Monday, November 3, 2008
how to max out your tiny kitchen
Reading comments, emails and blogs everyday from people who like to cook all over the country, and all over the world, I have learned that not all kitchens are the same. And some of them are less the same than others. Some are downright shocking. Apparently, there are kitchens with more than one counter. There are ovens that fit entire half-sheet pans in them–and still close! There are kitchens with not one oven, but two. Some have not just two counters and two ovens, but more than six cabinets. Some kitchens have not just two counters, two ovens and a dozen cabinets but room for an entire set of tables and chairs… just for eating!
Excuse me, but I have to sit down for a minute. …Not in the kitchen, mind you. We have no room for a chair.
Alas, for the rest of us, those that may sympathize with our 80-square foot kitchen with a mini-oven, six cabinets and a single built-in counter, I have been asked enough times what advice I’d give to people trying to cook in a tiny kitchen that I thought I’d sum up some of the advice I give them today.
Five ways to max out your tiny kitchen:
- Get an island or custom-built extra counter — Even if you you have just two square feet of “spare” space, do whatever you can to find a table or counter that can be customized for it. Heck, I have even seen counters that fold out from the wall, like a Murphy Bed! If you can find a way to create some storage space underneath it, even better.
- Don’t actually keep anything on it — I am nuts about having my single counter in the kitchen clear. The idea of sacrificing even a corner of my precious counter space to a mixer or toaster or other occasionally used appliance seems crazy–these are the types of things you can put in shelves underneath.
- You probably don’t need half the things in your kitchen — Okay, obviously what I think you don’t need and what you think you don’t need are different, which is why I am loathe to make such a list. Let’s say that you, like Laurie Colwin in Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant, decide that you can live without everything but a deep-fat fryer. You go get yourself a deep-fat fryer. But when space is key, you might consider doing away with things like that knife block, when drawer knife holders or wall magnet strips will help keep your counter clear. You don’t need a double boiler; use a bowl over a pot instead. You don’t need a sifter when a mesh strainer can sift and, you know, and also strain. Pyrex 8-cup measuring cups can double as mixing bowls. Stuff like that
- Learn to cook neatly — Picture a restaurant kitchen–do you think each of those line cooks have four counters to work on? No, they learned a long time ago how to maximize their use of any station they were given, by prepping everything they need before they start cooking, keeping their counter clean and keeping what they can within arm’s reach. Learn to cook like this, and you can cook anywhere.
- It can totally be done — People, I don’t mean to go the martyr route here–especially because I think we know I enjoyed the process so–but I baked a wedding cake in my little kitchen, in its 3/4-size oven. I know too many people who say they can’t entertain or have dinner parties or cook the dinners they crave because they say they don’t have the space. But people cook all over the world with less space–and fewer gadgets (though I think I will sob if my Microplane ever breaks up with me) than we do everyday. With a little extra thought, I am sure you can pull off whatever crazy kitchen feat you had in mind. Even if you have to put your dishes in the tub when you’re done.
Five things that have helped us max out ours:
These bowls — Bowls that nest well are essentially when you need to save space, but if you’re like me, the idea of buying one of those sets of ten (and then having to put it away just so) makes you groan. The Anchor Hocking ones I have fallen head over heels for come in a set of four (one, two, three and four-quart sizes) and are taller than they are wide. These are not only pretty and sturdy, they’re cheap! Win-win-win.
A pot and pan rack — May I write a love song to our pot and pan rack? Okay, I won’t but I really could go on and on. For years, I had pots perilously stacked in an overstuffed cabinet and I hated it. It was loud and stuff always fell out on my toes and arrgh! Pot racks save the day. It can’t be easier to grab what you want, and the amount of space it frees up is tremendous. Best part is that you don’t even need to get ones that hand from the ceiling; ours is a half-circle that attaches to the wall. If you can find one with crossbars, even better, as you’ll be able to hang more things from it. Like spaghetti that needs to dry.- Some appliances are more useful than others:
* Immersion blenders not only save on space, they’re easier to use and easier to wash (since I know that tiny kitchens and a lack of a dishwasher typically go hand-in-hand).
* Still want a blender? We used this Cuisinart blender/mini-prep food processor for years, before, you know, we got married and someone was nice enough to buy us a full-sized one. (Spoiled!) Though some things had to be done in batches, I still use this today when I don’t want to dirty the whole big one. I think it’s a brilliant product.
* A KitchenAid, and all of its glorious attachments — Don’t make the mistake I have. Before accepting that I would one day own a KitchenAid, I ended up registering for an ice cream maker. Then we bought a pasta roller. We have several types of citrus juicers. And then we got a KitchenAid and learned we could have just bought that, and juicer, pasta and ice cream maker attachments and saved a ton of storage space.
Think white — Okay, this is more of a Deb style tip (which is funny, as I have none) than a way to make your small kitchen functional but I am a big fan of the color white in small spaces, as it really makes rooms look bigger than they are. My KitchenAid is white, our dish rack is white, the garbage can is white and our coffee maker is white. It’s one thing to have a small kitchen; it is another one to have one that is also dark and looks cluttered. Not to mention, if one day I want our kitchen to be all black, white and leaf green (and oh, I do), all of this stuff will still work in it.- Space savers — I am a tad obsessed these days with going to Bed, Bath and Beyond and finding things that save so much space, they make me jump for joy and I don’t know how I lived without them before. (Alex, as you may guess, shares my excitement, but is also a tad frightened by it.) Most recently, we’ve bought this wrap/foil/paper dispenser and hung it on the inside of the door in the pantry, a couple over-the-cabinet baskets (for sponges, container lids, you name it) and although it ended up not fitting with our sink structure, that seems to also have been been designed in 1880, this under-sink organizer would have been awesome.
Surely, I’m not the only one with a tiny kitchen. What do those of you who like to cook a lot do to keep yours from becoming a disaster area?
One year ago: Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Sauteed Apples
Two years ago: Dreamy, Creamy Scones
Wow Deb, this post is nothing short of inspirational! It amazes me what you do with the space you have! I adore you blog!
My magnetic knife wall rack thingamabob changed my life. My tiny kitchen also has not even ONE full width drawer (there are only two drawers and they are six inches wide) so my forks and spoons live in narrow but long desk drawer organizer caddies and the butter knives have to fend for themselves. I have a good amount of cabinet space, but I dream (dream!) of having a pantry. *Sigh*
These are some great tips. We’re having a lot of trouble adapting from our old kitchen, which was beautiful and large, to our new kitchen which is cramped to use at best. I’m sure we’ll get used to it, but it’s been an adventure so far, and we’ve run into one another more than once, I can tell you!
Thanks for the tips!
Deb,
As my great grandmother used to say (from her tiny kitchen in the Bronx):
If there is room in your heart, there is room in your home!”.
How true!
This post was meant for me!
My kitchen is very small for a cook who loves to entertain.
We do have an island, but with only 2 stools. Very limited work space.
I do the best I can.
I store cookie sheets in my oven! and the big Le Creuset sits on the stove 24/7.
I have done the best I can with the space I have.
Someday, I will have a magazine, tricked out kitchen of my dreams w/ a blue La Cornue double oven!!!!!
Stacey Snacks
I love that you took photos of your kitchen. I thought of doing it too on my blog but I’ll just ruin the magic, with all the clutter, kids’ toys, baby high chair, baby food, and other stuff that I remove from the photo frame when i’m taking a picture.
As for big kithcens - I used to cook for people with big kitchens. It takes more time to cook because you do a lot of walking, and because there is space you are tempted to spread with your equipment, which means more clean up.
Smaller is better. More is less. Sometimes..
