We aren’t all lucky enough to have a massive kitchen. There are plenty of ways to maximize the space of an inadequately sized kitchen. Here are a few tips that’ll make you realize how much space you actually have! 

Build up

If you are completely redoing your kitchen, consider extending your cabinetry upward! Extending your cabinets close to, or all the way, to the ceiling will double your storage.  The less accessible cabinet spaces are a great space for your less used formal dishware or bulk goods. 

 

Keep the space bright

The biggest mistake a homeowner can do is choose dark tones for a small space. Keep smaller kitchens with light or white woods. This will make the space feel more open and happier. 

Adding hooks, racks, or tiny shelves in the inside of your cabinet doors can almost double your storage capacity by utilizing all the vertical space. This is great for spices, mugs and towels. Take ideas from Tiny Homes. The amazing thing about tiny houses is that they incorporate every square inch of the space for storage. While your kitchen may be a bit bigger than a tiny home, it never hurts to snag a few ideas! 

Glass and mirrored cabinets

Whether open cabinets, glass, or mirrored cabinets are your cup of tea, they are all great additions to making your kitchen feel more open. The idea behind this is that it extends sight-lines. Being able to see a foot further through the back of your cabinet takes away the bulkiness of the cabinets. Mirrors will reflect light and give the illusion of much more space. 

Update your countertop. 

While stone countertops are the most durable, there are many cheaper temporary options to update a countertop until you are ready for a full remodel.  Some temporary options include countertop paint and epoxy kits.

Backsplash.

Backsplashes can really add a good amount of pizzazz to a kitchen! Whether you want to go all out, or go a cheaper route such as peel and stick, or wallpaper, it is no doubt that your kitchen will feel as good as new!

New hardware. 

Even if your cabinets feel warn out, sometimes all it takes is some new handles to take it from shabby to shabby chic.

New lighting.

Another way to make a bold statement is to update lights! New lighting can go a long way to change the look and feel of a kitchen. 

Change faucet.

Updating a faucet is as bold as getting a new fridge these days. Not only can you get a much higher end faucet with fancy technology, but you can get one in maybe a matte black? A bold faucet can do wonders!

Reface cabinets.

Cabinet refacing in a great way to remodel a kitchen! If you love the layout, and your boxes are still in great shape, there is no reason not to!

Pros

Gives an open and simplistic feeling

Having dishes, fruit, cutting board or other kitchen items on display shows that you’re a real person. However, having them always organized also shows how you have a real grip on life. At least that is what social media has made it out to be. I personally love open shelving when done right. They key is, the stuff you have on your open shelves, is either stuff you never use, or stuff you use frequently. If you use the same bowl every day, having it on an open shelf is fine, since dust wont collect within a day. having your fancy dishes that are for looking at, or small pieces of art, are also a great way to create the calm and collected look we are all trying to portray. 

 

Makes the kitchen feel larger

Without big boxy cabinets covering the wall space, there is a good 10″ of extra space on your kitchen walls. This makes a huge impact on kitchens big and small. 

 

Cost

Cost may be a factor in the choice of how a kitchen remodel is done! One great benefit to open shelving is that it can be much cheaper than than cabinet boxes! It can also cost the same depending on the route you go, but generally it will be at least a bit cheaper. 

 

Cons

Storage

Storage is always a huge concern in kitchens. Everyone lives by the idea that “the more storage, the better”. With open shelving, it takes away the ability to hide unsightly countertop appliances, poorly stackable storage containers, and older chipped dishes that are still functional. 

 

Dust

With dishes you use once a week or every other week. Dust will collect, and you’ll have to wash them again before you serve food.

 

Clutter

This goes hand and hand with the storage. Most kitchens have some sort of clutter, with the last of closed shelving, all the clutter will either be crammed in lower shelves, or displayed for the whole world to see. 

Use both sides of the island 

Having deep cabinets are sometimes nice, but things in the back are hard to get to and easy to forget about. Instead, add cabinet doors to both sides. That way, you have access to a lot more storage.

 

Taller upper cabinets

The biggest issue with small kitchens is storage. If you have the ceiling height, extend your cabinets taller. While the cabinets wont always be the easiest to reach. Storing seasonal items up there is a great way to keep them closer than a crawl space, attic, or garage.

 

Open up a pass through

If you can’t open up a wall entirely, a way to make a space feel much bigger is to create a pass through. Not feeling closed off in a kitchen can really make a whole home and space feel bigger. 

Drawer and cabinet organizers

Something most people do is dedicate a whole drawer or section of their cabinet space to a single type of item. With organizers, it is easy to designate spots without having to waste precious storage space.

