Making the most of small kitchens

Some at-home cooks dream. They dream of a cavernous kitchen, with miles of counter space, ample cabinets and drawers for holding oddly shaped cookware. They dream of kitchens large enough to house islands and peninsulas, double ovens and overhead pot racks. In this dream no blender is ever missing and no spices tumble out of drawers, spilling their delicious contents onto the floor below.

But this is only a dream. And, for many cooks, reality is closer to a nightmare.

A small kitchen can be a real terror. When you bemoan your tiny territory of tasty treats, your friends will nod and frown and perhaps lay a consoling hand on your shoulder.

But even the most diminutive kitchen can be put to good use, says Wendy Taddeucci, owner of Simply Organized, LLC, in LaPorte, Indiana. But first, she says, you have to know what that use is. "Know your goals for your kitchen," Taddeucci says. "What are you going to be doing in your kitchen? Are you going to be baking a lot? Are you a gourmet chef? You'll need different tools. Only have what's necessary for cooking or baking and let the rest go."

Once you've ditched anything and everything not needed in the kitchen, it's time to take a look at how to maximize your space. Marilyn Nagelkirk, a certified kitchen designer and owner of Kitchen West in Douglas, Michigan, suggests taking a look at your cabinetry. Designer wall cabinets can get up to 15 inches deep, allowing depth storage for bigger diameter plates and serving pieces.

Your walls may also be unused real estate. While old houses (a common small kitchen criminal) have high ceilings, the cabinets weren't built to the top. Building your cabinets to the ceiling can add loads of storage, Nagelkirk says.

Using the cabinet shelving to your advantage can be a big help too, says Karyn Madorin, president of Extreme Organizing, Inc., in Chicago. "In the cabinets be sure you're using the vertical space. So, sometimes that just means readjusting the shelves. It's time well spent," she says. "Put the tall items in the back of the cabinet and graduate down to the small items."

Nagelkirk also recommends looking beyond the kitchen walls for space that can be repurposed. A nearby closet can be artfully turned into a pantry by removing the rod, adding shelves, a coat of paint and a set of pretty glass doors.

It's also time to think "small" in terms of appliances. Dishwashers come in an 18-inch model, as well as a single drawer model. Refrigerators can also be found as small as 18 inches.

"We do a lot of single bowl sinks now. The typical double bowl was for the wash and rinse. With a dishwasher—if people are comfortable with it—we do a nice, deep single bowl," Nagelkirk says. "That way, you can go right from rinsing a dish and put it in the dishwasher and that's going to give you quite a bit of countertop storage."

Using the underside of your cabinets will help free up counter space, Madorin says. Coffeemakers and microwaves can be installed under cabinets instead of sitting on the counter.

There are plenty of tips to trick the eye if the space still just feels small, Nagelkirk says. Remove any busy decorations that will detract from clean lines.

"Lighter paint colors will give you the illusion of a more spacious room. Also, keep the colors pretty consistent in value. That will keep a nice, clean and simple look in the kitchen," she says.

Upper glass cabinets that are lit from within can add to the illusion of space by drawing the eye upwards and allowing you to see all the way to the back of the cabinet. This keeps the cabinets from looking like a dense wall—which can make a small kitchen feel even smaller, Nagelkirk says.

Once you've repainted, whittled kitchenwares down to only the necessities, and done any major remodeling, it's time to organize what's left. Adding a spice rack to the back of a cabinet door or a lazy Susan to a cabinet will make the kitchen feel airier and easier to get around in, Taddeucci says. Store like items together and store things as close as possible to where they will be used.

"It's very important in a small kitchen to be aware of your prime real estate in there," Madorin says. "Think about what you use most often and make sure it's accessible."