Guest post from Diana of Saving by Making
If you’ve ever lived in a small house or worked in a small kitchen, you know there’s a learning curve to cooking and baking without creating a giant mess. You can cover every inch of counter space with dirty dishes just by making a batch of muffins!
Here are five simple ideas to make life in a small kitchen a bit easier:
1. Use vertical space effectively.
Use wire racks to double the capacity of a shelf. Items will also be easier to remove when they’re not all stacked on top of each other.
Magazine holders work well because they’re tall and narrow–they help use vertical space without being so big that you lose items at the bottom.
2. Clear Your Counters.
Instead of piling up the dirty dishes next to the sink, put them right into the dishwasher or the sink. It might take some adjustment, but clutter-wise, it’s better to have dishes in the sink and your countertops clear.
Wash and rinse dishes in one side of the sink and let them dry in the other side (consciously keep that side clean). Clutter stays off the counters and the mess is contained.
Implement once-a-week clearing. Ideally, you’d do this every night, but if you have young children, your evenings are probably somewhat unpredictable. Instead, choose one day a week when your goal is to have all extraneous items off of the kitchen counters.
3. Containerize.
Choose a container that’s able to hold all the items in a certain category (cooking utensils, sharp knives, table linens, dishcloths, etc.). Then use that container to limit the amount of items you can have in that category.
Don’t use containers that take up more space than the items themselves. Some baskets look beautiful but their shape wastes space. Look for straight-sided baskets and boxes to use available space efficiently.
4. Develop good habits.
Unload the dishwasher in the morning. Make this part of your morning routine and you’ll be free to add dirty dishes directly to the dishwasher throughout the day. Like the “touch it once” rule for paper, if you don’t deal with a dish immediately, you’ll shuffle it around multiple times before it gets washed.
Rinse and drip-dry. If a bowl, plate, or measuring cup only had dry ingredients on it, give it a quick rinse and let it dry in the clean side of your sink. Your dishwasher will be less crowded and you’ll have a smaller pile of dirty dishes.
Wash as you cook. If you make this a habit, you’ll be washing dishes in short spurts and they’ll never stare you in the face, just daring you to get started.
5. Reorganize Frequently.
During times when you bake a lot, can a lot, pack lunches a lot, or have lots of guests, be willing to rearrange things so that they’re easy to access.
When the system stops working, take time to reassess your system and see what needs to be changed.
How do you organize your small kitchen?
Diana is mom to one cute 4-month old and wife to world’s best husband. Besides washing dishes, folding laundry, feeding the baby, and playing the piano for church, she blogs at Saving by Making about saving time and money by making things at home.
I must be a pro at small kitchens because that is all I have ever had and I do all of those things! One more thing that can be dome is to put a long cutting board over the sink when you are cooking to extend counter space. I use my sink edges to sit hot pots when I have a lot of them since the sink is able to withstand the hot better than the Formica counter tops, too. and I stack as many things as I can. My toaster oven is on top of the microwave and I use the rack idea in my cabinets for my dishes. It was the most genius idea I ever had! 🙂
I can’t wait to read through these! I have a teeeny kitchen with only two drawers( I have lived in a condo with only one drawer). I put my giant mixing bowls in the basement for Christmas when I really use them. Instead I use three very attractive ceramic bowls that nest, and are suitable for both cooking and serving. So that I don’t waste space on two kinds of bowls. I also am ruthless about realism. My fancy kitchenaids ( I got an extra as a hand me down) are in the basement and brought up as necessary. A handheld kitchenaid mixer does every thing my standing used to with a much smaller footprint. I am actually about to ditch my dish drainer and switch to one of those water absorbing cloth mats. I never use a gadget when a knife can do it. I also got rid of my enormous cutting board and use a tiny one. I used to work in a kitchen and honestly, you don’t need a ton of space if you are an efficient cook.
My kitchen is currently… um… maybe 5 ft x 5ft? I can easily touch all 4 walls when standing in the middle of the room. This tip may be a bit extreme for some of you, but it works for me!