 

Less countertop space for more storage

While you may not want to sacrifice countertop space, it may be a smart trade off for more storage. Consider installing a pantry sized cabinet in lieu of more countertop space.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Consider the layout

 

My kitchen is a U shaped kitchen. It isn’t open concept at all, but has a wonderful layout. It isn’t that big, but it’s bigger than any kitchen I’ve ever used! The sink is in the very middle under a window, and the stove, oven, and fridge are all on the left side of the sink(See pictures below). Originally, my fiance put all of our dishes to the left of the sink. I had to explain to him why that was such a bad idea.

 

When you’re cooking, do you usually grab dishes, or do you usually grab spices and cooking ingredients? Cooking stuff of course! Let’s say someone wants to get a glass of water while another is cooking. When that happens you’ll be on top of each other! (Which is exactly how it was at our last place) Alas, after a few seconds he understood and let me organize the whole thing.

All spices and savory cooking ingredients are placed to the right side of the oven, since we are both right handed, it made the most sense to us. On the left side of the stove, right side of the fridge, we have our baking things. I’m the baker out of the two of us. However I like to bake mostly paleo desserts, so not only are they not very good a lot of the time, I don’t bake that often because no one wants to share with me! That being said, I put all the baking stuff in the top shelves on the left side since that is definitely going to be the least frequently used cabinet.

No matter how you decide to organize, just make sure things are in logical places. I prefer all my cooking items near where I cook, and all my dish items be where all my countertop space is, as far away as possible from the “chefs” side.

 

My fiance and I have not bumped into each other once since I organized the kitchen, and it is wonderful. If you feel like your kitchen is too small, try organizing and see if it helps you! 

Step 1: Empty + Clean

 

Take everything out and organize by items. Cans, bagged goods, boxed items, things in jars, etc. Now scrub. Get all the dust, crumbs, slime and mysterious dried liquids cleaned up. If you want to go all out, go ahead and and repaint and wallpaper the inside of your pantry. Not necessary, but it’ll make it prettier. For the average person, a magic eraser and some water should do the trick. 

Step 2: Analyze 

 

Now that your pantry is empty, appreciate it for a second! I bet you forgot how big it was. With all your items sprawled on the floor, how much of it was a surprise – the “Oh wow I forgot about this!” moment?

Think about the convenience of where everything has been located up to this point. Are there items shoved far back that you want to bring up? Once you’ve mentally organized everything, it is time to start the next step.

Step 3: Tackle problems

 

Problems such as items being unreachable is a super easy fix!  Adding pull out drawers for shelving will make everything super easy to reach and accessible.

Pasta boxes taking over? Try switching all of your pasta, rice and quinoa into glass containers. Not only does it look cleaner and more organized, it will take away the issue of 5o different half boxes. Worried about not having the cooking instructions? Write them down on a piece of paper or sticky note and place it on the back on the container. 

There are thousands of solutions to any issue your pantry may have. 

Put everything back

Now that everything is organize and you have a plan, it’s time to put everything back. Take care this organization as it is key to keeping a happy pantry. Group items together so they are easy to find, keep labels face out, and stay consistent.

The best trick to keeping an organized pantry is consistency. If a container is almost empty and you bought a new one, either throw away the excess or put the excess into the new container. Check for expired items monthly, and keep it clean.

Layout

 

Layout is huge when it comes to a home. Proximity from the kitchen to the living room is a big deal, but also location of appliances. Relocating a kitchen, blowing down walls and moving around appliances is extremely costly, so unless you have a huge renovation budget up your sleeve, it is important to try to find a kitchen where these two things are use-able for your lifestyle. 

Make sure it comes with appliances

 

Kitchen appliances aren’t cheap! Many homeowners plan on taking their appliances with them to their new home. A set of new appliances can run from $5k – $10k depending on how “high end” they are. Don’t fret if the appliances aren’t stainless steel or if they don’t match. Don’t forget, this is just your first home. Everything is replaceable in time. 

Quality of cabinet boxes

 

Remember how we were talking about location of the kitchen and the appliances? Here is why! If the cabinet boxes are in good shape, you can dress any kitchen up with new cabinet doors and hardware. Cabinet refacing is a cheap alternative, and it can make an old kitchen feel brand new again. This is much cheaper than ripping everything out, and as a first time home buyer, the goal is to build equity, not dump money into a project that is over your head.  

Remember your first home won’t be perfect. 

 

It’s so easy to get caught up with all the gorgeous kitchens we see every day on HGTV, Pinterest and Instagram. Don’t let an outdated kitchen discourage you. Most people don’t get a perfect first home. Over the next 5 to 10 years, this home will become perfect because it will be yours and your vision for it will shine through.