Wow, I thought my kitchen was small! I love the magnetic knife thingy too, only we got one at the hardware store that is bigger and stronger and holds more knives. I have inadequate drawers so I keep my biggest utensils (ladle, big tongs, spatulas, etc.) in a glass champagne cooler. I can see everything that is in it and reach everything quickly. My pots and pans fall out on my foot frequently, but our ceiling is too low for a pot rack and there is no exposed wall space. Oh for a big mansion kitchen, and a butler’s pantry like my grandmother had!
The kitchen in my last place was very similar to yours. It was built into a hallway (4′ x 8′), so I only had that one tiny wall of cabinet/sink/stove. The fridge was in another room. I used a folding table when I needed more workspace. Controlled shopping was the easiest way for me to live within the space. Pink measuring spoons are darling, but not necessary, right? Also, I was a touch compulsive about cleaning the dishes. Dinner for two made my whole place look like a disaster, so I always washed up immediately.
These tips are fabulous!! Thanks Deb! My kitchen is not THAT small, but it still feels that small sometimes when my island (the single largest counter space in my kitchen) becomes cluttered with mail and other projects. One thing that I find really useful is putting cookie sheets on top of the burners on my stove (when they’re off of course) and using that area as additional cooking space. You can use this area to put the cookies on the cookie sheets (if they don’t fit in your precious counter space) or to place items that you will need later, but are in your way at the moment. The cookie sheets keep food from dropping down under the burners and requiring more clean up later. One other thing that I’ve done is reorganize my cabinets in such a way that all of the baking ingredients are in one cabinet right by the counter that I use for mixing baked goods. This way, I can just reach into the cabinet for an ingredient and put it back all without moving and without anything else landing in my precious counter space.
I do wish I had more than one drawer though. It’s amazing how handy those are.
You are a woman after my own heart!
In our little apartment we have a long/skinny, miniscule kitchen (no room to sit down type of thing, as you mentioned), and I love to cook. Surprisingly, I am enjoying the somewhat frustrating challenge of making it work. What am I doing? I keep things clean, tidy, and severely organized. Last week I re-structured my tupperware storage to make room. Also, I found a narrow storage cabinet at a local antique store, which holds almost all of my every-day necessaries, and doesn’t take up too much of my precious floor space.
Wow, and I thought my kitchen was small! You should be very, very proud of yourself for producing such wonderful food in cramped (and inventive) conditions.
I’m loving the all-white tip. I’m desperate to re-tile our kitchen as it has black tiles and they are so oppressive.
While my kitchen isn’t tiny, it’s not the greatest when it comes to functionality. There is no pantry, so i have to use my deep corner cabinet to store pantry items- and let’s just say, I was getting frustrated with it this weekend.
I wish I had a magic kitchen fairy that could come organize my kitchen for me! LOL
But thanks for the tips! they are very inspiring!
You think you have it bad! My kitchen is barely 4×5 feet. Seriously. But somehow I have made do and still cook quite a bit. Thanks for the tips.
I admire you! I tend to be SUCH a messy cook (much to my boyfriend’s dismay - he always has cleanup duty after dinner!).
I got a bit better after a 3 week trip to Ukraine (sharing a kitchen with your future Russian mother-in-law will do that to you :p), but my old ways are creeping back in!!!
Do you have a “The Container Store” near you? I always get great organization ideas there.
We did many of the same things you did. I agree with the hardware store version of the knife magnet holder. We also have a vintage foil dispenser, I’m glad they are making them new, because people ask us about it all the time.
Our big things were going to the mini appliances. We downsized to a 24 in. gas stove, and this Christmas are downsizing to a 24 in. fridge. This alone gains us almost two feet, and we are building cabinet in the new space.
Our tiny kitchen is also our eating area, so we put our table on wheels so we could both roll it out of the way and use it as prep space when we needed it. The wheels also give it a little height which helps for kitchen work. The table also has drawers built in for extra storage. We have a 2nd table that is identical in dimensions that we pull off of the porch when we have company. With tablecloths it doesn’t look like it is two mismatched tables.
I had the same countertop experience in Boston for 5 years. Once I had countertop I became very territorial and protective. Nothing on it, no one around, this is my time with my counter, back off! I do let the Kitchen Aid hang with me though, I get tired of hauling it around and, the cabinets are still over crowded and falling on my feet. I think one just needs to much equipment to follow along. I fell into the recipe-requirement consumerism thing! Doomed to pay for it forever because I cannot part with the pans! Oh, no pot rack is going to save me! We are soooo far past that now.
i think our kitchens are of similar size, except mine is black and falling apart (and no money for renovations) so it seems smaller than yours. ah manhattan kitchens, you gotta love ‘em… i have one tiny drawer that fits half our cutlery and two pairs of chopsticks. i love my immersion blender. the dishwasher is used as a pseudo-pantry. i have a tendency to leave things out on the counter and should really be more disciplined about being tidier, as it helps clear up the space visually. when i see beautiful big -and by big i mean regular sized- kitchens in magazines i sigh and chant ‘one day one day one day some day’.
I now have a moderate sized kitchen, but I lived in tiny dishwasher-less space for 5 years! And I cook and bake everything. 5 things I would recommend…1. I second the using “extra” space for counter space, best thing i ever purchased was a cabinet from ikea that fit perfectly in my kitchen, 3 drawers with a butcherblock top. i fit my “pantry” in those drowers, because well, who has closets in NY!? 2. hang what you can - magnetic knife/spoon/utensil strips, little hooks for the non-metal items, spie racks that hang on the wall 3. my panini press/grill, it makes everything and does not make tiny kitchens hot. 4. more is not better - I had 3 knives, 2 wooden spoons, 1 set of nesting bowls, etc… 5. Use the fancy dishes everyday. You have to handwash everything anyway….
Wow - I think your kitchen is the exact same size as mine, if not a little bigger. If so, I’m jealous! Thanks for the helpful tips - it’s always good to hear how to maximize the little space we have.
I’m also a big believer in getting rid of things when you buy new. Get a new spatula? Throw one away/donate it. It is a great way of keeping down the clutter.
Great points!
Oh my goodness - I could make ice cream with my KitchenAid mixer if I buy an attachment??????????? I am so excited ;) Thanks for the tips, Deb!!!
By the way, if you pay full price for anything at BBB, you’re getting ripped off. They always send us coupons in the mail for 20% off and even though it says that the coupons expire, they never really do!!!!
Where did you get your ‘extra counter’? I’ve been searching for a good looking one for a while now! Thanks!
Wow Deb, your kitchen is eerily similar to mine except for color. It seems wider though. I have a cart like yours on the ‘non counter’ side too. Except sadly, mine is not metal on the top, it’s wood. (not butcher block, I was cheap) It has more length but I have to be cautious about spills and make sure to keep it quite clean. The drawers underneath the cart help too. I don’t have a lot of pots, so no pot rack, but I do have this tiered cart that I use for the toaster oven and microwave. (there was no cabinet mounted rack It was supposed to just be for a microwave, but I took a big cutting board and made it into two solid shelves, with the bottom rack used for pans and such. Hooks are awesome for many things. Sadly, I have a few things in sealed tubs under the overhanging leaves of my cart because there’s not enough shelving, although I’ve considered getting a very small bookshelf to put next to the cart for those tubs. On the other side, I have my small appliances boxed and ready for when I use them. It sort of sucks to rebox things but it helps with space.
However, knowing you made a wedding cake in a kitchen just like mine…wow! I am inspired to try some of your more ambitious baking now. And no kitchen-aid…just the hand mixer. But I can’t tell you how often I’m tempted even though I *know* there’s no spot for it.
This post makes me feel so spoiled. I will never complain about my ugly kitchen cabinets again! At least I have them and counter space!
