side, but it sings with country charm. Bright green lower cabinets help the eye to zip around the space, while open shelving allows for smart storage and display of chic knickknacks.

The client of this Manhattan apartment doesn’t use her small galley-style kitchen that often, but that didn’t keep designer Lauren Buxbaum Gordon from making it a showpiece. Her signature move? To extend the cabinetry all the way up to the soaring period ceilings. Light countertops and a glossy white paint job let sunshine into the room, but it’s the gleaming gold hardware and accents that really make this small kitchen a winner.

Small Kitchen Design And Decorating Ideas For Your Home

When you’re working with a 16th-century townhouse, like French designer Eric Allart did, you have to embrace the period quirks. This kitchen came complete with terra-cotta tiles. Rather than rip them out, Allart kept them in place and designed a quirky kitchen in unexpected hues to complement them. Here, an inky tile backsplash refracts sunlight, and a Pepto-pink shade on the walls and ceilings works to move the eye upward.

This apartment, designed by New York firm Husband Wife, employs Buxbaum Gordon’s towering kitchen cabinet rule. But rather than resort to the usual all-white, the designers clad the walls in a swirling marble and coated the cabinets in the dreamiest shade of glossy cream paint. It’s the perfect combo of classic and contemporary.

A small area didn’t stop Nate Berkus from incorporating a diminutive table and chairs (a vintage architect’s desk and school chairs) into his former Chicago kitchen. The metal cabinets were original to the 1929 apartment and pack in just the right amount of industrial-chic storage.

Before + After Small Kitchen Remodel

You’d never believe it, but this Provincetown, Massachusetts, cottage started life out as a humble fishing shack. Designer David Cafiero embraced the nautical theme throughout the house, including in this pint-size galley kitchen, which was modeled after a ship’s cooking space.

This Brooklyn apartment is blessed with super-tall ceilings and tons of natural light. Designer Danielle Fennoy of Revamp