Not all of us have the luxury of space. For those living in a flat or a terraced house, we're often working with just a few square metres when it comes to the kitchen. Whether that's a galley kitchen or a poky corner, we still want this most important room to feel considered, practical and beautiful. The main trick, it seems, is to keep the space feeling as uncluttered as possible. That could be in clever storage solutions, or the latest extractor fan technology. Once you've got as blank a canvas as possible, you can start to incorporate the decorative touches that give the space appeal. We turned to the experts to glean their top tips for designing a small kitchen that thrills.
Turn to reflective surfaces to increase the sense of space
‘In smaller spaces, I will commonly lacquer cabinets. The sheen reflects natural light, enhancing the sense of openness, and it's a great opportunity to be brave with colour’, says interior designer Sally Wilkinson. If your budget doesn’t stretch to lacquering, gloss paint will have a similar effect of creating a sense of infinite space. Another way you can bounce light around is by using mirrors. This is a trick often favoured by the designer Stella Weatherall, who finds that an antique mirror can be repurposed as a splashback to ‘add the illusion of depth’.
Avoid cluttering your countertop
The more bits and bobs you have taking up valuable real estate on your countertops, the more cluttered – and therefore small – your kitchen will look. The walls between countertops and cupboards or shelves are a great place to add hooks on which you can hang utensils, mugs, chopping boards, the lot. The interior designer Pandora Taylor makes use of narrow art shelves, which she’ll often put on ‘dead wall’ - too narrow for cupboards but very useful indeed. These can store plates or chopping boards.
When it comes to countertop appliances, Brandon Schubert has a ‘less is more’ approach. ‘Do you really need a Vitamix and a rice cooker? A stick blender works reasonably well, as does a pot with a lid on it. Do you actually need an electric kettle or might you be comfortable using an old fashioned one on the hob? Maybe you just make toast in your oven rather than having a toaster?’, he says. If you really can’t live without, say, a microwave, the textiles dealer and interior designer Susan Deliss suggests finding a hybrid oven-cum-microwave. Not only does this save space, but let’s face it, microwaves are rarely beautiful so the more we can conceal them the better.
Increase the depths of your base cupboards
If you can spare 5-10 centimetres in the kitchen, and you’re working with a bespoke kitchen designer or joiner, you have the luxury of buying yourself a little more storage at the expense of only a small amount of floor space. ‘A lot of kitchens come with a standard 60 centimetre deep work surface’, explains Susan. ‘This is too shallow for most kitchens and in a small kitchen extending the depth a little –to 65 or 70 centimetres gives you space to put appliances at the back and still have plenty of space to work on, not to mention more storage space below’.
Opt for drawers on the lower cabinets
‘In a compact kitchen, cupboards stop being helpful’, says Brandon. ‘There is often no room to stand back and access deep lower cupboards. Although drawers are more expensive, it is much easier to access them in a small area, and often they can hold just as much as a cupboard’. For a lovely rustic look, Pandora Taylor suggests putting everything in pull-out baskets ‘to keep things dust free and looking tidy’.
And open shelving on the top
‘Avoid a solid row of wall cabinets. These can make a small kitchen feel blocky’, says Stella. Instead, she suggests using shelves for a ‘more open, unfitted feel’. It’s what the architect Jonathan Tuckey refers to as ‘an honest display of mugs and bowls’, and prevents the space feeling heavy.
If you insist on cupboards above cabinets, get creative with the doors
‘If you really need wall cabinets, glaze the doors so they aren’t so solid, and if cupboard doors clash in a tight corner, do away with one of the doors in place of open shelves and a fabric café curtain for easier access. It’s a practical and lovely way to add texture’, says Stella.
Colour and pattern are your friends
A common misconception is that colour and pattern might make a small space feel crowded. According to the experts, this is certainly not the case. ‘The more layers you can squeeze into a small space, the more inviting it will be’, says Brandon, who suggests playing with different colours on the walls, units and splashback, and turning to patterned tiles or a colourful arrangement of tiles behind the cooker or sink. A pretty patterned blind can add another layer of interest to the kitchen too.
When it comes to choosing colours, Jonathan maintains that ‘lighter, brighter colours are traditionally more successful in smaller spaces’.
Play with tone
One thing all designers seem to agree on is that you can create the optical illusion of more space and higher ceilings by using a darker colour on the cupboards in a kitchen and a lighter colour on the cabinets above them. ‘Ones’ eye stops at the lightest thing we see’, says Nicola Harding, and therefore a lighter colour up top will add a sense of height.
Don’t be afraid to make a statement in small space
‘In our tiny kitchen in the Barbican, we opted for a richly-veined Fantastico Arni marble’, says Bryan O’Sullivan. ‘The continuation of the same material on the floor and countertops was a really dramatic yet playful intervention’.
Think about the layout of appliances (and don’t forget about corners)
‘You can have a really small kitchen but as long as you allow enough breathing space for your appliances to function properly you can make it work’, says Pandora Taylor. ‘If you can, always make sure there is space on either side of your sink so there is an area to store clean and dirty items separately. A sink up against a wall or cupboard not only looks tight and uncomfortable, it's actually harder to use’.
With this in mind, Susan reminds us not to neglect corners, which she feels are ‘often wasted. ‘Depending on the layout, you can tuck your hob in the corner where two cupboards meet at a right angle. Put your extractor fan diagonally across that corner and then you don't waste the space on the worktop either side’, she advises.
And, on extractor fans…
‘Bulky extractor hoods can take up a lot of space in a small kitchen’, says Pandora, who has turned to modern technology to combat this problem. ‘Install a flush ceiling extractor fan to free up space above the cooker - my favourite is the ‘Stratus Air’ unit from Westin.’
