For some homeowners, the kitchen acts more like a family room than simply as a place for preparing meals — even more than their living room. This is because family mealtime is considered one of the best avenues for open communication between parents, children, and siblings while promoting a deeper bond among family members.

For this reason, homeowners undertake kitchen remodeling work more than any other type of renovation in the house. During this project, every component in the kitchen must be planned, especially if you currently have a tiny kitchen.

Since the actual space is limited, you need to overcome the challenge of ensuring sufficient storage while allowing for optimal functionality and aesthetic. Over the years, interior designers and builders have come up with dozens of ways to do this.

Below are eight kitchen hacks that are considered all-time favorites, both by homeowners and contractors alike:

1.   Maximize Space Around the Fridge

Generally, the refrigerator takes up a huge chunk of space in a kitchen not only because it is the biggest appliance in the room but due to its inexact measurements that leave slivers of dead spaces around it. Fortunately, you can now utilize the small areas around the fridge with the help of custom-made storage that can fit the narrow spaces above and on each of its sides.

2.   Replace Doors with Drawers

Unlike doored cupboards, drawers provide more usability to an available area while allowing easy access to their contents. This can help prevent cluttering your workspace while reducing the time needed to prepare food since you will be spending a lot less time scouring the kitchen storage for the right tools for each recipe.

3.   Utilize A Multipurpose Kitchen Backsplash

Aside from boosting the aesthetic of the room, your new kitchen backsplash can also serve other purposes. It can protect the walls from stains caused by splatters and spills. It can also offer additional storage for kitchen tools you use often, especially if you opt for stainless steel pegboard.

4.   Use Folding and/or Expanding Furniture

Using folding and/or expanding furniture is another great way to save valuable floor space in your tiny kitchen. During your kitchen remodeling, you can have the contractors incorporate a folding or expanding table on one side, which you can also use as an additional workspace for the preparation of food.

5.   Maximize Cabinet Doors

If you must have cabinets with doors in your kitchen, you might as well maximize the space they take up by adding hooks for hanging kitchen tools like your spatula, measuring cups, peeler, among others. You can also stick a corkboard or magnetic board on the inside of the doors for additional and more organized storage.

6.   Go for More Elbow Room

Some kitchens leave very little options for interior designers, but there’s still a way how you can optimize workflow in the room by maintaining the kitchen work triangle setup. To do this, go for extra-slim drawers or cabinets which won’t take up too much space while still offering sufficient storage for your kitchen tools and supplies.

7.   Take Advantage of Kitchen Corners

Often, corner space is considered dead space. You cannot afford to think this way if you have a tiny kitchen, so make sure you procure corner shelving to maximize even these awkwardly-shaped areas.

8.   ‘Make’ Space with Glass

Expanding a kitchen doesn’t necessarily mean you need to punch a hole in the wall and build extensions. One simple way to achieve a more spacious feel in the room is through the use of glass-doored cabinets.

This type of furniture allows you to see through its contents, which helps add to a feeling of spaciousness in the room. Aside from that, it also helps hasten the preparation of food by offering easy visual access to its contents, thereby removing the need to rummage through it.

Bring Big Value to Your Tiny Kitchen

Having a tiny kitchen doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice functionality and aesthetics. Rather than thinking of all the things you can’t put in it, why not think about all the things you can?

These all-time favorite hacks can help you make the room a lot more useful and, ultimately, provide you and your family a more livable space.

AUTHOR BIO

Bill Fannin started Post & Beam 27 years ago as a small construction company and, in 2004, decided to specialize in design/build. Since then, he has grown the company into a very reputable Design/Build Firm. You can find Bill in the office helping with estimates, consulting clients, and even on the job helping the carpenters. Bill is a Certified Graduate Remodeler and Certified Green Professional.