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Having a small kitchen can be a headache in terms of storage potential—you need to store a dynamic variety of ingredients and utensils for the purpose of cooking AND make sure you don’t go crazy while you cook in your own kitchen. It’s hard to find enough space in a small kitchen, whether it’s for yourself or for your kitchen items.
What if we told you that you can in fact move easily around your small kitchen without bumping into cabinets and also have enough storage space? And that too without making your kitchen congested?
There are so many ways in which you can turn your compact kitchen space’s annoying, cluttered food truck-like atmosphere to one where you absolutely love to spend time cooking, without wanting to walk out every ten minutes gasping for fresh air. What’s more, it will be able to hold more items and still look neat!
Check out these 31 smart storage ideas for a small kitchen to achieve all this!
31 Smart Storage Ideas for a Small Kitchen
1. Pegboards to the rescue
Pegboards are so convenient when it comes to storage—you can literally hang anything on them and also install them anywhere. For your small kitchen, they can do wonders and double the storage potential if used right. You can attach hooks to hang pans, ladles, and spoons.
You can also add specialized racks to keep kitchen towels, pan lids, and shelves to keep spices and oil bottles. Maybe throw in a mini plant too to add a cute look.
2. Wall Mounted Dish Rack
Instead of keeping all of your dishes near the sink on the dish rack and letting it take up useful space in your small kitchen, buy a small wall mountable dish rack. It does not take up a lot of wall space, and will also give your kitchen a neat look while keeping your dishes on display.
You can store your spoons, knives, and forks on this rack too.
3. Use the Top of Your Cabinets
Cabinets have a lot of potential storage space on the top that usually goes unnoticed and hence unused. Use this space for storing stuff that you don’t use often and is big in size. You can also store the items in some baskets up there and pull them out by the handles whenever you require something.
4. Use the Side of Your Cabinets
Despite cabinets’ main function being storage, they leave a lot of room for improvisation. Just like they have space above, they also have free space on the sides where you can attach hooks or towel rods or racks to store things like cookbooks, spoons, pans, anything—you name it.
5. Use the Undersides of Cabinets
Cabinet Improvisation Part 3- Use the space below them efficiently by installing magnets and attaching glass jars by their metal lids. If you don’t want to do that, screw on the lids to the underside and just twist and turn to detach the jars whenever needed.
You can also add small racks or hooks to hang mugs on the undersides. This way, after you are finished washing them, you can completely skip the step where you put them on the dish drying rack and hang them directly on the hooks instead—storage plus instant drying.
6. Make Use of the Backsplash
The backsplash is basically the kitchen wall material between the kitchen countertop and the cabinets. While there’s not a lot of room on the backsplash, there usually is enough to be put to use for storage purposes.
You can install mini towel rods, hooks, shelves, or small specialized racks to hang/store stuff like towels, mugs, spoons, kitchen paper rolls, etc.
7. Use Windows for Storage
Turn your boring old windows into storage areas and use them for more than just bringing in fresh air and sunlight into your cute, compact kitchen. Install rods and hang pans or ladles. They can also be used to dry your hangable utensils right after you wash them—the sunlight will speed up the process.
8. Use the Top and Sides of Fridge
It’s time you move that vase on the fridge to some other spot! Firstly, buy dust covers with side pockets where you can store little items plastic bags, chocolates, etc. This way, you will be using the sides as well.
Then, make use of the top of your fridge to store pantry items—place bottles of oil or spices there that would otherwise go in the cabinet. Put these in baskets and place them over the fridge.
9. Install a Magnetic Knife Bar
A magnetic knife bar will help you make some more room for storage in a kitchen where space is the need of the hour. Install a rack on the kitchen backsplash near the counter where you usually do your food prep, and where there’s enough room for you to move your hands around.
You can even attach things other than knives (obviously made of metal) that come in use while cooking so they are within easy reach.
10. Use Shelf Organizers
Shelf organizers will help you use your cabinet storage space efficiently and not let any of it go unused. Normally, cabinets have a lot of empty space left on the top even after you place items inside. Instead of stacking it all on top of each other to make the most of it and only getting irritated when you wish to pull something out, place a shelf organizer and arrange other items on it.
These organizers can be placed on your countertops too.
11. Use a Tip-out Tray
Keeping the dish soap and sponges on the side of the sink can give your already small kitchen a cluttered look. Just install a tilted tip-out tray and use it to store dishwashing essentials like liquid soaps, scrubbers, and sponges.
12. Use the Top of the Microwave for Storage
Just like the fridge, your microwave has a lot of area on top that can be used for storage. You can buy and place a microwave top rack above it and put store things like oven mitts, potholders, foil, and Ziploc, or even your toaster or small coffee maker.
You will be surprised by how much you can fit in there, but make sure you don’t put a LOT and risk damaging the microwave.
13. Pot Lid Organizer
The insides of your cabinet doors can be used for storage! Just install a pot lid rack to keep all those lids in place. This is how you create extra storage space with whatever you have.
