What if the apartment has a small kitchen? We share ideas on how to visually expand the room and effectively use the limited space.
The main question when arranging a small kitchen is how to place everything you need and make the room look spacious and tidy. This can often be achieved with simple and inexpensive techniques.
Zoning space
The easiest way to expand a small kitchen is to use the space to prepare and store food, and move the dining area into the room. You can replace the usual sliding door between the rooms or convert the opening into an arch. A radical option is to make a redevelopment by combining the kitchen with a living room, a loggia, or a corridor. In this case, you can use the visual zoning technique – for example, layout the floors in the kitchen with tiles, and cover with parquet in the adjacent room or make multi-level ceilings to emphasize the transition between the kitchen and the room.
Choose furniture for the layout
A small space can be expanded with the right furniture. For a narrow kitchen, a linear layout is suitable – in this case, the kitchen set is built along one wall. The main points – refrigerator, sink, work area, stove – follow each other, and the dining table can be placed against the opposite wall. In a square kitchen, it is more rational to use an angular layout – place the stove, sink and refrigerator in a triangle near adjacent walls. Furniture in both cases should be multifunctional – retractable work surfaces, folding tables, transforming shelves, benches, and poufs with built-in drawers will help to compensate for the lack of space. You can also buy folding chairs that can be easily stowed away or hung on the wall. To find such optimized and practical furniture pieces you can go to NYFO.
The surface by the window is convenient to use as a shelf for dishes, books, flowers, or an extension of the work surface. The narrow sill can be extended and converted into a bar counter, bench, coffee table or folding dining table. To do this, you need to consider two points. First, pick up cropped curtains or replace them with roman blinds. Secondly, if there is a battery under the windowsill, then holes must be made in the countertop for air circulation so that mold does not form on the furniture.
Use built-in appliances
Large household appliances can be placed under the worktop. In addition, it makes sense to choose a mini-appliance – a hob with two burners and a narrow washing machine and dishwasher. And multifunctional appliances will also help out – for example, a multicooker or a microwave oven, which can serve as an oven and stove. You can take the refrigerator out of the kitchen into the pantry or hide it in the closet, turning it into a separator between the open space of the kitchen and the room.
Combine colors and texture
White color visually adds space to a small kitchen. It makes the room brighter, more spacious, and cleaner. Contrary to popular belief, white surfaces are practical and easy to tidy up with modern detergents. To make the kitchen look less like an operating room, you can use different shades – from snow white to ivory, as well as combinations of glossy and matte surfaces and different materials – such as brick, wood, and glass.
If a plain interior seems too boring, you can add accents and make bright doors for kitchen cabinets and shelves, or choose colored dishes, curtains, or towels. The main rule is to use no more than two or three colors. It is also important to choose the right accessories. Too many small figurines, colorful towels, and napkins or magnets on the refrigerator will make a small kitchen look more cluttered. To decorate a room, just a few houseplants, one or two posters, and beautiful dishes.
Apply optical illusions
Horizontal stripes on one of the walls will visually expand the narrow kitchen. And for rooms with low ceilings, light wallpaper with a rhombus or vertical strip is suitable, which will make the space visually higher. Mirrors will also help to enlarge the room. You can make an apron or decorate part of the wall with a reflective surface, or hang a mirror in front of a window. You can expand the space with lighting. For a small kitchen, spotlights and sconces above work surfaces, as well as cabinet lighting, are best suited. But it is better to place the usual ceiling chandelier not in the center of the room, but above the table.
Optimize storage
In a small kitchen, it is important to keep track of the number of things and how they are stored so that the room looks spacious and tidy. For example, bulky dishes can be placed above kitchen cabinets that are not needed every day. You can also use the space above the refrigerator, door, and work surfaces by hanging additional shelves. In kitchen cabinets, drawers should be provided at the top and at the base of the kitchen set. And the problem of inconvenient corner cabinets will be solved by roll-out or internal rotating shelves.
The narrow space between the wall and the refrigerator or cupboard and stove is ideal for storing canned food, spices, and sauces. You can make such a shelf with your own hands. Special organizers can help optimize the space – for example, for packaging foil and parchment, containers for storing vegetables or an organizer for tea bags. You can also use magnetic boards to attach knives to the wall and spice jars to the bottom of kitchen cabinets.
