Our life has improved in so many ways compared with that of our predecessors, but one of the ways in which we are probably poorer than our forebears is our access to domestic space.
City houses which were once the home of a single-family have been divided and subdivided so that the more central your location the less space you are likely to enjoy.
Making the most of a small space has become one of the key design essentials of most modern homes. Cluttered, small living environments are stressful to live in, they are psychologically oppressive, and they are dysfunctional as a machine for living. Nowhere is this felt more intensely than in the small kitchen.
A kitchen is a space where you are constantly importing new materials, not just food but also cleaning materials and new kitchen equipment and so it is a space which can easily become cluttered.
Compounding the problem is the fact that it’s a workspace: you need to be able to prepare food and deal with dirty plates and utensils. Here then are some suggestions for helping to keep your small kitchen the site of relaxation and enjoyment that it should be.
How do you feel when you walk in?
Forget about the practicalities for a minute, what does your kitchen make you feel like? However small your kitchen it should never feel like an oppressive space so make sure that you maximise your natural light source – a well-placed mirror can help- and that you choose paint or paper which doesn’t close in the space.
Are you stuck with what you’ve got, or can you make structural changes?
If you are in rental accommodation you will have to work with the existing set-up but if this is your property, consider how the space can be reconfigured. Is there a chimney breast that could be removed or even a wall?
Organise those cupboards
‘A place for everything and everything in its place’ may be an age-old saying but it’s the key to enjoying a small kitchen. Not only will it enable you to maximise your storage space, it will also save you from that intensely annoying process of going through every cupboard and drawer looking for a tablespoon. Is the space in your cupboards used efficiently? Extra internal shelving, hooks and utilizing the backs of doors can all increase storage capacity, but don’t overfill, if you can’t access something easily then you’ve got too much in the cupboard.
Use your high space
If your kitchen has a high ceiling, then how about a hanging rack or additional shelving.
Obviously, you don’t want to overdo this, and you need to have thought through how often you’ll need access to these up high objects, but aerial storage can look very quirky/stylish when done well.
Fold away
Tables, chairs and work surfaces can all be found in a foldable form enabling you use your kitchen space in different ways.