I echo the ‘I thought my kitchen was small.’ Ours is, but its really well fitted. its about 2.5×3m, has counters with cupboards/appliances/ the simk round 2 long sides and the bottom, and even has a very small tumble drier(with a tiny cupboard above.
However, I am sooooo jealous of you KitchenAid mixer. It is my dream to have a shiny red one for my kitchen. They cost so much here than I won’t have one until I have a grown up job instead of being a bookshop-working student. I did spend wedding gift vouchers on a red KitchenAid blender, and it’s not an exaggeration to say I adore it.
Your tips are awesome, even in our kitchen(which in a Scottish town is considered very small), i could use more storage and ideas for things.
The one thing I see that takes up the most space in a small kitchen is a microwave. My advice is to GET RID OF IT. You can heat things on the stove or in the oven. People led lives before they were around, and people (like myself) still do. I know this sounds like some advice from an old fart- but I’m 24, and I haven’t had one since moving out of my college dorm room.
Also- take that toaster off of your counter, and put it in the cabinet. Take it out only when you need it. In fact, your broiler probably can be substituted for it all together, but I know that sometimes in the morning I just need some quick and easy toast.
My huge kitchen is one reason I am thankful to live in Chicago, and not NYC.
Deb - Brilliant! One question though… Where do you put all the take out menus?
Well done! It reminds me of my Boston days with a 5×5 foot kitchen (this included the mini-stove, sink, and counter, though the 3/4 sized fridge was recessed). The lesson I took from those years was that constant cleanup is a must! My now-husband and I cooked frequently — and managed to both work in the kitchen at once, our skills honed through years of work as bartenders or waitstaff — although sometimes prep/ assembly work had to be relocated to the coffee table. It was a formative experience, though I can’t say that I would trade my current full-sized kitchen for that tiny galley!
My friend and I also made an entire wedding cake in her oh so tiny NY kitchen. She has NO counters, only one tiny side table. (Let’s just say there was some interesting and creative fondant rolling techniques going on in her studio apartment) This proved to me that no kitchen is too small to create everything your heart desires, but with the caveat you wouldn’t want to do it too often. I never realized that you were creating all your wonderful dishes day after day in a kitchen just as tiny. Thanks for the inspiration!
Having a kitchen designed and fitted makes the difference, I think - my kitchen is easily as small as yours, but it has a lot more countertop and a lot more storage: a window and sink on one wall, and counters round the other three walls, apart from the door, stove and fridge-freezer. When I moved in the previous owners had a kitchen that dated back to 1960 and wasn’t safe (!), so I got MFI (UK cheapo kitchen people) to plan the kitchen for me, bought the cabinets and counters and got my uncle to put it in.
I love my tiny kitchen. Everything is exactly where I want it and I love it that I can reach everything - I hate those massive long galley kitchens, I always imagine having to run up and down like a lunatic instead of just reaching behind me to open the spice drawer. It bugs me that I don’t have a table to roll pastry out on but that’s it. I also think small kitchens encourage tidiness and organisation - I spend a lot of time working out how to use only one bowl, or at what point in a recipe I’ll wash up what I’ve used so far to make space.
I love your tips! With the foil rack, how deep is that? I would love one but whenever I try to hang stuff on a cabinet door I can’t close the cabinet.
My favorite thing I’ve done in my small-ish kitchen (bigger than yours, but not huge) was to not have a dish drainer. I find it mentally cluttering to see it on the counter, and it takes up space that could be useful when I am cooking.
Of course, I do have a dishwasher! But I often have dishes that don’t need to to/don’t fit in it. If so I just let them drip-dry on the counter itself until they get put away …
I think that its not so much the size of the kitchen as how well organized it is.
I’ve recently moved into a 12′ x 12′ kitchen, though I’ve been living in a 5′ x 7′ one for the past 3 years. The thing is though, that my new one is so poorly organized and designed that I can’t really fit anything more in it than I could before. Imagine my surprise (and unhappiness) when I discovered that I really COULDN’T buy more kitchen-toys. Though I only have myself to blame for the lack of organization.
My mother has this huge gorgeous kitchen where everything that is below counter level is all wide, deep drawers and everything above is standard cabinets. She designed it herself and my dad built it for her. The drawers are at least 20″ high by 30″ wide and 30″ deep and she can fit an absurd amount of pots in them. We’re talking a 14 piece set with assorted singles that she’s collected as well… and all the lids.
While I have never had a kitchen quite as small as yours, finding one that is actually a kitchen in Boston can also be a challenge. We lucked out with an eat in kitchen that we turned into a real kitchen, with a giant Ikea hutch that hosts 90% of our counter space.
I feel your pain with the bitty oven, I have had two of those, and it makes baking so much more time consuming.
I can’t wait to have my own kitchen (as in one I own), and my dream would be to have an open living space where the kitchen takes up most of the space…think Ina Garten’s new kitchen in her amazing barn.
I am one of the lucky New Yorkers with a diswasher in my kitchen! It is wonderful to have, but by putting it in they took away all of cabinet space! The whole apartment was renovated before we moved in - except for the ancient stove, for some reason. Our solution - bought the knock-off Metro shelving (the industrial looking wire stuff) at Bed Bath and Beyond with the 20% off coupon, bought a nice thick butcher block cutting board at one the the stores on the Bowery, bored out some holes, and snapped the cutting board on top. So, I have 3 extra shelves on wheels and a fantastic cutting board. Since it just sits on top of the shelving, we can pop it off if it needs a really good scrubbing. Also, my microwave broke last week and I don’t think I will be getting a new one.
Our space savers:
-Tea towels, oven mitts, dish rags, etc. are stored in a hanging fruit basket above our one little counter.
-Silverware is propped up in a little basket in the cabinet, since our one teeny tiny drawer is too small.
-We bought a cheap bookshelf with doors to act as our pantry.
My husband is the cook, so as he’s cooking, I’m following after him putting things away, wiping up, etc. Sometimes I’m a little over-zealous with the tidying, and he’ll be like, “Where did that [insert item] go?!? I needed that for [insert reason I wasn't aware of]!” But for the most part, our system works to at least keep our tiny kitchen from looking like a COMPLETE disaster when we’re finished.
What a great post! Although my kitchen is smaller than yours, I use many of the same strategies as you, Deb. It’s all white, mostly white appliances, mini Cuisinart (which I love), etc. I am fortunate to have a mini-dishwasher! My kitchen is well laid out and there are plenty of cabinets - some that extend to the ceiling. I love the idea of keeping one counter clear…I think I might actually do more baking if I implement that idea!
I love this post, and was particularly interested in the comments about KitchenAid mixers. I was going to register for one, but sort of felt bad registering for one thing that expensive…but now, I am wishing I had. I recently got a $100 gift certificate to Williams Sonoma as a birthday gift. I don’t really need any more prep bowls, utensils or other gadgets there, the only thing I really want is a KA mixer…so I am thinking of biting the bullet and putting the gift certificate toward one. It is so pricey but I see it as a great investment, considering I want to one day have an ice cream maker, pasta maker, etc., too…so it’s good to see some discussion of them here.
I think the most important thing when cooking “small” to do focus on one project at a time and clean up afterwards… my true kitchen messes and disasters come when I try to cook a weekend worth of food all at once… for all that cooking many things at once seems more efficient, the chaos that inevitably ensues does not lead to efficiency. So, I have started baking ahead of time and freezing items, rather than doing it all at once.
I have battled with tiny kitchens for years, since I left New York they have gotten bigger, though I dream of a n enormous kitchen where everything has its place, cleans itself and the counter space was as long as a dining room table.
You are an inspiration, your kitchen is smaller than my LES one-butt kitchen, but I made some great meals there.