I have a 3 ft x 5 ft “shelf” that is hung by brackets about 1.5 feet below my ceiling. It spans the horizontal width of my kitchen, with the 2 opposite ends accessible by stepstool. (I keep the foldable stepstool on my patio, as the entire house is tiny.) That gives me 15 square feet of shelf space! Since it is easy to feel claustrophobic with a very low-hanging ceiling-shelf above my head, I have painted it white with yellow stripes. It makes it feel a little more open…. well, as “open” as such a small room can be!
(The shelf is also a good diet method, as sometimes going to get my stepstool from the patio just in order to reach my food seems like too much work just for a couple chocolate chips. Either that, or I think that I’ve gone through so much work that I deserve MANY chocolate chips!)
Love all these tips! I gleaned a couple of great ideas from Alicia at her blog, Alicia’s Homemaking.
First, put spices in a basket (I use an ice cube bin). Second, store dirty dishes in a tub under the sink. So helpful!
And here’s a link to one of her kitchen organizing posts:
http://www.aliciashomemaking.com/2010/11/kitchen-space-and-kitchen-scents.html
I have learned that whether you have a big kitchen or small (I’ve had both ),the key is organization and most of all,LESS STUFF. I am currently downsizing my whole house andp loving having a cleaner look ! I am amazed at how much stuff I have in my kitchen tbhat is rarely if ever used. I honestly believe if we focus on just what we need to do the job of cooking we would have less space issues. I mean I have choppers but I don’t use them, I reach for my knife. The needs for basic food prep are minimal. I discovered I had about 40 coffee mugs. I quickly realized I didn’t need more space, I needed fewer mugs! Which I promptly too care of by donating to a family who lost everything in a fire. Just my two cents worth. Good Luck.
So very true, and paring down is something I could do better at, too. I should get up on a ladder and go through that pesky top cupboard 🙂
We have a relatively small kitchen, too…it’s not terrible but it’s also not huge. It can seem small (esp. when there’s two of us in there!), but thankfully it has counter space (as long as I keep it clean!). I wrote about it, with pictures, here:
http://ourfrugalhappylife.blogspot.com/2011/11/organizing-your-home-kitchen.html
Thanks for the tips – always helpful!
I have a fairly large kitchen even though we are currently cramped in our 1300 sq. ft. townhome with no yard, garage, spot for a desk (squished in our eating area), etc. The kitchen is what sold us on the house and not realizing the market would tank and we would still be here 8 years and 2 kids later, I always say that I am so glad the kitchen is so large. When we finally are in a position to move, I am going to be a picky homebuyer because I refuse to move into a smaller kitchen–same size, yes, smaller, no.
Before living here, we lived in a 2 bedroom apt. with a miniscule kitchen and when I say miniscule, I mean, you could only open one at a time — fridge, oven, or dishwasher. There was maybe a 2 foot section of counter space between the fridge and stove and maybe a sliver between the sink and oven and it was shaped in a U shape so the cabinets, the fridge, stove, and dishwasher opened into the same tiny area. We did not have kids then, but were challenged because we do cook a lot. Also we got married while living there and many of those wedding gifts are kitchen stuff and then we had to store them! No pantry so we used one of our 2 upper cabinets to store food. That left only one upper cabinet and one lower cabinet to store dishes and pots and pans and the cabinet under the sink. Oh and one, count it, one drawer. There was a spot for your table just outside the kitchen area, so we often used the table as extra prep space. Along the wall next to the table was a laundry room with accordian doors. There was the standard shelf over the washer and dryer and then a hot water heater a few feet away from the dryer. We extended the shelf all the way across the laundry room (over the hot water heater as well) and used the shelf for extra food storage and things like crock pot, bread machine. We got a china cabinet like piece of furniture and put it in this weird area (sunroom-ish, bump out) off the eating area.
I agree with the idea of keeping one side of the sink clean. I won’t put anything on the rack on that side unless it’s been rinsed well so it stays clean. Emptying the dishwasher first thing is always helpful.
I have recently gone gluten-free so it’s been a good time to clean out and reorganize my food storage. Just today I bought some Itso boxes at Target that are 6x6x13 that fit 4 side by side on the bottom of my freezer. I plan to label them to keep different categories of items orderly in my freezer. It will make it so much easier to find things and to keep the freezer clean.
I make good use of those wire shelf dividers in many of my upper cabinets. I can fit in alot more and it makes it so much easier to reach things. Anything with square, straight sides is more efficient for storing things.
