How to Make the Most of Your Small Kitchen Space

Urban areas or cities are known for the way buildings are jam-packed together. A typical example is the city of Lagos. Most apartments come with small kitchen spaces because the landlord is trying to manage the available space.

Here are few tips on how to make the best use of a small kitchen space.

• The first thing to focus on when managing a small kitchen space is its function and the main function of a kitchen is meal preparation. Focus on getting the appliances and work areas needed to get this chore done. Get small –size appliances which will not occupy too much space and buy only the appliances that you really need and will use.

• A simple trick to make the best use of a small kitchen space is clean up the mess as you work in the kitchen, especially when you are preparing a meal. This is to avoid piling up dirty dishes, pots, and pans which can become disastrous in a small space. You can also rinse and re-use the same set of bowls and utensils, instead of grabbing new ones. This will make cleaning up much easier afterward and will leave a lesser mess after you are done.

• Make sure you leave your kitchen in an organized manner at all time. Each time you use a kitchen tool, make sure you replace it in its place as soon as you finish using it. Don’t leave things lying about when they are not in use. It will make the kitchen neat and spacious at all time.

• Use single-bowl sink with tall faucet, instead of the double bowl. Apart from saving more counter space, the tall faucet makes it easy to clean large pots and dishes as it can bend out of the way to accommodate them.

You can also put Cabinet under the single bowl sink to store the   dish rags and cleaners.

• Use the wall and Available space for storage. If your kitchen has a blank wall either above the cooker or above the sink or anywhere in the small space, make use of all the available space by mounting open wall shelves to keep kitchen utensils, bars to drape towels and S-hooks to hang pots and pans. You can keep the most used items like spices, oil on the lowest shelve for easy access while you can keep the items you don’t use too often on the top-most shelf.

Using open shelving creates an airy environment in the kitchen and make it look less crampy.

• Make your kitchen brighter with adequate lighting. Small space has the tendency to look dark. Don’t bother to use curtains in a small kitchen. Allow natural light to stream in and lighten up the room. Use adequate lighting to liven up every corner of the room.

White paint has the tendency to make the room feel larger but you can add bits of other colors through the cabinet, appliances, accessories and the likes. This will create a pleasant environment that you will be eager to work in.

• Be Ruthless in getting rid of Clutters. Get rid of things you don’t need and keep only what you need. Keep the best set of kitchen utensils and the most frequently used ones. Get rid of the cans, bottles, boxes, and plastics from your grocery shopping. You do not need them to clutter your space. You can choose transparent glassware and items for those that will be on display as transparent objects tend to make the room more spacious.

Mobolaji Olanrewaju, 

A guest contributor on HOG Furniture Blog , a Travel consultant and a Creative Fiction Writer.  She has B.SC in biochemistry and MBA in Business Administration (Human Resources).