I lived on a 33 foot sailboat and still managed to cook. I didn’t even have an operating oven so I got creative with a crockpot and toaster oven. My advice is to wash up as you go so you’re not accumulating dirty dishes - I had 6 sq feet of counter space, if you included the top of the stove and a sink that was only 10 inches x 12 inches by 12 in deep. I didn’t want to waste an inch of counter space with dirty dishes. It’s also good to plan the order of preparations ahead so you cut the veggies first on the (only) cutting board then the meat…less to wash!
Like Deb says - hang your pots! And make use of wall space with magnetic knife holders and hanging utensil hooks.
Honestly for me, the lack of food storage space and refrigerator space was much harder to deal with than the small working space. When we moved onto land I went out and bought every condiment I wanted until the fridge door was full!
I love your tips. I think everyone with a small kitchen should keep them all in mind. One thing I have done in my house is turn the coat closet (which is small - only 2 feet wide) into half coat closet and half pantry. It is working out well for us and didn’t cost much to convert. Now I have room for the food I didn’t have room for before.
I, too, have a teeny-tiny kitchen and all I can say is I AGREE. WITH EVERYTHING. Especially keeping your counter space clear. We recently cleaned out an entire cabinet in our bathroom dressing area. I know, this is going to sound strange. We were able to move the towels and the blankets and now those three wide, empty shelves hold all of the kitchen items that were taking up all our counter space (because it wouldn’t fit in the minimum cupboard space we had, all of which was already busting at the seems). Now, our counters are clear and are going to stay that way! It feels like we have so much more room!
i love you. i have made about 12 of your recipes, that are all AMAZING. but what i love now is that you have proven that you do not need a kitchen the size of a living room, with granite countertops, a wolf stove (although i really do dream of one), a sub zero side by side fridge, a wine fridge, a built in wine rack, and fifty million gadgets to make cooking easier. i view all of the gadgets as i do the ingredients…good quality and few of them! thank you so much for this wondeful website. i am off to make your tuna salad now!
We have a biggish kitchen and still don’t have room for it all. Your advice is very sound. Though i think my tall husband would cry if I asked him to install a pan rack from the ceiling.
What a great kitchen post, so many wonderful ideas…I used to have a tiny galley kitchen with the dollhouse-size oven and fridge and sometimes I miss it. I made some wonderful meals in there. The new kitchen is still a galley style (a lot longer with actual storage) and I don’t think I could cook in anything larger…By the way, we had a dishwasher that we rolled in and out that hooked up to the sink.
I have a lot of serveware(I kind of go berserk whenever I see some on sale) and so I store them in black storage boxes from Ikea and stack them on top of each other in the guest room closet. Whenever I have guests coming, I bring them out. Doing this saves my precious cabinet space.
These are great tips Thank You! I have no counter space, I make everything on our kitchen table. I have a few racks, carts that seem to help with storage - I think an island of some sort is in the near future!
I officially have to stop complaining about my wee kitchen because it’s almost exactly the same size as yours.
I can’t help but notice that you’re giving up what looks like two square feet of precious work surface to your dish rack. I did the same until about 2 years ago when got one of these at IKEA and instantly doubled my counter space:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80022786
It hangs on one of these: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90011396
BTW, you have fans in Toronto!
You have such a great blog, I totally forgot that you probably work in a tiny kitchen. I miss a lot about living in the city (we moved to burbs with kids), but I most definitely do NOT miss the tiny kitchens!
Thanks for the tip. Since I am new to your blog, I am not sure if you’ve covered this topic, but I was wondering how often and how you clean your oven–seeing that you do not have a self-cleaning one like me. I find this to be the most taxing of chores!
I have been debating about getting an island, I should just do it. I have seen them with knife blocks right in the side, another space saver!
Our kitchen looks like a long slender hallway, which is so not the most ideal configuration! I have also been saved by our pot rack, but one of my best tidbits is to move things like plates and glasses into another area, like by the table and use the cabinet space for appliances and other things that would normally be on the counter. I really have dreams of moving to the burbs and having a beautiful, huge kitchen (and bathroom!), but then I would miss living 3 blocks from bloomies. Ahhh, gotta love life’s trade-offs!
Holy cow! Your kitchen looks so much like mine! It kind of inspires me to know that you create such wonderful dishes with a similar space. Keep it up!
I’m so glad that you wrote this post… I lived in a 420 square foot apartment with a 8′ x 6′ kitchen (no joke). The apartment building was a converted hotel: small sink, half-sized stove like yours, 12″ counter space, two overhead cabinets and one under-sink cabinet. http://www.chelseaco.com/80_Howe_1_BR_FP.htm. There was no room for an extra storage cart, unfortunately.
Then it was a weird attic apartment with about 24″ of counter space and old rotting cabinets. Because it was attic space, the apartment was open enough to to set up a picnic table with a tablecloth as a counter.
Then it was another tiny kitchen: 3′ x 8′, with a 6″ counter and a 12″ counter. Two people could not stand there together. The only solution there was to get a low buffet and put it in another room: the buffet held all the kitchen stuff, I did most of my cooking sitting at the other-room’s kitchen table (not in the kitchen).
And finally, where I am now: about 10′ of counter space (which sounds a lot better than it actually is - the counter is a very strange shape - but it’s better than anything I’ve had before). Every time I visit yet another friend-who-doesn’t-cook that happens to have a gorgeous, open, granite-countered, viking-stoved, well-lit with lots of storage space kitchen… I get a little sad. But then I remember how much fun I have had in all of these various kitchens, and how they help me to be grateful for where I am now. Small kitchens have personality, for sure.
thank you so much for this post! my last apartment’s kitchen might actually have been smaller with less storage than even yours, so i feel your pain. my current apartment kitchen definitely has more space, but i still don’t know what to do with it all and it just ends up a mess. so i definitely look forward to applying some techniques. and i think if i had a pot rack, my husband wouldn’t always put the pans in the cupboards when they belong in the drawer under the stove. =)
You never know what you have til its gone. I recently moved with my new husband to Canada from Philly with just suitcases, which meant the Le Creuset and KitchenAid stayed behind. But because this move is temporary, we couldn’t bring ourselves to replace them with inferior versions. So the only appliance we have is a mini food processor. Literally! Plus one sharp knife, one big pot, one little pot, one frying pan, and one square baking pan. Oh, and a pie dish I just bought. It’s amazing what you can do without all the things you thought you couldn’t live without! The other day I baked a cran-apple pie using a sake bottle for a rolling pin, and it came out beautiful! I feel like a pioneer woman or something! (Okay, so maybe even pioneer women had rolling pins. Maybe I will get one of those.) Anyway, thanks for showing us where the magic happens!
My kitchen is not as bad as yours but I still wish that someday I’ll have a big one with a walk-in pantry.
I second the get rid of microwave idea. When we moved to our current apartment 3 years ago we decided to wait on a new microwave (our old place came with a built-in) and decided we just don’t need it. We do have a toaster oven on the counter, but we use it a lot more than we ever used our microwave. We also bought a dishwasher that hooks up to the sink and that provides extra counter space.
For 13 years, I lived and cooked in a large kitchen that had NO counters, only my 36″ round kitchen table. And one of those really small apartment-sized stoves that I couldn’t even fit a turkey in. But, it had built in glass-fronted cabinets from floor to head height and a large bank of windows that let in a lot of sun. And OMG - the KitchenAid!!! I just splurged and bought one on (gasp!) QVC yesterday! It was a one day holiday special, it is the new 6 qt., 575 watts of power and my friend Jon has all the attachments I can borrow. It arrives November 13 and I can’t wait to try out my holiday cookie recipes on it. No more making multiple batches on my old Kenmore one that spins the bowl and leaves everything up against the sides. Supposedly, it will also knead enough dough for 8 loaves of bread all at once!
