Your Guide to Developing a Kitchen in a Small Space
Designing a brand-new kitchen for your home is a challenge by itself. However, creating a small kitchen when you only have limited space can seem even more difficult. Often, it will feel as though you’re being forced to make compromises – whether that’s in style or functionality.
The good news? With a little planning and the right accessories, even the tiniest kitchen can appear more modern, homely, and inviting.
All you need to do is come up with a strategy that helps you make the most of the space that’s available to you. The chances are that you won’t have enough room for a dining area inside of your kitchen, or dozens of cabinets, but you will have plenty of space for all the tools you need to whip up a culinary masterpiece, and even some fantastic family memories.
Creating Your Small Kitchen Floorplan
The first step in designing a fantastic small kitchen is figuring out exactly how much space you have to work with. Most kitchen architects and designers will work with you to create a scale plan of your room. If you have a window or a door, you’ll need to work around that when figuring out where your cabinets, sinks, and oven is going to go. Your floor plan will give you an insight into where various critical components of your kitchen space will need live.
Think about appliances, backsplashes, cooking stations, and cabinetry. One thing you can do to maximise the sensation of space in a smaller kitchen is to dial down on the amount of detail in your kitchen cabinets. A flat-fronted unit will seem to take up less space, and even shaker-style kitchens can give you a fantastic unfussy appearance.
Another key tip? Reflective finishes make the most of the artificial illumination and natural light in your kitchen. The more light you have reflecting around your kitchen, the bigger space will appear to be. Think stainless steel and high-gloss units wherever you can.
Getting the Colours Right
There are various quick and simple things that homeowners can do to get additional value out of a small space. For instance, choosing the right colour can make or break your design, because the right shade can convey an airy and open environment or a dark and cluttered space.
White is always a winning choice when space is short in any room because it helps light to bounce around surfaces, causing your kitchen to appear bigger. If you do go for a coloured finish, stick to something pale or pastel, so that you don’t overwhelm the room. If there’s plenty of daylight in your room afforded by big windows or skylights, then you can create extra interest in the space with a darker selection of base units, or some deeply coloured tiles on the walls above your cabinets.
Don’t forget to consider the colouring on your worktop too. Again, go for soft colours and reflective surfaces wherever possible. Stainless steels and metallics are great for an industrial-chic appearance. Woods combined with white units can also provide a delightfully rustic atmosphere in the right kitchen.
Lock in your Essentials
With the basic design choices out of the way, the last thing you’ll need to do is figure out your essentials – that means fridges, freezers, and of course, your cooktops. For refrigeration, aim for something as simple and sleek as possible. If you can build a freezer into your cabinets, that’s even better, as it will help to save some much-needed space.
For a gas cooktop, the most obvious option is a narrow solution from Goldline. We specialise in designing cooking spaces for smaller spaces and people who want to get the most out of their kitchen environment. Our narrow cooktops, available in both gas and electric, will help you to get all of the cooking functionality you need, without having to compromise on space.