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There are certain elements you expect to find in virtually all kitchens irrespective of size. Utensils, food, spices, cleaning agents, clothes and more. Large kitchens therefore have a distinct advantage as you have more space to play with. Small kitchens can feel cramped, cluttered and chaotic.
Nevertheless, you can organize your small kitchen if you get a little creative and maximize the available space. Here’s a look at a number of tried and tested storage ideas that would have your small kitchen feeling much bigger than it is.
Optimize the Pantry
Maximize your pantry space by meticulously organizing your dry goods and other pantry staples. Maintain a consistent rotation of your spices, cereals and dry goods to ensure you are not adding to pantry clutter by holding onto expired items.
Use All Available Space
You don’t have the luxury of picking and choosing usable space when you have a small kitchen. Make the most of even the tiniest, seemingly insignificant sections. You could for instance install a tilt down drawer below your sink where you’d store sponges, brushes and other cleaning items that would otherwise occupy precious space elsewhere.
Use Neutral Light Hues
Use light colors such as grays and whites to make your kitchen be perceived as much larger than it is. Misty greys are especially effective at opening up a room. You can mix white and greys to reduce the monotony of a single colour while adhering to a consistent theme.
Tidy the Closet
Keep the utility closet neat and clean. Do not allow it to become a messy storage space for your dustpans, mops and brooms. Use wall hangers to spread and keep everything in its rightful place.
Go Vertical
A small kitchen has limited floor space. You can make up for this shortcoming by making the most of your vertical space. Free up your drawers by hanging your large kitchen utensils on pierced corbels. Glass front-mounted cabinet doors can display your serving ware and still make your small kitchen feel roomier than an opaque door would.
Modify and Maximize Cabinets
Replace or modify your current cabinets to create customizable, convenient pantry space. Racks and pull-out drawers allow you to pack plenty of pantry items in a space that’s much smaller than what you would otherwise need for a normal-sized pantry. Check out the best RTA cabinets from Best Online Cabinets.
Hang Pegboards
Your walls can store more than you think. Pots, pans and different types of kitchen appliances and utensils can rest on a pegboard thus freeing up the limited shelf and cabinet space. Pegboards are a flexible option that can be adjusted in the future as your needs change.
Top of the Cabinets
If there’s space between the top of your cabinets and the ceiling, then this can be prime space for your storage needs. It’s a perfect place to stash the rarely required serving dishes and pantry supplies.
Top of the Refrigerator
The top of the refrigerator is a notorious haven for kitchen clutter. Instead of constantly battling to keep it clear, why not go with the flow and formally make it a storage area? You could install a wall cabinet hanging over the fridge or you could procure a simple free-standing rack that you’d place on the fridge. Items that could go here include pots, pans and cutting boards.
Reduce the Size of Furniture
Do you really need that medium or large breakfast table in your already congested kitchen? Do you need a round table or can a semi-circle table top do? You may find that replacing large inconveniently-shaped furniture with smaller space-saving ones can create extra floor space that could be used for standalone cabinets or other forms of storage.
Think Beyond the Kitchen
Does everything really need to be in the kitchen? There are items, especially the less frequently used ones, that could be placed in other rooms in the home. You could for instance move entertainment cutlery and barware to the living room in suitable cabinetry. Considering small kitchens are synonymous with small homes, you won’t have to walk much to pick the items from the living room when you need them.
When your kitchen is small, every inch of space has to work doubly hard. By applying these storage tips, you can expand your kitchen’s usable space without changing its square footage.
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