My mom had one of those wrap dispensers and I couldn’t find it before. Thanks I’m stopping at bed bath and beyond on the way home.
Once I had a kitchen that also held my bed, two chairs, a sink that only worked in the summer when the pipes weren’t frozen, a little counter made of wooden planks, and an old woodfired cookstove. Plus two cats and whatever wandering friends happened to be staying the week. The bed turned into a table with some magic and stout wooden pegs. I hosted many fine meals — by candlelight — in that little shack. I managed not just soups and stews, but weekly bread and pies, and even some six-dozen Christmas truffles in that drafty little kitchen. The strictures of my set-up almost made cooking easier: I had to plan my baking and cooking well in advance, in order to build a fire and have the stove at the proper temperature when I needed it. Planning counts for so much space.
I loved this so much I tried to stumble, but of course someone already had! I agree with the cook neatly tip. It always makes me enjoy the process, and the meal, so much more. Learned this lesson again tonight. I’m with you on the microplane grater, the immersion blender, and BBB.
oh, you have a tiny oven too! does yours fit regular sized cookie sheets? i had to go out and buy new ones when i moved in here. the greatest space-saving tip that i’ve found is having shelves that hang over my door. you can’t put dishes or anything in them, but it frees up a lot of counter or pantry space for tea, spices, peanut butter, that kind of stuff.
also, my kitchenaid is possibly the best purchase i’ve ever made. my mom has one that’s almost thirty years old and still going strong.
Last May I purchased my first home [whoo!] and it has a LOVELY kitchen. The previous owner custom built the cabinets for the space, and definately thought carefully and lovingly about how a person needs to work and move while cooking. I even have an amazing pantry tucked beneath my stairs with the best assortment of shelves ever. It’s a far cry from my university kitchen arrangements of the past few years: no usable counter, wasted floor space, few cupboards and only three drawers. Despite what lacked in that kitchen, we made some excellent food, and I think that my small kitchen actually opened my eyes and made me aware of the pure awesomeness of my new space.
All of your tips are wonderful, but I think that they’re applicable in large spaces as well as small. Keeping things clean and efficient, using a bright colour on your walls, cutting back on useless or superfluous gadgets, investing in well-proportioned dishes and the like make any kitchen easier and more lovely to work in. And, if you’re baking something like the Pink Lady cake from a few weeks ago, well, I can’t see how it’s even possible to go wrong!
We loooove Ikea’s $3 pot lid rack. We have a couple mounted on the inside of our pantry door.
Eesh, I cannot believe I have the nerve to complain about the lack of counter space in my kitchen. I have a ton in comparison and yet, little is actually close to my work triangle. As another poster said, sometimes less is more.
I had a KitchenAid from the 70s (60s?) (it’s harvest gold) passed down to me when its motor got a little too tired for heavy bread dough… and I have it stored with friends because I just do not have room. I am shopping immersion blenders and/or hand mixers now, but I’ve been resolutely refusing to believe that soups need to be textureless and giving up on ever making pavlova.
Pretty much, my work space is a cutting board balanced over the corner of my sink, and that works surprisingly well for me. And, yes, I do enjoy hosting dinner parties and cooking workshops in my studio apartment.
I have 1 huge bowl, and that has my two colanders nested inside it. And my stepladder gets a lot of use, since I use all of the cabinet space, from the bottom underneath the sink to the empty space over the cabinets.
I have a heavy-duty magnetic hook stuck to the back of my range hood, from which I dangle my measuring cups and spoons.
And even though it is the worst possible place to store them, all of my oils and vinegars are on the window ledge by the stove - I just make sure to smell them for going off every time I use them.
This was a fun post. Someday I’ll have to convince one of my friends to bring over a camera and take pictures of my kitchen.
I live in a dorm room, and my “kitchen” is a lot like yours, except without the stove/oven…. I have (shh) a toaster oven and a hot plate, and a giant counter-height table I built…. And if I could make everything white I totally just might.
If you can do it, between the full-sized common oven and stove and my room, I can do it… or just wait till I have a real kitchen.
Wow, that stove looks very familiar. I live in a studio and my kitchen isn’t really a kitchen as much as a wall of a tiny stove, a tiny sink and 2 tiny cabinets. The oven drives me crazy because it has no thermostat and it’s so hard to tell if it’s pre-heated.
Deb,
If it is at all possible, my kitchen is smaller than yours. I would like to have an “island-on-wheels” as you have in yours, but there is not enough space between the wall dividing my bedroom and the kitchen and my countertop for one. Instead, I got a cheap, unvarnished wooden shelf from Ikea in which I put my “pretty” small appliances there with a sheer cloth over it so that I can keep two things on my counter: my microwave and my knife block. I, too, have a mere 6 cabinets; a 24″ oven, and only 2 working burners (the other two spontaneously combust, I’m an expert w/ the fire extinguisher). In this disastrous rental apartment kitchen, I made Mark Bittman’s pork tenderloin, quinoa pilaf, Jim Lahey’s No Knead Bread, and Martha Stewarts Outrageous Chocolate Cookies. I think there was salad, too.
So, I completely agree with you… if you really want to, it is possible!
It does help to have a designated “dish washer” (ie. significant other/consumer of foods).
LOVE YOUR BLOG, I WAS HOOKED ON THE FIRST POST I READ!!!
Laura M. ;-)
The only problem with hanging pot racks is they don’t combine well with low ceilings and a tall husband. We hang a few things over the counter, but it’s limited.
Our kitchen looks spacious by comparison with yours, though, and I feel immensely grateful for my full-size stove now.
All this time I imagined you had one of those enormous chef’s kitchen’s.
wow, our kitchens are the same size! i love your post!!! if you can pull off all those beautifully cooked items in your kitchen, i should never complain again!!!
i have a vintage built in that is original to the building that I love. I have no other storage or cabinets. I have a sink, a refrig, an oven/stove, an mobile island, one window and 2 doors so the configuration in not so good. I love to cook and have tons of stuff! I have no counter space what so ever! I use the island, then the drawers… i pull them out and place cutting boards on them.
I have decorative chair rails that are high on the wall about 62″, why they installed them at that height not sure but hey great for me! at the sink and stove I install white laminate shelves from the hardware store balanced on the rails with L brackets. Now I have a place for all my spices, oils and vinegars at the stove and then tea cups, latte bowls, teas and such at the sink. I placed hook under the shelf at the sink, where my aprons, towels hang.
above the refrigerator, i have all my vintage trays, cookie sheets and a few old picnic baskets to hold linens. Also that is where i have wooden boxes to hold some my silver. All other linens and silver are in a dresser in the living room!
I also have the magnetic knife holder, love it! also another great item is an old aluminum metal rail with hooks where i hang by the stove with most used utensils, others are in crockery pots that sit on the small ikea bookcase that i placed next to the stove. its in the door way but hey it works!
callie
Right now I live in a student cooperative housing unit and so I currently cook in a restaurant sized kitchen complete with 6 ovens, 2 grills, 16 burners and massive amounts of counter space. Those are all the benefits, the drawbacks are that it is perpetually a disgusting mess (what with 150 college students wandering through at all hours), half of the time half of the things don’t work, and I have to deal with 150 college students whenever I want to cook. I’ve finally become fed up with everything and so next semester I am moving into a tiny TINY apartment with a tiny kitchen (the entire kitchen/dining room is 9×12 with no cabinets, 1 counter, and 2 mini fridges rather than a full sized fridge). A major downsize but definitely worth it to me. This post is an absolute lifesaver, the small bubble of panic that was growing in my throat has now subsided. Thanks.
Bravo for you, Deb..A tiny kitchen and you cook whatever in spite of it; without whining. (at least not here, anyway) I admire your can-do attitude.
