You won't miss the extra square footage, trust us.
While a small bedroom or living room can feel cozy in a good way, a cramped kitchen typically isn’t on anyone’s must-have list. After all, the kitchen is where guests gather, drinks are made, and meals are shared—it’s an integral part of a house in so many ways. Fortunately, if you do have a small kitchen, there are plenty of ways to maximize the space you have for efficiency and style.
One expert-approved trick for making a small kitchen feel larger is using high-gloss paint or a reflective backsplash to bounce light around the room. Another idea for small kitchens is to downsize your kitchen island or leave it out altogether if there isn’t enough room for one—you can find out how to calculate the correct size of your kitchen island in this handy guide.
Feeling inspired? Keep reading for 60 small kitchen ideas that offer clever, stylish solutions for creating a space that feels bigger, works better, and looks great.
Additional copy by Kate McGregor.
Disguise Storage
Designed by Alexandra Kaehler, this plate shelving is a great way to display sentimental china patterns or stellar antique finds. It also doubles as sleek storage. Good organization is often thought of as having to be hidden or bulky, but with a clever use of vertical space in a small kitchen, dinnerware storage can also serve as art.
Carve a Thin Nook
Full-depth countertops take up a lot of space. Take inspiration from designer Kelly Hurliman, and install cabinetry into the wall rather than out of it. A slim inset still allows for a surface to place glassware.
Install a Pot Rack
Small curtain rods or pot racks can help keep countertops clean—a necessity in a small kitchen. Here, design firm French & French uses the bar to hold dried herbs, cutting boards, and other serving utensils.
Forgo Upper Cabinets
In a small kitchen, it’s important to maximize visual space. If you’re able, abandon the upper cabinets to keep your space feeling light and airy. Here, Ashley Maddox, along with designer Hilary Walker, uses a cool white paint to help reflect natural light and contrast from the dark-stained storage.
Make It Cozy
Embrace your kitchen’s small stature and furnish it with antiques to create a cozy feeling. Here, designer Liz Dutton opted for a small dining table that can double as a food prep space to supplement the limited counter space.
Keep Lighting Simple
In a small kitchen idea, you don’t want one feature to completely take over the space, so keep the details simple but still functional, like the lighting in this kitchen by Banner Day Interiors. On just this wall alone, you can find three sources of light, but none of them completely dominate the space. They’re minimal and small, but still give the small kitchen a ton of light.
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Use a Reflective Backsplash
Anyone who’s lived in a small space knows that mirrors make the area feel larger. Because a mirrored backsplash might not be the safest option for your small kitchen idea, we recommend going with a reflective backsplash made from stone or tile. In this kitchen by Becca Interiors, the design team put in a shiny black tile that reflects the light of the room, helping the entire space feel larger.
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Choose Dark Accents
Using dark accents where shadows naturally form is an elegant way to make your small kitchen seem bigger. This moody space by Charles Cohen has a dark backsplash that’s not only extremely beautiful but also makes the room feel longer than it really is.
Open the Layout
This guesthouse was designed for conversation—so it only made sense that designers Alison Pickart and Katy Polsby opened up the small kitchen to encourage that. Though open-concept spaces are a bit controversial, if you’re someone who loves to gab with your group, then change your home to better fit your lifestyle and open that wall that connects the living room to the kitchen.
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Hide Your Appliances
In this English Country–inspired home, designer Dane Austin created a charming look to the redone kitchen by adding a spot to hide away the smaller appliances, like the KitchenAid and toaster. To help disrupt the clutter that comes from a small kitchen, find clever ways to hide what you can to save on counter space and keep up with your desired aesthetic.
Add Millwork to Your Island
If you’re finding it difficult to add decor to your small kitchen for fear of it feeling too crowded, consider adding custom millwork to key features in the room to add interest to the space. In this kitchen by Gillian Segal, the designer didn’t change too much of the layout but focused on everything else, including this custom kitchen island with millwork along the sides.
Paint the Cabinets Two Different Colors
The dual tones of the cabinetry in this small kitchen idea add so much brightness to the space. It also helps that designer Laquita Tate used a mobile kitchen island to make the room feel less crowded, as you can see right through to the other side.
Choose Shorter Cabinets
This pool house kitchenette was on the smaller side, so designer Leyden Lewis chose shorter cabinets for the space. They’re closed off, too, so they hide the dishes and cups away for a cleaner look.
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Build Into the Wall
Whether you put in actual built-ins or put one large cabinet against the wall, closing space off with your cabinetry is a chic way to deal with having a small kitchen and still creating intentional separation in the room. Designer Blair Moore put in these custom cabinets to hide away the coffee bar her clients wanted in their home.
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Choose a Curved Island
Take away the sharp, bulky corners of an island by putting in one with rounded edges. The design team at Studio OSKLO chose this curved island because it fits the vibe of the rest of the house, but it definitely adds more walking room throughout the kitchen.
Choose Light Wood
Designer Annie Anderson used cerused oak cabinetry and Breccia Viola marble in her dream kitchen. The lighter colors help the space feel larger. She skipped curtains to let the natural sunlight stream in through the window, which also helps the room feel spacious.
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Make It Monochromatic
Monochromatic spaces, especially in a lighter color, seem bigger than they actually are. Designer Ashley Gilbreath chose a powder blue—Languid Blue by Sherwin-Williams—to coat her Florida kitchen, making it feel lighter in the process.
Related: 20 Rooms That Make a Strong Case for Monochromatic Color Schemes
Install Floating Shelves
Rather than upper cabinets, install floating shelves to give everything a designated place without blocking the light and adding unnecessary shadows, as Clara Jung of Banner Day Interiors did in the home she turned into her design firm’s office. Bulky cabinets at eye level only make an already tight space seem smaller.
Related: 22 Kitchens That Will Persuade You to Embrace Open Shelving
Use That Weird Alcove
Put your snack bar/wet bar/coffee bar in that weird little alcove to make the most of all possible counter space. Designer Betsy Wentz created this little nook enclosed by sliding barn doors and gave it some character and dimension by backing it with wallpaper.
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Build Storage Into the Island
There was no way to expand this floating house, so designer Colleen Dowd Saglimbeni put in an island with inset shelving to give this small kitchen idea more storage. Unlike a closed cabinet, the open space encourages organization (and helps prevent clutter).
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