design small, think big for your kitchen

If you’re designing a small kitchen and are worried about how to make practical use of the available space, fret no more! We have listed a few tips to consider and help you maximise every nook and niche…

select the right layout

First things first, you’ll need to measure your space so you know exactly what you have to work with. When planning a small kitchen layout, you need to have practicality front of mind. With limited space, your main objective is to maximise the functionality of the kitchen and eliminate dead, unused space. In most cases, this will involve selecting a u-shaped layout, utilising all walls available.

keep your colour palette neutral

When it comes to your colour scheme, keeping it light and bright is a good way to make a space feel bigger and more open.  You can create a soft colour pallet with light greys, whites, browns and even wood tones. If you have a small kitchen, neutral-coloured cabinets are going to help reflect light, making it appear larger.

tip: if you’re tossing up between two neutral tones, why not include both? You can use a lighter colour for your base cabinets and a darker shade for the wall cabinets to create some visual depth and interest!

make use of wireware

Corner cabinets can be a frustrating space to organise and are often disregarded. Corner rotating baskets and blind corner pull-out baskets provide the perfect storage solution for these challenging areas that are often found in smaller kitchen designs. You can also use pull-out wireware solutions to maximise spaces you might have usually placed a filler panel. We have 150mm and 300mm two tier wireware systems that allow you to maximise smaller nooks to store things such as spices, oil and vinegar and chopping boards!

include open shelving

No matter how small your space is, it’s always a great idea to include some open shelving in the design, especially in spaces that aren’t as easy to access or you don’t use on a daily basis. This will allow you to style the shelves with special objects or books and will give you an opportunity to inject some personality into the kitchen, while also making it feel more open!

maximise your pantry space

To really maximise your pantry space, we suggest including some pull-out wireware baskets, as they allow you to pull out everything you need on a particular shelf for easy view and access. Our pull-out pantry baskets are the ideal solution for tight spaces as they allow you to efficiently organise and store products in a 450mm pantry cabinet. 

conceal your waste

If you have the space, including an integrated waste bin for your general waste, recycling and compost will free up floor space in your kitchen, while also concealing away unwanted odours – win, win!  We would suggest locating this near the sink and dishwasher for ease and convenience.

drawers over doors

When working with small spaces, we always recommend including drawers base cabinets over single door base cabinets. Drawers allow you to store pretty much anything, as you can choose different configurations to meet your storage requirements and eliminate the need to reach to the back of a cabinet to find what you’re looking for.  

So, there you have it, our top tips on what to consider when planning a small kitchen renovation - we hope you’ve found these useful! For more inspiration and ideas, visit our design blog or follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.