Who wouldn’t love a spacious. tricked out kitchen? But if you can’t have it, you make do the best you can. Good tips for the small kitchen. Thanks for that.
Im so glad to know that I am not the only one trying to bake and cook on a tiny stove/oven. I moved from a place that had a huge kitchen (lots of counter/storage space, big oven, etc) to one thats probably 1/3 the size and adjusting to it has been tough.
I did buy an island/cart from ikea which is small but very handy for storing baking pans and also doubles as a wine rack!
How do you store your spices? I currently stack them above the oven dials as I have no other room…
I went from a kitchen that was over 250 square feet in Chicago. I admit, I was spoiled there. Then I went to a single counter with barely enough room to open the fridge door in an apartment in Pittsburgh. When I unpacked the boxes, I thought I was going to scream. I had to start storing stuff in the spare bedroom closet. What the heck was I thinking? My solution was to buy a bigger house. :)
You surely make a tiny kitchen work! I have very few fancy kitchen gadgets and I have just learned to make do. You improvise, and I have learned I don’t need half the crap out there! Perhaps when I get married I will have a nice food processor and a kitchen aid mixer. For now, I will have to suffer with the cramped shoulders and arms from being forced to hand beat everything (including egg whites).
PS - Another good site for storage solutions is the container store. I don’t know if they have them nationwide but they have anything and everything.
I live in a studio, and the #1 reaction when people first walk in is “Cute place! Where’s your kitchen?” I have kitchen smaller than most walk-in closets. It’s about 50 sq ft, 4 cabinets, and a grand total of 2×1 1/2 feet of counter space. The biggest thing you can fit in the oven is a turkey breast. The microwave resides in our living area, the food processor and the blender in the coat/linen closet, and FORGET about an extra island. There is NO extra usable space. I have 3 good knives on a magnet strip, prop the foldable dish drainer on the oven to drain into the sink, cook miniature cakes, use the crack between the wall and the fridge to hold my broom, step-stool, plastic bags…. One thing I’ve definitely found useful is the use of a lazy susan for my spices. Makes finding the cumin in a stuffed cabinet a lot easier. I also love my crock-pot. It’s not small, but it’s another cooking surface, and I could put it on the dining table outside the kitchen if I’m working on something else.
I have managed to make Thanksgiving dinner a couple of times (turkey breast only of course), although it is a strategic feat, and I have managed to feed a load of people, but it’s gotta be something simple. Because the only way to fit 2 pans on my stove is on a diagonal.
i’m amazed at the stuff you turn out from your kitchen. i have a small kitchen too - it came completely bare - no oven, no refrigerator, no stove - nothing. we had to put everything in which meant that we had to find space for each of those things! it was tough. so what was (we thought) a huge kitchen - became tiny once we put in the appliances!
and there was no room either - so we had to buy a counter top oven toaster griller, a fridge that would fit into the little 2′ of space (where i would’ve loved to put an island). so in the end, we have lots of cupboards (more than we need), but absolutely no space to put appliances! did i mention that we have only ONE electrical outlet in the kitchen - and they positioned it above the SINK?!?!? aarrggh!!!
whats worse than a tiny kitchen? a badly designed medium one!
My biggest space saver is putting all my kitchen utensils in one big jug, it saves so much drawer space, and its handy since its next to the stove. My latest trick is placing the chopping board next to the sink, as this way everything gets dumped into the sink, and tossed out, instead of moving and carrying the waste to the bin. I’m a klutz so I tend to drop things all the time on the floor.
i gotta say, my kitchen is a great size, but lacks power points in necessary areas, such as next to the hot plates. So, when im making 7minute frosting, theres heaps of extension cords running through the kitchen. not the safest idea, but it does work wonders :D
I have the dinkiest kitchen and I love gadgets. I agree that the kitchen add with attachements is the way to go (I adore the ice cream maker).
My favorite thing is my pot rack, I got a long one from target first thing and it’s been awesome.
I regret picking a black kitchen aid since I totally agree it shrinks the feel of the space oh well.
I have those plastic cutting boards which I know aren’t the best for knives but they sure do save space and I can take them out of the kitchen and do prep on them if I want. I also keep my biggest pot in the oven, I use it to make no knead bread so it’s not the weirdest place and when I need the oven for something else I can usually put it on the stove, counter or ahem floor.
I need to reorganize though I know I can get more out of my space, thanks so much for the encouragement and tips
Your kitchen looks great.
Well ever since my hubby and I celebrated our 10th anniversary and he surprised me with a gorgeous diamond necklace from http://www.idonowidont.com I surprised him with allowing a designer come in to renovate our kitchen where he likes to cook.
It’s a small kitchen so these tips are really helpful in helping us!
Your oven looks exactly like mine! It’s absolutely tiny, can’t fit more than one baking sheet at a time, really. Doesn’t tell you when it’s preheated. Runs about 25 degrees too cool (my estimate after lots of experimentation). Doesn’t have a LIGHT inside!!! And doesn’t have a window outside!!!
But I’ve gotten used to it. It’s just so petite and homey-looking. It’s my endearing pain-in-the-ass now.
Ready to be jealous? I have a *huge* island bench, a very spacious kitchen with bench space all around the room, two fridges, a walk in pantry and a double oven. And it’s still roomy :P
Ah yes, the problems of the tiny kitchen. Luckily, we’re (my parents and I are) going to find a new house that has cabinets and shelves and SPACE GALORE in the kitchen!
I’m jealous of Jenna. The idea itself? *swoons*
As much as I love to see where you cook, I really want to see where you eat!
I have to say that I always thought that you have the most gorgeous and delicious cookblog in all the internet and vicinity. Love your recipes, love your great food pictures, and to think that you manage to do all those delicious delicacies in such a tiny kitchen… you are a super-chef! \o/ \o/ \o/
I must add that I always imagined that you’d have one of those enourmous kitchens with two counters, two sinks and two ovens, so this came quite as a shock to me…
Wow! I think your kitchen might be even slightly smaller than mine. But as a city resident (although DC not NY), I feel your pain. It is always a great struggle to keep things clean, neat and maximize every bit of space.
Thanks for the tips, these are all spot on.
This is one of the funniest, most cleverly written posts. To think that Smitten Kitchen operates from such a tiny space is almost surreal and makes me wonder what you go through to get all the great photos on your site. Perhaps your next blog should focus on photography in less-than-optimum quarters (I didn’t see a window for natural light).
P.S. I never saw so many comments on any one post.
Joan # 90 said it all…….you truly work magic, SmittenKitchen, to create the art that you do AND obtain the photos that you do is truly a work of an artist!
KUDOS…….you’re my new hero!!!!!!!
I too can’t believe the comments to your post…….it’s been like therapy for the small kitchen……..=))
Fabulous tips!! I’m actually having a new kitchen built right now, so I’m excited :0)
nice post. I used to have a tiny tiny tiny kitchen: about 6 ft x 6 ft. And now I have a huge kitchen. But the space is never enough. I think it’s all about how organized you are.
These tips are very familiar to me :) I have 2 small kitchens.
The weenie one in my nyc apartment has 2 wall cabinets, no drawers, a 24″ stove with oven that doesn’t work, 4 sf of counter space, counter height fridge and mini sink. I’ve cooked some ambitious things in there, but you do get to a point of diminishing returns in a kitchen like that.
The kitchen in my house is less than 2x the size of yours, so not huge, but it makes a WORLD of difference to have a full sized fridge with freezer, a working oven, a full sized sink, etc. In that kitchen, I am really without limitations.
What on earth is a microplane?
The little island is a great idea! I’ll have to try to find one somewhere…maybe BBB! : ) I second the cooking neatly, I usually get to a certain stopping point and then clean the mess that I have so far. It helps conserve space so much! Thanks for posting this! : )
Inspired!
