Making the Most of a Small Kitchen : My Workspace

by skyisblu

21K15635

Intro: Making the Most of a Small Kitchen : My Workspace

The kitchen is the heart of your home - it is where family gathers to share their day, to enjoy good food together, and to feel at home. I have always felt at home in the kitchen, so when I moved into my current house with its rather small kitchen, I knew that I had to do some magic to make it work for me. 

I had rather specific needs when renovating my kitchen, as I am a professional chef by day, so I like my space to be functional and cater to my needs. Given the lack of space, everything that went into the space needed to have at least 2 or 3 functions. Also, I have a lot of tools and gadget(all carefully chosen) so there had to be plenty of storage space. 

This is the result of the renovation. There are no doors on the cabinets yet, but they are coming, and having left them open for several year has encourage me to install glass doors on the center cabinets, to show off my dishes.

30 Comments

David_Hamilton 6 years ago

I think the entire setup is amazing! I am really impressed at all the confined spaces that you have fully made use of especially the cabinet doors and the sides of the table. I guess I really need to explore all the hidden spaces of the kitchen to create storage by maximizing the slightest amount of space I can find. Thanks for the inspiration!

mom7478 7 years ago

I'm going to borrow some of your outstanding ideas. Wow! Impressive! Thank you.

germap 8 years ago

Absolutely amazing! Lots of good ideas for optimizing space.

sway 11 years ago

My compliments on your very creative use of space. You have more room than I do, but I came away with some great ideas. I LOVE Ikea and I've taken a great many tips from Intructables and ikeahackers (a site I recommend BTW)
And now, as suggested by drbill, I will check out tinyhousetalk.com

zurd0 12 years ago

Nice Ideas... The butcher block counter top is my favorite idea for saving space.. thank you so much skyisblu!

acil 12 years ago

Nice work,
I have a small kitchen too.
Now I can maximize the space in my kitchen.
Thanks for the article.

webtelles 13 years ago

Amazing space saver.... WOW!!!
My Kitchen is 3 times bigger but I cannot fix half of things you have... OMG!!!
GREAT IDEA!!!

omicronomicron 13 years ago

I rushed to this INSTRUCTABLE as my kitchen is tiny. Good use of spaces but you could fit 6 of my kitchens into the space you have! I kid you not! Mine is in a small cottage and is just a little bigger than some caravan kitchens, although not as practical as caravan kitchens have cever shelves and cupboards designed for a tiny space... A very tiny kitchen is a shocking challenge; your table alone would cover half my kitchen footprint. Does anyone have any ideas for a teeny teeny space like that? BUT I enjoyed your Instructable anyhow.

Poabear 13 years ago

my kitchen is just like yours, it's ultra tiny. I use small stackable drawers for spices and small utensils, as well as lots of wall shelving on what little wall space there is. I put my appliances like my toaster and such on the shelves. also, those as-seen-on-TV rotating tupperware sets are a lifesaver for getting rid of clutter in both my cabinets and my fridge.

omicronomicron 13 years ago

thanks Poabear... I had to look up the tupperware thing - UK here so maybe not the same things on sale? Looks good. I want to find lots of Ibles which will help me make the most out of my rented space, as I can't put loads of shelves up... where do you get your stackable drawers from please? I have 3 small cupboards, one of which is almost impossible to get into!!! Best thing I ever did was to buy a REMOSKA - a small table-top round oven-pan which roasts, bakes, makes heavenly chicken soup etc... this helps me a lot but it is easy and cheap storage solutions I need OR I WILL GO SLOWLY MAD!!!!
Thanks for your suggestions... that was my first comment!

Poabear 13 years ago

I don't know what stores there are in the UK but i got my stackable drawers at a large department store. I have found them at crafts stores and dollar stores as well. Generally i've never payed over $3-$4 for a single unit (the ones i use have 3 drawers per unit, and are about 25cm tall, and 18cm in length and width). I can fit about 6-9 spice bottles in each drawer and with a very minimal amount of counter space i can stack them as high as i like to hold all my spices and small utensils, even small snacks or candy if you like, hehe

omicronomicron 13 years ago

Thanks POABEAR for this, I will look out for some stackable drawers - or make some ... good idea about keeping bottles in them, they take up lots of cupboard space and the space above them can be wasted ... boy, by the time i have finished, EVERY INCH of wall space will be lined with tottering towers of small drawer-units; a plethora of drawers in which there will be snacks galore - as you said ; heh heh!

Rian Sye 13 years ago

That's a great use of space! Ikea is a total life saver, aint it?

skyisblu 13 years ago

I can't actually go to Ikea without buying something, so I have to make sure I plan my trips there. Otherwise, I think I would have an awesome-looking house, but would be flat broke!

vinced2 13 years ago

Great ideas for saving space.

ElvenChild 13 years ago

I was just wondering does anybody here no any good pizza recipies?

hishealer 13 years ago

Great ideas! Makes me wish I don't rent. I think my kitchen is almost exactly the same size. We did get a smaller gas stove. (I must have a gas stove!) And a bit of a smaller fridge. We also put shelves in the next room, our living room, so we keep them a little neater. I think I'll use the idea of hanging more things on the walls. Like my stainless steel pans ^^
More Comments