I have boxes a similar shape in my freezer and they are working really well. I hope you like yours!
Great ideas! I currently have a very small kitchen – quite an adjustment after having a house with a large kitchen for 33 years. But, because a tornado destroyed that nice large kitchen (along with the rest of the house!), we are temporarily in a small duplex. I am encouraged by all your ideas.
Sorry to hear about the tornado–we had several come through our area last year too. I hope you’re not in the duplex too much longer–that’s tough!
Reorganize frequently is DEFINITELY the main tip! We have been in a rental for just over a year that I love, but the kitchen is about 4% of the total square footage of the home. I’ve rearranged at least some of the limited cabinets 4 times in that year, usually purging then reorganizing! We are always learning to live with less.
I love these ideas! I just shared about this today on my blog, too. It’s a great solution for those with small kitchens or for renters. http://gabrielsgoodtidings.blogspot.com/2012/06/make-your-own-kitchen-pantry.html
I have a friend who used to have to store and use her microwave in the bedroom, due to a small kitchen. It worked for them! I guess we have to think outside the box and do what we have to do. My daughter has to keep her cereal boxes on top of her refrigerator. I know that would bother some people, but her kitchen is very inviting and nice to be in!
Our kitchen is a very small eat in kitchen with no dishwasher! Right now with the way the counters are installed there is not a place for one. Next spring we are going to re-do the entire kitchen and you can bet there will be a bright shiny new dishwasher in place. I’m learning to purge, I should try to sell my stuff but I find it’s a lot easier to free-cycle it! These tips are great, keep them coming.
Oh I hear you! Esp about covering every counter just to make muffins! Great ideas. I have 4 kids and the biggest problem in my little u shaped kitchen is that everyone including the two dogs want to be right next to me when I’m in there. Aaaaarrgh! I keep praising God though because as far as problems goes, it’s a not terrible. : )
🙂
Your last sentence is a pearl of wisdom, Christine. I’ve had huge kitchens and tiny kitchens and kitchens that are not laid out well at all. We had one kitchen that had one countertop less than three feet. The short narrow table had to pushed up against the wall in order for people to pass through to the backdoor. But we still had fun times in there (only three kids back then). As a Believer, I do so much better when I apply Philippians 4:6—Instead of getting all anxious I present my request to God with Thanksgiving. (Thank you God for giving me a place to live; thank you for running water and an oven to cook; thank you for a husband/family for whom I can cook, etc) Then I tell Him my frustrations and ask Him to help me to be content where He has placed me so that the root of bitterness does not take root. Show me what I need to let go of to make the kitchen function better. Get my creative juices flowing, show me what you have in mind.
He is a God of orderliness…I know that He wants that of me as well…so that in the end I can have peace that passes all understanding! And peace is a huge blessing.
And then be willing to make changes and prepare yourself for the blessings that will come! It may be that you have to send a prayer of thanksgiving every day to combat discontentment. It’s not easy (and don’t think I never grumble…I do (but it’s never done me any good!)…but I find that it is much easier when I invite God to join in this organization project!
You ladies have offered up some wonderfully practical ideas. Most of them can be easily implemented. If you have a friend with the gift of organization, invite her over and get her ideas as well. God answers prayers in the most creative and unfathomable ways…including outside help!
Blessings on you and your families! And Happy Organizing!
Great perspective. God does care about the practical details of our lives, and He will give us specific ideas to help us fulfill our responsibilities, if we ask.
Five weeks ago we added two more children in foster care to our household. We live in a small house and I was completely stumped about where to put stuff for two more little people. I’ve been praying for wisdom and good ideas to organize my nursery using the furniture, space, shelving, and containers I have. It’s coming together, but I couldn’t have organized it without God’s help.
That is very wise council! Thank you for that reminder because sometimes we can get all stuck in our little worlds and not realize how God has blessed us! Amen sister!
Thank you for this comment! It is just what I need to absorb not just for my teensy galley kitchen but my whole house! So well said and wise! God bless you!
We live in an apartment and I am a coupon shopper and stockpiler, so we use the top of our kitchen cabinets to put alot of the stockpile items.
