21 Small Kitchen Design Ideas You Need to Know

The kitchen is absolutely vital not only because it contains the appliances and tools needed to prepare any type of meal, but it is also one of the most important spaces for storage, seating, and communication. Without it, the homes will most likely feel empty and disoriented. Because it is the most used room in your home, you want it to be a place where you love spending time.

Apart from functional appliances, a kitchen design that you’ll adore for the coming years is essential. As such, even if you’re renovating or looking for ideas, we found many kitchen design ideas to help you customize your own. Working with the floor plan of your space is essential, whether your kitchen is limited to a single wall, U-shaped, or tucked in a corner.

1. Adding a prep area

If you don’t have enough room, consider bringing in a table that can serve as both a prep and dining area as one of your kitchen ideas. Even a small console table can store tools and ingredients while you cook.

2. Adding some greenery

Plants can bring life to any room, which includes your kitchen. Be more creative in incorporating your favorite air-purifying plants, indoor trees, and pet-friendly plants.

3. Additional seating

Use the additional counter space for casual dinners or coffee in the morning. Pull a few barstools and enjoy an extra dining space.

4. Install light fixtures

Install lighting throughout the kitchen to brighten it up. “There is never enough lighting in a kitchen, and I always down-light with decorative fixtures over the island and prep station,” Wolf says. While cooking, good lighting, and plenty of it, is critical.

5. Organize the inside of your cabinets

Getting organized is vital for any small space (kitchens or otherwise). When space is limited, you can’t afford to waste any of it, including the hidden space inside your cabinets. Purchase risers, spice-sorting systems, and anything else that will help you optimize and enhance your kitchen storage.

6. Add a kitchen island

Even though your kitchen is small, you can incorporate a slim kitchen island. Consider a rolling island that can be pushed out of the way once the food is ready.

7. Use light colors to visually expand a small kitchen

“The lighter the kitchen, the larger it can feel,” as Wolf said. “If there is a magnificent view out the window, I like to focus on bringing the outdoors in and letting nature dictate the palette.” Maintaining a light color palette on countertops, backsplashes, walls, and millwork helps a small kitchen feel more spacious.

8. Add lights to shelving and cabinetry

Flooding the space with as much natural and artificial light as possible for an instant upgrade is ideal. Nothing is worse than cooking in a poorly lit area. Add library lights or LED light strips near cabinets and shelves if possible to brighten everything up.

9. Use small appliances

Don’t think that small means a cheap apartment, entry-level, or dorm room anymore. Small appliances of high quality are now obtainable. Another option is combination appliances, such as a microwave-convection-browning appliance.

10. Get a tiny sink with a cover

“Don’t forget about the sink. The biggest innovation in sinks today is that they all come with covers; when you need a big sink for cleanup, it’s there, and when you need a tiny sink, it’s there as well.

11. Use pattern on your floor

The floor is a frequently overlooked area of a kitchen. It is the ideal location for a high-impact design element: “A patterned floor will create the illusion of a larger space.” Wolf enjoys experimenting with chevron or herringbone wood-floor patterns, and hand-painted cement tile for a more bohemian look.

12. Use pattern on your walls

Of course, patterns aren’t limited to your floor. You can also add interest to your kitchen walls by using patterned tile, wallpaper, or wall decors.

13. Get custom hardware

Try to use hardware to make a statement piece. It’s a piece of jewelry you put to finish the look of your kitchen.

14. Add warm accents of good kitchen rug

Warm accents, such as a good rug, can help a small kitchen feel more like a cohesive space, particularly if it is a one-wall kitchen that isn’t its own separate room.

15. Invest in kitchen supplies you don’t mind flaunting

Place well-designed pots, kettles, pans, and supplies right on the stove or on the bizarre rack formed by the cabinets’ tops when they are not being used. It will make you feel like your kitchen is in the same space as your dining and living rooms.

16. Use the space above the counter for extra storage

With how much storage you can add to a wall, the sky’s the limit, or at least your ceiling is. Without taking up much space, you can create an incredibly efficient storage system with shelves for glassware, hooks for mugs, pegs for pans, and a rod for frequently used utensils.

17. Hang your mugs

One of our favorite small kitchen ideas is to hang your mugs. This solution serves two functions: it frees up cabinet space and the (right) mugs can serve as a decorative accent. Set up a rack beneath your cabinet or place a mug tree on your counter. You can also mount any type of rack directly to the wall to make an even bigger statement.

18. Hide your fridge within the cabinetry

This is one of the more expensive small kitchen ideas, but it is revolutionary. Hiding your refrigerator within your cabinetry streamlines the overall appearance of the space and creates a seamless surface.

19. Put up artwork

Your kitchen, like every other room in your home, deserves artwork. Incorporating art that complements your space and style is a simple but effective way to improve the look of your kitchen.

20. Make use of every nook and cranny

Make use of everything, including space next to your stove (it makes a fantastic place to store spices, oils, soup stocks, et cetera

21. Use concealed storage

It’s not just dinnerware that can be hidden; anything can be hidden. If you’re starting from scratch or remodeling a small kitchen, the options for concealed storage are nearly limitless. You can conceal appliances behind a set of custom French doors, tuck a pullout banquette into an island, designed pullout marble pantries, and hidden outlets.

Takeaway

There are a lot more kitchen ideas introduced out there. Redesigning your own kitchen however you want is an exciting and fun thing to do. Be bolder and creative!