Small Kitchen Design Ideas That Maximise Space and Style

“Measure twice and cut once”, is one of life’s instructional titbits that has outgrown its original carpentry origins to encompass a whole raft of everyday tasks. If we take its meaning to be that proper planning is crucial to success, then it becomes a mantra we should all embrace – especially when it comes to small kitchen design.

As the workhorse of any household, the kitchen is the one space where proper planning and well-conceived kitchen design ideas will pay long-lasting dividends — especially in situations where limited space is not just confined to the kitchen.

That’s where planning becomes key and ‘measuring twice’ will ensure any shortcomings are minimised, if not done away with completely, if the available space is used efficiently.

If your budget allows, look at building custom fixtures that up the ante on innovation. An example would be to find ways in which your kitchen cabinets can be integrated into an adjoining living space — much like this kitchen by Cheshire Architects — as well as making what kitchen furniture you do have do double, or even triple, duty.

Most people would agree that going neutral in a small space can help create the illusion of spaciousness. However, embracing the beige doesn’t have to mean your kitchen will be bland as a result. Mix and match textures, incorporate timber benchtops and, ideally, maximise natural light to really enhance space and style.

Another ‘trick’ from the canon of interior design is to incorporate pieces that appear to float above the floor. Creating clear sightlines within a space immediately gives the impression that a space is bigger than it is, as seen in this kitchen by architect Henri Sayes.

If ample natural light is not something you can bring into your kitchen easily, then artificial lighting becomes even more important.

Keeping lights close to your ceiling will mean those aforementioned sightlines are kept visually clutter free. Recessed or flush-mounted lighting is a popular choice in contemporary design and can be easily incorporated into a lighting plan that allows total control over the amount of illumination at any given time.

Similarly, LED strip lighting used underneath cabinets or as a way of highlighting different features will not only provide space-saving illumination but, as most LEDs can be dimmed and colour-changing, will help to add a sense of drama to your small kitchen space.

There’s another benefit to keeping your small kitchen lighting low-profile, which is it frees up your wall space for more important considerations, such as cabinets and/or open shelving. If you do choose to go with a statement lighting fixture choose something with clean lines and a more industrial aesthetic.

The best small kitchen design ideas, utilised to great effect in this kitchen by Chaney & Norman Architects, are those that make room for a variety of storage options, including open and closed shelving, cabinet drawers, pull-out pantry shelving and ‘hidden’ storage, such as toe-kick drawers.

While minimising visual clutter can have the benefit of creating a sense of space, your kitchen is, at the end of the day, a workspace and open shelving can have the benefit of upping the functionality of a small space by keeping often-used items close to hand.

Open, or floating shelves, are an effective and inexpensive way of adding much-needed storage in your kitchen, while also allowing you to personalise the space by giving you somewhere to house accessories and prized collectables.

Rather than sticking with traditional cabinetry, look at incorporating drawers into as much of your kitchen design as possible. Drawers are a godsend in a small kitchen as they allow you easily access all of your essential items within the footprint of a traditional cupboard.

Another ‘must-have’ is a pull-out pantry. Most, if not all of us, will have at one time or other cursed the kitchen pantry for its lack of accessibility. A pull-out pantry means all of your items are accessible all of the time. It also allows you to design a much-more slimline pantry helping you maximise what space you do have.

With the shift towards open plan living, ensuring the kitchen remained a functional space saw the kitchen island become an essential piece of kitchen furniture and nowhere is that more true than in a small kitchen.

The beauty of a kitchen island is that it can provide additional prep space, house one or more appliances or even the kitchen sink, double as a dining table and be used for extra storage — as witnessed in this kitchen by architect Dan Smith of Edwards White.

When designing your kitchen island to be one or more of these things make sure to take into account any clearances appliance doors or dining chairs may require. And, again, don’t rule out incorporating open shelving into your island for handy cookbook storage.