Here are a couple of pictures of our storage space. 🙂
http://tinyurl.com/7qec649
http://tinyurl.com/6rr87q9
I also have a big storage tote that is under some plastic shelves I use. Paper towels, toilet paper, napkins and stockpile stuff goes in there. I can easily remove the plastic shelves that sit on top of it (drink mixes, gravy packets, breads, water bottles, light stuff goes in those shelves) when I need something.
The stovetop is a great place to set dishes while they are drying. Dishes I use for almost every meal, like the cast iron skillet, I leave out on the stove all the time.
yeah- i leave my cast iron skillet out too- DH took some time to get used to it, but the sucker is so heavy and it gets used at least once a day.
I do that too! It dries on the burner while I wipe down the counters.
Our kitchen is not really really small, but it does not have many cabinets. One thing I am amazed at is how many (useless) things people store in their houses/kitchens. I have learned to use everything I have and if I do not use it…it will go. Our cabinet for pots and pans is only two shelves and I use the same pots over and over. Same with tupperware…only one shelf and they are in hard use! I also try to buy tupperware that takes minimal space; square dishes in different sizes.
I store very large and rarely used items and dishes in garage or storage so they do not take valuable space up in the kitchen. Also my seasonal and special dishes are somewhere else.
I like to keep my counter tops clear for aesthetic reasons so I even put the toaster away after breakfast. It also gives me room when I start baking or making big patches of hummus!
One thing I loved in my previous little kitchen was a deep window sill. We had one wall only with windows, but the deep window sill was perfect for potted plants, pretty cups and other things I wanted in my kitchen but that didn’t fit into cabinets or on the counters. We also added one long shelf right on the window and it was perfect for plants! A little shelf under the top cabinets would be perfect if you want to free the counters but still keep some things in sight…tea cups, sugar bowl, decorative items…
Summa summarum: Get rid of extra dishes and gadgets, store large and rarely used dishes somewhere else and make use of little shelves or window sills! 🙂
I am currently living in a good size apartment, but the kitchen is super tiny. It’s already full and I’m about to get married. I don’t know where all those registry gifts are going to go. Anyways I added wire shelves in the dining area which serves as the pantry. Not the prettiest, but it functions. Another thing that helps is cleaning as I cook and emptying the dishwasher in the morning, so during the day there is a place for dirty dishes to go other than the sink or counters. I also have a dish rack in my left sink, which actually helps because if I don’t do dishes right away on the right side I can’t use the sink. There are also some recipes I just don’t make because I don’t have the space right now, like pies crusts, or anything I have to roll out, cakes, ect. They will just have to wait a bit until I move to a bigger place. Oh I also have seldom used appliances in the hallways closet on a shelf. That way the stuff I use more can stay within reach in the kitchen.
my kitchen is teeny and prepping for 5, it can get messy quick. my wall cabinets dont go all the way to the top so I can store some small appliances up there, and my sugar, flour, etc.
when i need more counter space, one of my cookie sheets or my cutting board fits right across one section of my sink, so there;s some instant space(if i need both sides, i can fit my cookie sheets in longwise. this comes in handy mostly for parties when i need room to set out food and dishes)
I have to store my pans in the oven because i only have one bottom cabinet and that holds all my baking stuff and bowls.
I just hung a metal rack with hooks on one wall to hang up hubby’s thermo’s that he takes for work(3 big ones) that were taking up valuable counterspace since they wont fit anywhere else.
I really need a bakers rack cause I have to admit, i have to put some stuff like my crockpot, rice cooker, and waffle iron on the floor by the stove
Simply nailing some larger nails to the wall can make a great way to hang up your pots with no fuss. My college friend even tacked up a huge nice looking scarf before placing the nails so it created a backdrop that made the hanging pots look purposeful. It clears up so much space, and they’re way easier to get to than if they’re stacked in a drawer or oven.
I moved from a much larger kitchen a year ago and really need to purge all the time-if I can’t squeeze things into the cabinet-it is time to re-organize and purge again-that never seems to end. I don’t think until we move we realize how much we have-and really I didn’t use a lot of it often. I have been to Europe a couple of times and also can’t imagine a kitchen that small. But they make it work so I figure I can too (mine is way bigger than most of theirs!). They use lots of things multi-purpose where americans have a gadget and applianc for everything. I used to have a quesadilla maker-but I can do it in a frying pan-no need to waste space on that etc.