14. Get a Rolling Cart
Rolling carts live up to their name—you can roll them around and they store enough items, making them an incredible choice for small kitchens. Put in whatever you use the most throughout the day, or use the carts to bring food to the table.
When not in use, just slide them to a corner. Pro tip: Use it for bringing breakfast to bed.
15. Make Use of Stove Top for Prep
When not in use, you can cover your stovetop with burner covers and enjoy the added space while doing meal preps. For building them, you’ll require cutting boards and some easily available tools and supplies.
16. Cover Half of Your Sink With a Cutting Board
Just like how you can transform your stovetop into counter space, you can do the same with the sink. Install a cutting board in such a way that whenever you need to cut some veggies you can just flip it over the sink. It will cover half of the sink and leave the other half open just in case you have to wash stuff.
17. Make the Most of Kitchen Corners
Make sure you use every kitchen corner you can for storage purposes. How much these little awkward spaces can really pack in will amuse you. Install little customized shelves to use up the vertical space well.
18. Lazy Susans
Lazy Susans can do wonders for your small kitchen—they enhance storage space AND make everything organized. So go and buy at least more than one! The best thing about them is that they rotate, so you won’t have to fear knocking off your favorite pasta sauce jar over to get to the olive oil. Just twist, and take what you want.
Lazy Susans are best suited for corner cabinets, but you can place them wherever you want.
19. Shower Caddy Rack
Shower caddies can be used in the kitchen too! You can install one on the side of the cabinet and store small items like spices and candy packets over here.
20. Over-the-door Basket for Cleaning Supplies
Attach an over-the-door basket to your sink cabinet door and store all your cleaning supplies over here. It can store your gloves and all of your liquid soap bottles. This way, you won’t even have to reach into the back of the cabinet to take them out—just open the door and pick out whatever you want.
21. Pant Hangers
Snack bags take up a lot of valuable space. Wherever you have wire shelving, attach snack bags using pant hangers after rolling them a bit from the top. Easy, right?
22. Trash Bag Roll Storage
This under-the-sink storage hack will help you organize your trash bag rolls like toilet paper and store them in a place you can quickly access them. You can make this trash bag roll organizer using curtain brackets and a wooden dowel—it’s pretty easy!
23. Use a Shoe Organizer
Small items needed around the kitchen like clips, rubber bands, straws, etc., and pantry products like jelly cups, candies, etc. create a mess if left just like that inside the cabinets. Instead, invest in over-the-door shoe organizers with clear pockets and hang them over your kitchen or pantry doors to store items.
You can store a whole bunch of small-sized items this way, and since these organizers have clear plastic pockets, you can find everything easily.
24. Herb Garden Rack
Instead of creating a cluttered visual by keeping herb pots on the windowsill, invest in a herb garden rack that can be installed on the wall. It will double as decor too and make your kitchen wall look lively apart from making herbs accessible at all times while cooking.
25. Use a Nearby Room for Storage
If your adjacent rooms have a closet with even a little bit of free storage space, grab the opportunity and make the most of it. You can store all your pantry items and utensils you use don’t use often over there. This will really help reduce the clutter in your tiny kitchen.
26. Wall Mounted Foldable Kitchen Table
A folding table attached to the wall can provide you with counter space AND act as a dining table. You can free up space whenever you want with such a table, and for your mini kitchen, this can be a real blessing.
27. Kitchen Island Cart Trolley
Don’t worry, we won’t let you give up on the dream of having a kitchen island. You can definitely have one, but with a little twist. Invest in a small kitchen island trolley cart that has wheels, and open shelving. This way you can push it to the side whenever you need the space. The open shelving will also help with extra storage!
28. Drawer Dividers
Drawers can hold a lot of items but can also get easily cluttered. It’s tough to sort the stuff they hold and it always comes down to emptying it all to organize it again.
Use drawer dividers to divide your drawer’s storage space in an organized manner for different kinds of tools, and increase it as well, since clutter-free space equals more area.
29. Folding Chairs
Foldable furniture is a must for small kitchens, because it frees up a lot of space when not in use. Invest in a set of foldable chairs that you can hang up on the wall or move to another room when not in use. A proper arrangement of foldable chairs and table both can be of great comfort to all small kitchen owners.
30. Transform Cabinet and Pantry Shelves into Drawers
Cabinet and pantry shelves offer a lot of storage but when they are behind closed doors, it’s often tough to get to the stuff at the back. For easier ease, use pull-out cabinet organizers so you can just pull them out to see better what is what and take what’s needed at that moment.
31. Floating Shelves
Floating shelves can pack in a lot of stuff because it goes on walls, and walls usually have a lot of space (apart from the space a cabinet system takes up). So go to town and install as many floating shelves as you can to store kitchen items.
Pro tip: Add a parallel row of shelves, one over another along the walls, vertically. This will give your kitchen an organized look.
So, we’ve covered lots of hacks, haven’t we? Put them to use already and you’ll have yourself a wonderful, clutter-free, and organized kitchen.