I stayed awake one night thinking of how I was going to store all our new appliances we were getting from our registry. The KitchenAid and all its attachments was particuarly troubling me. The next day mom and I were driving through her neighborhood and there it was! A large wooden shelving unit with cabinets, shelves, and drawers. The sign said free. It fit like it was made for my breakfast nook, matched my cabinets and displays several dishes and the beautiful KitchenAid! My husband wants a pot rack, but I just can’t stand the “cluttered” look I think it gives. But in the end he may win since our new pot and pan set being non-stick suggested not nesting the pots. So the space is maxed out and we keep the 13 inch skillet on the stove top. More clutter! I like clear counters!!!
Great post!. My husband and I sold our cozy 1400 sq ft home in the US and moved into a 260 sq ft dorm room with a communal kitchen when he was accepted to graduate school in the UK. Needless to say, we had to downsize EVERYTHING. Since we knew that our stay would be temproray, we decided not to invest in expensive kitchen gadgets. Of course, our limited storage space wouldn’t allow for that anyway. How I missed my blender and food processor- I love to make pureed soups, smoothies, nut butters, hummous, etc. My husband and I are ready to move back to the US after two years of living the high-life in the UK (ha, ha). We have decided to maintain the “less is more” attitude and lifestyle. However, I would like to buy a gadget that would allow me to make my smoothies, nut butters, hummous, etc. Any suggestions about what would be the best gadget: blender vs food processor vs immersion blender or a combo?
I now realize I have no excuses.
I moved from a HUGE kitchen to a tiny one and I felt like I couldn’t do anything in it.
I know now that I didn’t know what tiny was and it’s me, not the kitchen, who is being ineffective.
Thanks for the great tips.
Thanks so much for this entry! I too have a tiny kitchen (so tiny, in fact, that there is NO counter space, and I do all our food prep at the kitchen table), and our biggest space saver has been using a credenza for our dishes. It’s kind of like a sturdy china cabinet that hangs out in our living room looking pretty, and we keep all our wine bottles on top of it to save more space. One thing that a lot of our Italian neighbors do to survive cooking in tiny apartments is to use a huge cutting board as a work space. They put it on the table to use as a counter when they need it, then away it goes behind a door. Oh, and I’m with you on the white kitchen looking more spacious! We even hung some cheap IKEA tracklights to brighten the whole area.
My kitchen at uni is shared between seven, and it’s a decent size - but the first time I tried to put my brand-new, bought-by-my-mother baking tray in the oven, I found the shiny new tray would only fit in if I, you know, folded it in half. Currently I’m constantly borrowing trays off my flatmates, le sigh. Love the post!
hmmm. Our current kitchen is quite spacious, but once we move back to Vancouver (into an inevitably small townhouse), these tips are going to be handy! Right now, I make sure to stack things within things, instead of having every item next to its neighbor. Even so, we still got WAY too many things from our wedding! I really like the pot rack suggestion!
Senior year of college our kitchen was so small the fridge was in the “dining room”. Now our kitchen is much bigger but still a pain to work in. It’s a galley and it’s so narrow you can’t open the oven normally and have to go at it from the side. I’ll have to see which tips I can work in to help us out because my husband is really tired of us tripping over each other, hitting each other with drawers and cupboards, that sort of thing. Thanks for the ideas!
This is a great post! and perfect timing! I’m in the process of moving into a new house. I’m overwhelmed by how disgusting and dirty the people were that lived there before me. I keep procrastinating on getting the kitchen settled. I just go into the kitchen and stare at the cabinets and try to figure out where everything should go! This was great and really got me thinking about where I can store things. All of the comments were really helpful too! I’m inspired and should have my kitchen in order tonight!!!
I have no choice but to clean as I go. If I am making a cake, I measure the flour, dump it in the bowl, and put it away. My kitchen can’t possibly handle anything more. I also store my pots and pans in the oven, I use the space on top of the cabinets, (always), and if it stacks, it’s mine! I also have a small bar-height table that acts as an island with stools that fit very snugly underneath.
After all this, what could possibly be the downfall to my ridic organized kitchen? The microwave! They must have written a law that insists a microwave take up as much counter space as possible and have the shortest cord imaginable so that we poor small kitchen dwellers have no choice but to put it in the most inconvenient place!
Not to be sappy, but this is really inspirational for people who think they don’t have the space to cook. Your food looks/tastes amazing, and if you can cook in a small space, others can, too. Thanks for the peek into your space.
for 6 years my husband and i lived in a one-room, 600 sq. ft. efficiency apartment. i had a sink, a mini refrigerator, a microwave and a toaster oven. and a hot plate with two burners. i had two over-the-counter cupboards, one under-the-sink cupboard, and 4 drawers. and i was *amazed* at the things i was able to make even with such limited tools. i had a cute little cookbook called “the tiny kitchen” by denise sullivan medved with a lot of easy recipes that don’t require many tools or ingredients (my favorite chapter was fish. it was a single page that said “don’t cook fish in the tiny kitchen. it smells.”)
When I moved into my new (first) apartment, my (extremely nice) parents gave me a good knife and one of those gigantic Butcher-block cutting boards. The board is great because it takes up the entire counter, turning all of my work space into prep/work area. It is awesome.
The first thought in my mind was, how does she get such awesome photos in that tiny place? I guess everything white helps with that, lots of fill light.
deb - i think you are so cute and your little kitchen is too.
samantha
You know, i was inspired to get the kitchen cart i got bc of yours. I have zero counterspace. And I have a weird sink situation where is stands on its own without any connection to the rest of the kitchen. I need to figure out a creative way to house a drying rack - as it’s balancing on 3 of its 4 legs right now… i see lots of broken dishes in my future that way :)
Inspirational! Amazing that you can churn out so much from your kitchen - I have a decent kitchen, but just moan and complain about not having this or that ratehr than getting my a$$ down and actually doing something. You rock!
You are amazing to accomplish so much in that kitchen. I too have a small NYC kitchen…longer and narrower and a little less square footage than yours. I was so happy to have it when I moved 3 years ago because for the previous 13 years my kitchen was even smaller. Two people could stand in it side by side as long as neither made a move! You are such an inspiration! Thanks for the tips.
Is it horrible that I looked at the picture of your kitchen and squeaked about how nice it must be to have so much *gulp* “space?” I share your small-kitchen syndrome. But I think the thing is really to just know you CAN do it. You CAN make a small kitchen work and turn out lovely things. One thing I’ve done that helps me use my space is to lay a large cutting board over the divider in my sink when I’m preparing something. Insta-counter!
Me again! I have had a few more thoughts since first posting. Things that attach to the underside of a cabinet are great space-savers. I have the under-cabinet can opener and lots of hooks for holding pot holders, etc. A friend of mine had a low box made of the same formica as her counters; it perfectly covered the burners on her stove to provide extra counter space. I think it was attached with piano hinges so she could just lift it up out of the way when she needed the burners. I have a ceramic cooktop which provides a handy work surface when not hot. And a word on economy: a Kitchen Aid will pay for itself if you tend to burn out cheaper mixers as I did. If you can posssibly scrape up the initial outlay, a quality appliance is the better bargain every time. I know most people have already thought of this, but anything thin and flat, such as pizza stones, cutting boards and cookie sheets, gets stored behind the door or in the space between appliances and walls. Also, there is no door in my home that does not have some kind of a rack hanging on the back of it. Tacky but useful.
Wow just when I thought I couldn’t admire you any more!!
It is amazing what you do in such a small space. :)
I thought my condo kitchen was small, but now I don’t think I can complain too much!
I love the pot rack idea- they are practical AND stylish!