I alos use my flat top stove with a cutting board over it all the time as counter space-when I lived is a really small 1 bedroom apartment with 3′ of counter space I did the same thing over the burner stove.
blush- I use the stove for my cutting board too…one burner is broken and my main counter area is always cluttered or has kids working on projects at it;) It is really handy.
Also if you have a table you can use it as well for counter space.
The dish/sink tips are contradicting.. If you are storing your dirty dishes in one side and not on the counter, you can’t then use one side for rinsing/washing and one side for drying. Also, many small kitchens will have a single sink, so you would have to pile them on a counter. I think it makes more sense just to say to keep on top of dishes – that way you never have a huge job ahead.
Good point, Helen 🙂 Call me crazy, but I take the dirty dishes out of the “dirty” side and put them on the counter temporarily when I’m washing them. You are right, though, “keep on top of the dishes” would be a much more universally-appropriate statement 🙂
hehe, that makes more work! 😉
I have a double sink, thankfully – I run the dishwasher basically every day for just three of us. I also wash what is left each night. Empty sink before bed! Except then hubby has a snack 😉
I did that before I was pregnant, and then I was too tired, so I had to wash in the morning. I’m just getting back to my “normal” self and hope to follow that rule again soon 🙂
Unfortunately, we have a small kitchen with a sink that not only has just one slot, but has no garbage disposal. It has been really tough dealing with it, but I’ve gotten into the habit of rinsing all of the dishes as soon as they’ve been used and stacking them if I have no time to load them in the dishwasher. I’ve also gotten into the habit of loading the dishwasher once per day and then someone else unloads it for me.
One think I LOVE are those dish racks you can fit in your cupboards so I can utilize my space even more. I also use a tension rod above my sink to hold all 10 of my cleaners and a small organizer that was meant to hold tin foil and saran wrap that I now have hanging on my wall to hold spices with S hooks that hold my pots and pans. Very helpful!
pics of your ideas would be great!
LOL! I was just thinking that I should put pics up and post about this! I’m more motivated to do it now that I know there’s interest 😉
Even though my husband and I live in a small apartment, we have a large kitchen. But even a large kitchen can get out of hand quickly, so it’s best to impliment these rules to any size space! When my husband or I cook, we make it a habit of rinsing off dishes and placing them in the dishwasher as we go. Since there’s only two of us, and we both work full time, we need to rinse the dishes – sometimes we don’t run the dishwasher every night, so anything that had raw meat or milk will smell after 24 hours 🙁 Doing this, alone, has saved me so much time and clutter!
We have a designated spot for all of our pots and pans, and I use my lazy susan to hold small appliances like the blender, crock pot, mini food processor, etc. We don’t have a large pantry since we try not to consume canned or boxed foods (save for staples like pasta/grains, tomatoes, beans and broth) so I really don’t need the lazy susan to store any food items. I have enough counter space that I can fit the toaster, a croc for my utensils, the drying rack, coffee maker, and a container for flour, sugar, coffee, and tea, and still have plenty of room to prepare food.
I might try the lazy susan corner pantry for my small appliances…good tip!
Wow, most of these tips don’t work for my small galley-style kitchen at all. I have a decent amount of cabinet space (with horrible shelves and hinges, but at least it’s there), very little counter space, no wall space and a medium-sized single sink. What dishwasher? What “other side of the sink”? Literally half the counter space in my kitchen is taken up with a dish drainer and the microwave. The dish drainer is ALWAYS full – it generally gets emptied just before washing more dishes. (Maybe that’s something I should work on.) Did I mention it’s also where we enter the house? So some “kitchen” space is taken up with coat hooks and a boot tray, and an in/out tray for papers.
We do have a pantry/closet, which is in our dining area. I’ve reorganized that a few times so that it holds canned and boxed goods, large pots, and small appliances. A bit of “Jenga” is involved so that the things the kids can reach are things I am OK with them playing with (ie. pots and small appliances, not china or open-able food boxes).
Any recommendations for optimizing storage when you have more drawers than cabinet shelves? I have several deep drawers, and right now they are storing tupperware, dish towels, kids toys, and other stuff that probably doesn’t belong in the kitchen… but I can’t see myself putting food or appliances in them, either.
