How to Cook in a Small Kitchen

You’re in a small space but you like making big meals, so how do you find the elbow room for everything you need to do? No need to compromise your culinary vision, these tips and tricks will have your minimal counter space feeling like a Michelin star kitchen in no time (but with hopefully less yelling!)

If you’re short on cabinet space, consider using those walls! With hooks or a pegboard, you can have your pots and pans hanging out where they’re easy to grab, while also freeing up precious cabinet space for ingredients. If you’re able to collect a matching set of pans with a copper finish, this could also give your kitchen some great warm-toned décor.

See your sink or stove? If you’re tight on counter space, get a large wooden cutting board that can comfortably lay on top of these otherwise dead spaces while you’re cooking, and get more space for prepping ingredients. Just be careful not to bump any gas burners or dump your freshly chopped veggies down the drain!

Most appliance makers know that there need to be small-space solutions, so if you really need that coffee maker for your morning boost or want a dishwasher to make cleanup easier, look into compact versions of appliances. Combo devices can be great space-savers too, such as a microwave/oven mix.

If the design of your home gives you minimal cooking and eating space, a sturdy kitchen island could play double duty. It doesn’t have to be big to give you extra surface area, storage and with a one or two barstools, you have a dedicated eating space taken care of.

With a small kitchen, you won’t be able to collect multiple bags of ingredients in front of you while you’re cooking – it’s a recipe for a spills. Instead, embrace the concept of ‘mise en place’ and invest in some ingredient bowls so that you can pull out an ingredient, prep the exact amount, and then put it away so that your clutter and post-meal cleaning time is reduced.