Couldn’t agree more! I wrote an entire cookbook, and developed all 100 dessert recipes in my teeny-tiny Brooklyn kitchen. As my mom always says, When you really want to do something, you find a way to do it :)
Your island!! Where did you get it? I’ve been looking for something similar but haven’t been able to find anything I like.
We bought it at Hold Everything for like $200 a few years ago, but the store/chain has since closed. It’s actually rather junky and I do not recommend it. It never came together perfectly… with tight seams and the shelves fitting snugly against the walls so the shelves fall a lot.
Great tips, Deb! We just finally kicked our gigantic microwave to the curb, which freed up a whopping 1 foot of counter space. I can’t even tell you how much cooking life has changed with that extra bit of space. And really, I never used the micro that much anyway.
i pull out my DRAWER (only one) and plop my cutting board
on top for extra counter space.
ok Deb, I PRAY my man does not see this blog because I always complain that our kitchen is too small and outdated and I can’t cook because of this. My kitchen is about 4 times the size of yours and I must say, that my face is red as I am typing this… Oh the shame….
I clean obsessively. I match containers to their tops as they come out of the dishwasher - and yes, I’d trade that mini-dishwasher for another cabinet any day - and, at least once a weekend, I go through them all again - usually during Paula Dean’s show - and make sure they’re stacked neatly. Everything is always at my fingertips.
My kitchen is tiny but my house is pretty big. If you have the same thing going on (probably not true in NYC apartment), I would suggest that you keep big appliances that you don’t often use (mixer, grill pans, stock pots, etc) in other areas of the house - like a spare bedroom. I also LOVE my cast iron utensil holder that sits on my counter. It holds all of my important utensils without too much clutter.
Thank you Deb.
Would it be possible to share photographs of ” space saving” ideas we have ?
A HUGE fan of you & your work,
Coline, Canada
Ikea is great for some of these kinds of things! Our kitchen itself is fairly big, but totally useless for counter and cabinet space. When we moved in we discovered we had NO DRAWERS! Not one. We nicely asked my dad to build in a drawer where there used to just be a fake drawer front on our one piece of counter. So, it helps to have a handy family member or friend. And I definitely second Deb’s suggestion of an island, we have one that we use for storage and to put our microwave/toaster oven on. But what really saved our kitchen was adding in a metal shelf and a pot rack bar above our tiny piece of counter and our stove (we have no upper cabinets there). We hang most of our pots on the bar with S hooks and I can put my spice rack, cook books, sugar/flour jars up on the shelf.
Good god, woman, you are a culinary genius to produce such magnificent dishes in such a small space, and an inspiration to us all. In our first house, we had the most primitive set-up; wooden frames around appliances with slabs of reclaimed marble from a tombstone maker mounted on top. A glass-fronted cupboard from a school held our cups and glasses, with food stashed in the old fashioned under-the-stairs larder cupboard to which we added shelves. Our butler sink was rescued from someone’s garden, with simple stainless steel tap fittings from my retired grandpa’s shed. The original quarry tiles were well-worn, but with an IKEA rug were perfect. I’ve had five houses and kitchens since, but none have the warmth, charm and simplicity of the first. Well done you for reminding us it’s about what we do, not what we aspire to….
Where did you get your pot rack? I’ve never seen one like that and have been looking for one!
Such a great, informative article Deb! Well done :)
When my husband and I first lived together we had a tiny, remarkable kitchen. Although it was probably no more than 7 by 6 feet square, it had an amazing amount of cupboard space that was (almost) more than we needed, and a pretty good amount of counter space too. The only downside was that if the fridge or the oven was open, you couldn’t walk through it. I remember once when I was baking cookies I leaned over to put a second batch in the oven and burned my lower back on the edge of one of the hot cookie sheets resting on the counter behind me. Our current kitchen is a bit bigger and more open, but the storage space and counter space is much tighter. Do you have any suggestions on where to store cookie sheets, other than in the drawer under the oven where they have a bunch of cake pans on them and are a pain to get out? (we don’t have one of those convenient narrow cupboards designed for them.)
OK, I am truly shamed. I have no excuses for putting off the things I am afraid of making - breads, pastries, etc.
I fell in love with your blog the first time I ever read it. Now, I am in awe.
I do. not. believe. how amazing you must be to produce the kind of gastronomic masterpieces that you do from a kitchen with that amount of usable space. Wow. I have a small kitchen for a big midwest house. Compared to, I think, everyone I know my kitchen is smaller but I don’t mind. For me the thing that was of premier importance was stove/oven size. I actually turned down several adorable aparmtents (back when I was single) because of those dwarf ovens. I just won’t do it! First thing I bought for my new house was a gorgeous 5-burner, gas, 5 c. ft oven range. Oh I love it so much! We actually shopped for a house that had an old stove because I knew I would want the one I now have. Not pricey, really, just finally enough burners and oven space to cook anything and everything I want!!
But as far as storage, we too use our coat closet as a pantry, and I have an old antique buffet in my dining room (absolutely no space for so much as a foot stool in the kitchen) where I keep most of my pots and pans and many baking sheets, stockpots, etc. That has been a lifesaver in terms of space. We also have these weird cabinets (all the top ones) that aren’t even deep enough for a full size dinner plate! Ah, old houses and city apartments. :) Long on charm and short on storage space.
Deb, thank you so much for showing us your kitchen. Now I know that I’m not the only one with a tiny kitchen. The strange thing is that my friends with huge and modern kitchens never bother to cook… Well, having a small kitchen has made me the queen of ”how to benefit the most of such little space” and of course I’ve sticked to the most useful and essential items. Nothing useless or.. unused. Thanks again.
Also - we just keep our three big knives shoved in a drawer right now but I know they will probably get duller this way. Do you think there exists a small, three-knife holder to fit in a drawer?
Do your pot-holders match your apron? Sweet.
Two words: peg board. Or maybe it’s one word. Regardless — we have a recessed area of wall about three feet wide and my genius husband hung peg-board for me, so now all the pots and pans and some other gadgets hang nicely on what was before wasted space. That and I am merciless about what I allow into the kitchen — hubbie loves specialty gadgets; me, not so much. But, yeah — peg board. Look into it.
If you ever have the chance you might want to check out a store for camping/Motorhomes/RV’s for things to make the most of small spaces. My mom and stepdad lived in an RV for many years and I went in to a camping/RV store with them a couple of times. The first time I found a plastic knife rack that mounts to the wall or inside a cabinet either on the back of the door or the side with either mounting tape or screws. I’ve probably had it for close to 10 years now and love. I used the tape to mount it to the inside of the door of 1 of my lower cabinets. It holds my chef’s knife, serrated/bread knife, cheese knife, and 2 paring knives with a couple of slots leftover.
Wow - that is a very tiny kitchen. Color me impressed with this entry :-D.
Great tips too. I love it. While my kitchen isn’t small, I’m still glad I found you.
This is a GREAT post. My husband and I have a very small kitchen, and while it’s frustrating, I like the charm that it has. Thanks for sharing all of your great ideas :)
I have a nice size kitchen, but I have four doorways leading into or out of the kitchen so the current setup only has about only 24 inches of usable countertop.
Thanks for the tips! I think I will start decluttering now!
i always thought that you had an uber kitchen that produced your uber food creations. my kitchen has almost exactly the same square footage, the same useless (except for placing a dish rack) built-in counter space, and the exact same stove. i deemed the tiny, dysfunctional kitchen to be a wrench thrown in my culinary dreams.
you give me hope.
…now if someone could only give me more cabinets, a beautiful pot rack, and possibly expand my kitchen to include my fridge (which is currently in the bedroom :P)
I am in awe. And, I will never again say my kitchen is too small nor that I cannot entertain or make anything my heart desires. You are simply amazing.