Nope–I have almost no drawers in my kitchen! 🙂 I hope someone else can chime in with what works for them 🙂
If you have young children, drawers are great for cups, snack and cereal bowls, and the dinner plates that you use on a regular basis. They can so easily access them and it allows them to help put dishes away and set the table! Just a thought…
I also have to fight a pile of shoes – it grows right outside my fridge since the outside door opens in right there. I can never get the fridge door open! My galley kitchen has a lot of drawers too, but I prefer them! I feel like the space is easier to use. We have drawers for all kid plates/cups (so they can get their own), dishtowels, silverware, spices (for the shallow one), serving utensils, pot lids, tupperware, pots, bags, saran wrap & tinfoil items, cutting boards, bowls, and one junk drawer!
My papers have been moved to on the fridge in magnetic pockets, and coats are banned! The go in the dining room closet. We also had a 4 or 5 inch inset in the wall, we put bought doors and made it a pantry. 5 inches floor to ceiling can hold quite a bit. I also use a lot of the hanging wire shelves in the cabinets to make sure I’m using all the space. Finally our cabinets are as tall as we could get so we try to use all our “up” space. Oh, and we keep canned and jarred goods in the basement.
I read a tip once that might help-put storage where you find piles. So in your instance-can you put a hanging shoe rack on the side of the fridge? The shoes are already there, if there’s storage there, possibly at some point it might occur to someone in the family to put shoes in it. (I do not discount the possibility that your family is smarter than mine and will catch onto this faster! 🙂 ) A cloth one with magnetic clips across the top should have enough oomph to hold multiple pairs of shoes, or you could see if you could hang a dowel or curtain rod from the ceiling next to the fridge, attaching it to a stud in the ceiling.
We have a very similar set-up: eat in galley kitchen right as you enter the house. We bought a 4 drawer rolling cart at IKEA for about $20 for produce, kitchen towels, etc. It has a countertop piece on the top, so we can put the breadbasket and stuff like that on top. I put my knives on a magnetic strip on the wall, all utensils in a drawer, and all but one small cabinet of food goes in the basement “pantry area.” We also got rid of our microwave- took up WAY too much space.
We have a kitchen that is 7×7. One side is the sink and stove the other is a small counter and fridge. We have lots of cabinet space that is annoying. I had a 1 x 10 ripped down to 7feet at Lowes and use that against the wall. I put our dish drainer on top, microwave in the middle, toaster, can opener, etc. This gave us about 2 feet x 2 feet of counter space.
When you walk into the kitchen, on the outside, I have a matching cart and small pantry that we got from walmart. I bought a bar from IKEA that goes above the one cart (about $6) and use it to hang pots so we’re not playing pot jenga. The cart has a drop down ledge that I spin around when I’m baking a lot.
We have a 9 cube cubical behind our couch that I put seldom used stuff-cookie cutters, food processor, one has five bags of cereal. I go home to my sister’s house and am superbly jealous. But, I keep thinking of the money we’re saving by living where we are. We don’t need a bigger space per se. We need a better defined space with a grease fan and a dishwasher. A girl can dream…
I had been thinking about using my sink for dirty on one side clean on the other. Maybe I will try it now… This post reminded me of an old cousin I met in Italy many years ago. 5 people in an apartment with the tiniest kitchen you ever did see. Just a galley kitchen with a smaller than average fridge… but the food that was created in that tiny kitchen was out of this world. Homemade pasta, fried olives, … the list goes on. I don’t know how how she did it. The 8 visiting American cousins all marveled over it though.
So true! Go to Europe to see some small-by-our-standards kitchens, and eat some fabulous food. Maybe it’s all of those steps saved that gives the cook more energy to prepare food from scratch.
Great article.
I have a small kitchen too and I love to cook and bake. We installed shelving and also got an island we keep pushed up against the wall.
Keep the sink clutter down by washing as much as possible in the dishwasher, if you have one. Pots, pans, cookie sheets – they all go in. I only wash a few extra large items like my electric griddle and giant colander by hand, so I don’t keep a dish drainer out. (But I do have one stored away in case the dishwasher goes out or something.)