Double Oven

 

If you have the budget and the space, these are a baker’s dream. Imagine being able to bake twice as much at once! Whether or not you have the space for two ovens, look into convection ovens. They use fans to recirculate the air for a more even bake. 

Open shelving

 

Open shelving is great for many reasons. It makes the kitchen feel more open and it forces you to be more organized. Another perk of open shelving is being able to see all your dry ingredients! Having cute containers lined up ready to go is awesome for frequent bakers. 

Utilize a Kitchen Cart

 

Catering carts are great for those short on space. Being able to store it along a wall or in a walk in pantry when not in use is a huge plus! These carts are great for keeping everything close by while baking! Plus, they’re in style right now and are a super cute addition to any kitchen. 

Drawer conversions

 

Being able to store all of your cooking needs in an easy to access way is ideal for any home chef. It is extra ideal for a baker, because we use so many more tools! Converting your shelving to extra drawers is not only convenient on your back, but creates extra, more organized, storage! 

Extra seating

 

Not everyone enjoys having company over while they cook, but if you want to spend the whole day together while preparing dinner, or even having your guests help, there needs to be space for everyone. It is hard to fit 10+ people in a kitchen, but having a place nearby for them to hangout is a great way to keep the party going while getting everything accomplished. This is great in open concept designs.

If your current home layout isn’t conducive for creating an open concept design, try utilizing your eat-in kitchen space. Creating a lounge area in this space is a great option. There are many ways to do this and make it look good and still be cost effective.

My favorite option is lining the back wall/corner with storage ottomans. I own a few of the ones linked! They’re great for extra seating and extra storage! When set next to each other, they almost look like one large piece of furniture. Throw some decorative pillows on them, and you’re set for seating the masses!

Another option is utilizing your peninsula or island if you have one. Some bar stools that can be tucked under the countertop will give extra options for all your guests.

Install glass cabinet doors or create open shelving.

 

The worst part about being a guest in someone’s home is having to ask where things are. Having open shelving will take away those awkward moments. Not only is open shelving “in” right now, it is a great way to put your holiday dishes on display! Which, when you have guests over, is what they will be using! It is a win-win! 

Convenient recycling and trash bins

 

I love built in, pull out, trash bins. They make throwing away trash easy. This is not only convenient for every day life, but also to create less congestion when there are many guests in the home. Guests will be less likely to leave a mess if they have an easy access point. While it is normally nice to have your trash under the sink, this will make life difficult fast, when you’re in the kitchen. Think about convenience for your guests, as well as yourself. 

Tech add-ons

 

Imagine, not just for the holidays, but for all year, being able to play music throughout your whole home. Install speaker throughout home, including the kitchen. This is a great way to keep the party going, no matter where your guests are.

Another nice touch is light dimmers. As the evening arises, bright lights are hard on the eyes. Installing dimmers throughout your living space is a great way to keep the mood going all night long! 

New career

With a new career there comes many changes. Change in wardrobe for work, home office, organization due to a new schedule. This is a great time to declutter because you’ll need to reorganize for your new lifestyle. Go through old bookshelves and get rid of any old binders and work related items that are not necessary for your new job. Spend this time getting an understanding of your goals for your work life in the next few years. What are you still holding on to that doesn’t interlock with that vision?

 

 

New child/growing family

Whether you are adopting, having a new child or your parents are coming to live with you, expecting another human in your home a big change. Use the time before they arrive to clear extra space in your home. Decluttering will make everything run  run a bit more smoothly. The challenge in this is the stress up until the point of arrival. However, with this, decluttering and making space will actually help ease that stress. Start by cleaning out your own space, as it will inspire you to move forward, and make the whole process a lot more calming. 

   

Moving into a new home or apartment

Getting ready for a move is a great time to sort through your belongings. This gives you the opportunity to sort your “take with me” items and your “donate” items. While it may be hard, as moving is stressful, try to push through! Don’t just throw everything in boxes and lug it to your new space, as this will end up with items living in boxes for many years to come. Take this time to visualize what you want your new home to look and feel like.  Keep this vision in mind as you make decisions about what to keep. Also remember, it is easier to move less items! 

 

 

Change in relationship status

Whether you are moving in together, split up, or getting married, things are bound to change in your home. Compromising can be tricky. It may cause some of us to fight to keep things we may not need or want, just because we want to win. In the event of a break up, the goal here is to re-invent yourself. Discover yourself and purge things that bring on negative emotions or memories. The beauty of this is, especially after the ending of a long-term relationship, is you re-learn who you are! Be honest with yourself, and challenge yourself to let go of things that don’t represent who you are today.