Space is a growing constraint these days. Especially in metro cities, everything seems to be capsule sized. Our apartments, the rooms in it and even furniture these days are designed to be compact. So it isn’t unusual for the kitchens too to be compact. But since the kitchen is a space where you need to move around a bit, store tons of stuff and get things done, lack of space could be problematic. If you have a tiny kitchen, here’s how you can give it an upgrade without costing a bomb.
#1 Vertical Is Your New Favorite
As opposed to conventional designs where everything spreads out horizontally, go for vertical arrangements. You get to use your walls for storage! Use wall-mounted shelves, hooks, hanging shelves, and the likes to make the best use of space. Objects that are not heavy can easily be placed in thin shelves or racks.
#2 Magnetic Knife Rack
Save space on the countertop by using a magnetic strip to hang up your knives. It can then go on any vertical surface. Walls, refrigerator’s sides, shelf doors and anywhere else where a magnetic strip can be mounted.
#3 Sliding Shelves
Instead of shelves or cupboards that traditionally opens with doors, sliding shelves make it easy to save space. They can easily be fixed on to the sides of your refrigerator and any surface. They can be used to store light-medium weight objects like canned food or spices and masalas.
#4 Use Induction Cooktops
If you want to save space on gas cylinders and the tubes that come with it, opt for induction stoves. They are also a lot more environment-friendly. They can also be unplugged and kept away as and when you are done with them.
#5 Use The Roof Of Shelves
You can use the upper sides of cupboards to hang up stuff. Using hooks to hang up spatulas, spoons and even mugs. In fact, in the west, it is popular these days to screw caps of jars to the top of shelves and rotating the jar as such to open. It works only if the jar and the contents inside it do not make for a heavy combination.
#6 Hidden Trash Bucket
Leaving your trash bucket on the floor isn’t just unpleasant it is also a fantastic way to facilitate accidental spills. Instead, make a covered shelf under your skin and place the bucket there. Make sure that space is large enough to place different buckets if you intend to segregate your waste.
#7 Compartmentalise Your Drawers
Use separators inside your drawers to keep your cutlery sorted. It need not be expensive materials, you could use unused bowls or trays to get this done. This works for every storage space. Keep things organized and never dunk stuff into a shelf.
#8 Keep Decor Elements To The Minimum
Remember, we have limited space to start with. So if you love the idea of a large potted plant in your kitchen, you may want to rethink that. Same goes for other elaborate elements. Ideally, stick to a nice chalkboard. You can doodle on it, you can write reminders, notes and even the menu for the day! Chalkboards are classic kitchen decor elements for a reason!
#9 Nail A Pegboard On A Wall
Use a pegboard as a general mounting place for anything miscellaneous. Remember Julia Child? Well, she famously made the pegboard storage a “thing”. It may be uncommon in India yet to use pegboards, but you can always set your own trends :).
#10 Decluttering Is Your New Mantra
Again, less space, less scope for hoarding. Religiously chuck out expired products, broken cutlery, unused stuff and anything that you can survive without. Keeping your stuff minimum is the best way to make sure that your tiny kitchen is fab.