We recently moved into a small apartment in a new town until we can buy a house. There is a laundry “room” with two full-size doors that open in it–right off of our VERY small eating area and small kitchen. My husband took our over-the-door shoe holder (that has nice mesh pockets you can see into) and put it over one of those doors. This holds extra spices, canning jars, etc. Quite a blessing since I don’t have a pantry at all! My husband is a genius. 🙂
2 things that we did that make a huge difference in our kitchen – installed a hanging pot rack (that gave me A LOT more storage space) and added an extra shelf up high in our pantry. Builders frequently leave a lot of dead space high in the closet – we added a shallow shelf and I store seldom used items there – my crockpot and cake containers. I have to use a step stool to get to them but they are out of the way and not cluttering my counters or cabinets.
The size of my kitchen is fairly large but I have only one short wall of cabinets and counter space so it’s functionally very small. There’s also no dishwasher which creates a huge clutter problem. What helps me stay organized is to wash dishes often. Sometimes 3-4 times a day. That way I’m always working in small batches and don’t feel overwhelmed.
I also have A Thing about not overloading the dish rack with drying dishes. My husband, Mom, and MIL think I’m nuts and when they wash dishes they get piled high in the rack and even in one side of the sink. Drives me batty. It stresses me out to walk into the kitchen and see an enormous tower of Dish Jenga waiting to be put away. If I have more dishes to wash than will fit in the rack I’ll towel dry the first batch I wash (Or even walk away for 15 minutes while they air dry) before finishing the others. May be weird but it works for me.
Ha ha–dish jenga! I totally know what you mean. I’ve been doing the same thing with washing multiple times per day since my son was born. I cook a lot since I make all my snacks right now (he seems to be dairy intolerant), so if I leave them all till the night I’m too tired to deal with them. Multiple small sessions does wonders 🙂
lol- dish jenga is what I called last month when my six year old was helping me unload the plates and bowls and I stepped out of the room for a minute. you guessed it…right when I came back in the room…kablamo!krash! It was cool though- I was finally able to justify getting new dishes’;)
Putting clean dishes away is my favorite job in all of housekeeping, because there’s no scrubbing, no making a mess to clean up another mess. It’s bringing order out of chaos, clearing a sink,regaining 1/3 of my counter space, and suddenly everything’s tidy again. Very satisfying.
Lol. Jenga.
I don’t know if it will help but before we had a dishwasher I had put dish soap in an old Dial soap saver bottle and suds up a cloth and wash the 3-4 breakfast or lunch dishes and then I would put them away when I was starting supper. At least that’s how it would go on a good day.
My house was built in 1939, so my kitchen is only 8×8. When we moved in one wall of the kitchen contained an in-wall ironing board and some shelving that the previous owners installed. My husband moved the ironing board to the laundry room we created, then installed floor-to-ceiling wall cabinets stacked three high and three across. The wall cabinets we bought were only 12 inches deep, so I only lost a foot of floor space but gained 9 new cabinets for storage! We did glass doors in the top cabinets and he wired lights in them so it looks wonderful. One of his best ideas ever! 🙂
Oh! I also got one of those knife magnets, and I love it! My whole sharp knife set fits perfectly on it, and it goes on the wall instead of having one more thing taking up counter space.
I have a small kitchen, our refrigerator has to be in a different room for lack of space. Our laundry area is also in the kitchen. I use a hanging rack for pots and pans/lids that was given to us by a friend. It saves a ton of space. My husband just added a shelf with just a couple brackets, and we were able to move the microwave off the counter, freeing up space to work. Organization is key, I also store some bigger not used all the time appliances on a cart or in closets in other rooms. One perk, I am a minimalist, so I enjoy having less “stuff”.
I wanted to add that we have a galley type kitchen to boot. The hanging rack for the pans is above the stove. It is not optimal, but it is the only place we have for now. We did not have a dishwasher when we moved in. After about a year, we decided it was worth losing a cabinet to install a dishwasher. I’m so glad we made the sacrifice, especially with 3 kiddos. We had to figure out what we really wanted in the kitchen and what we could live without or could store for when we needed it.
Those are all great tips! I was surprised to see that I guess I’ve learned a lot in my small kitchen over the years, because I already do most of those things. The tip for washing right away is a good one. I’m not so sure about leaving one side of the sink clean all the time. With kids, that just might not be possible, lol!
One thing I have done is installed decorative shelving on the one wall space I have. That way, I can put some pretty things up and also use it for a few pantry items. I put them in pretty containers, and they double as decor.
