How to Love Your Small Kitchen Design

Limited space doesn’t have to mean limited functionality and beauty in your kitchen. Using design principles and careful planning, your small space can make a memorable visual statement and efficiently serve your day-to-day needs. Here’s how to love your small kitchen design:

1. Space Planning: While space planning is always one of the most important elements of any room design, smaller areas call for creative, sometimes unconventional thinking. Every square foot of the room must be used efficiently and effectively. Sometimes, “borrowing” space from a nearby room is the best option, by knocking down a wall to open the kitchen to another area of your home. Often, the free space is already in the room but hidden by poor planning – the rearrangement of the key elements in the kitchen can make the room seem significantly larger.

2. Colors, Materials and Lighting: Everything you put in a small space will be noticeable, so you want it to be beautiful. Choose a focal point for the room, such as a beautiful back splash or an unusual finish for your countertops or flooring. Conventional wisdom dictates white or light colors in a small space – these can work, but a higher priority should be choosing a color scheme that fits with the overall aesthetic and character of your home. Just as important as color is lighting – in a small space it becomes a primary element in the design. If more or bigger windows are an option, they can transform limited space dramatically. If not, a mixture of natural and ambient light should be carefully planned throughout the space, with special attention paid to areas that are typically dark, such as under cabinets and counters.

3. Appliances and Storage: Manufacturers offer many appliance options that are perfect for a smaller kitchen, such as compact refrigerators, space-saving microwaves, built-in stovetops, or extra deep sinks. Once again space planning is essential when it comes to deciding where to place appliances in the room and what you need to find storage for, as is a healthy dose of practicality. Think carefully about how you use your kitchen every day and whether or not you really need that espresso machine or bread maker readily at hand. In a small space, a clutter-free environment is essential.

Give careful thought to the details of space planning and functionality and your small San Diego kitchen design can be just as memorable as one twice its size. Take a look at this cool video on our Facebook page about an ingenious home design in Hong Kong for inspiration and see a small apartment transformed into 24 rooms!