Careful planning is essential when it comes to designing a small kitchen. You have to think about the countertop space, the kitchen appliances to include, and other essentials that you’re going to need for your kitchen. You have to consider how you can fit all of them in such a tight space while still leaving enough room for your cabinets.
Now, you might think that since you should be really careful when allocating space in your kitchen, you may have to compromise on the style. While small kitchen remodeling can be quite tricky, it’s not impossible to achieve both style and functionality.
In this post, we’ll show you how to properly plan for your small kitchen design without having the style or functionality suffer.
Let’s get started!
Step 1: List Down the Things You’re Going to Include in Your Kitchen
Because you have limited space, you first have to list down the things you want to include in your kitchen. Start with the most important then try to combine other essentials that would add more aesthetic value. To guide you, here are the most common appliances found in a kitchen:
- Kitchen sink
- Microwave
- Stovetop
- Refrigerator
- Oven
- Freezer
- Kitchen island
Source: Freepik
Step 2: Choose a Functional Layout
Now that you have an idea of what will be included in your kitchen, it’s time to choose a layout that will best suit your style and needs. In a small kitchen, you must maximize the use of space. At the same time, you have to make sure that the appliances that are commonly used, such as the fridge, microwave, and stovetop, are easily accessible.
If you plan to have a countertop, remember to allocate enough space for it. Furthermore, never forget about your cabinetry. Your cabinets must have enough space to store items that you are going to use often.
Step 3: Choose a Theme for Your Kitchen
The next step is to choose a theme for your kitchen. Once you make a decision, make sure that you stick to it until the end. You can choose several colors that go well together. For example, white, gold, and wood tones look really great together and they make the kitchen appear more spacious.
Source: Pinterest
Step 4: Choose Your Cabinets
Cabinets are among the first things that people notice in a kitchen area. How they are designed will have a great impact on the overall look of your kitchen. While kitchen cabinets are great for storing items without having your kitchen look stacked, it’s not recommended that you have too many of them. If you overdo on your cabinetry, your kitchen will look heavy. Also, make sure that your cabinets are well-lit.
Closed cabinets are perfect for hiding not-so-appealing kitchen items. However, it’s also great that you have cabinets with glass doors for variety. You can also use them to store items that add appeal and color to your kitchen. For example, vintage teapots.
Source: Freepik
Aside from the design, make sure your cabinets are functional and durable. Make sure that every part of your cabinet is high-quality. For example, the cabinets should be able to open and close smoothly without any problems. if they have drawers, they should have metal slides made only by well-known drawer channel manufacturers.
If you need more ideas, here are some design tips for kitchen cabinets.
Step 5: Work on the Lighting
Proper lighting is essential in every room of a house. Knowing where to position the lights can make the room appear much larger. So, you must be careful with the lighting of your kitchen. Recommended areas to hang pendant lighting include above the sink and the kitchen island. Add recessed lighting on the ceiling and you can also add some scones on the windows. To learn more about lighting, here are some excellent lighting ideas for small kitchens.
The Most Common Layouts for Small Kitchens
If you look for layouts for small kitchens, you will notice that there are only a few. This is actually a good thing since you won’t be too overwhelmed when it comes to choosing the right floorplan for you. Also, the key to designing a small kitchen is maximizing space, which is the goal of most floorplans.
In this section, we have listed two of the most common layouts for small kitchens – the galley layout and the one-wall layout. This is to give you a clearer picture of how you want to arrange and design your kitchen. Let’s take a look at them below:
1. The Galley Layout
The galley layout is the most commonly used floorplan in small kitchens. If you choose this layout, it means that your sink, dishwasher, stove, and fridge are all grouped together. For other items, you will store them in your upper and lower cabinets. This leaves your kitchen island or countertop space exclusive for cooking and preparing food.
Source: Pinterest
2. The One-Wall Layout
The one-wall layout is great for kitchens that really have tight spaces. It is basically somewhat similar to the galley layout except that the cabinets and countertops are half the sizes of those in the galley layout.
Source: Pinterest
Conclusion
Designing a small kitchen might be tricky but it is not as complicated as many people think it to be. Just plan carefully and do everything according to your plan to avoid or minimize problems along the way. Hopefully, this post has helped you and has given you the confidence to finally start your small kitchen design project!