I also just got some baskets for the top of my fridge. I still have lots of things that I store up there, but it looks so nice and organized with just 2 baskets up there. I love it!
Lastly, I am constantly evaluating – do I use this item? If not, it gets put out to give away. If it’s something I use once in a while but don’t use daily, it goes down to the basement on the ‘kitchen’ shelf. Things like my blender and my iced tea maker (which I only use in the summer), live down there when they are not in consistent use. Also, this all helps me to just not build up clutter in the kitchen, because I cannot ‘afford’ it (space wise and monetarily – pun intended)!
We have a small kitchen, too. I recently went through all the cabinets and purged things we never use. That cleared up lots of space and I was able to organize better.
I recently did the same thing too! It made a big difference!
My hissyfits these days are mostly from lack of space in our small apartment. We’re upgrading to a two-bedroom next year but until then must make do. We already do most of these but thank you for the magazine holder tip for holding things. I’ve been stuck on what to use for the large storage container lids and I believe that will be perfect! I use the one we have but Target has them for $1 in their dollar area.
It might work for pot lids too–I hadn’t actually thought about using them to store lids in. Thanks!
There are some great tutorials on how to turn a cerial box into a magazine rack. its easy and it can fit your needs/space better
We have a small kitchen as well. We store the blender in the hall closet because there is no room on the counter.
We have a small kitchen as well, so our blender and food processor are not on the counter because there is no room. If we use them, we have to take them out of the hall closet.
our kitchen is so small it only has one sink, and i hate it… and we only have about 2-3 feet of counter space on both sides…. i hate a small kitchen, but we don’t even have the space to expand. i am trying quite hard to unload and reload the dishwasher and wash as i go but it can be quite hard and tiring.
If you have room at all in there, you could consider adding a small table, dresser, etc. to give more counter space. Maybe in the room next door? Also, I find the top of the fridge to be useful for storing things that might otherwise stay on the counter, such as flour and sugar. Tiny kitchens are just difficult though.
Look for ways to cleverly store items. I have a bookshelf that I keep canned goods on, since I don’t have a pantry. I have a piece of cloth that goes over the top to “hide” it, so it doesn’t look as tacky. Consider using a microwave cabinet to store things underneath as well. fridge top storage is good. Also just having the things you use most handy helps. We have a small table in our kitchen to eat at. The other day we had a friend over who wanted ketchup. I literally swiveled in my chair and was able to get it out of the fridge!
we have a make shift pantry in the dining room. a small stand that holds our homemade canned goods, and i moved our microwave to the dining room and put that on a stand that we used to have our fish tank on..
I think a lot of it that gets to me is next to no counter space. I love to bake and by the time I get the mixer out (if I even decide to use it). I have run out of space, so it doesn’t leave me with a lot to work with.
I never tried this, but my mother-in-law said in their first place she had my father-in-law cut a piece of plywood to fit over her stovetop and cover it with one of those vinyl tablecloths so she had more counter space for prep or for serving food when people were over. Obviously then you can’t use the stove, but it might be worth a try to lay out all your ingredients when you start. Then you could just put everything away as you use it, start the oven, and bake.
Also, I know my first kitchen, which was pretty tiny, had a pull-out cutting board under the counter that I would use for extra counter space (kind of like this one http://fluffynest.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/kitchen-remodel-017.jpg). Perhaps you could put a cutting board over an open drawer to give yourself an extra surface.
Or, you could possibly use a fold-up TV tray.
I hope that helps.
I just moved into a new apartment from a house with my husband because my husband got a great new job! Since it was a quick move, we weren’t able to buy a house yet. Anyway, our kitchen is itsy bitsy! I think the thing that helps me most is staying organized, and (sadly) keeping big appliances in a closet, especially the ones I don’t often use like the bread machine and food processor. Since I used the food processor mostly for soups and stuff, I can keep it hidden until winter. Hopefully, we will have our own home by then 🙂
When we had a small kitchen, and I wanted to do up a big batch of something that required a lot of counter space, I use to set up a long narrow table that had folding legs, so I had more room to spread out the ingredients. It was a squeeze but it really helped and then when I was done I just wiped it off and stored it in another room of the house.
That’s a really good idea! I’ll definitely remember that–thanks for sharing 🙂