Painted cabinets? No doors on the cabinets?
One thing that is easy and makes a kitchen great is under cabinet lighting. I vote you do that.
Painted cabinets? No doors on the cabinets?
One thing that is easy and makes a kitchen great is under cabinet lighting. I vote you do that.
Could you get a cabinet like Galliver mentioned and put that on the 26" dining room wall as a coffee bar, for the Keurig/kettle and mugs? If large enough, the microwave might go there as well. I know that dining room is getting cramped with the Hoosier cabinet & plant shelves already in there, but itās a thought anyway. It happens to be exactly what I did in my last place that had a similar amount of counter space.
I have a moderately small kitchen in a small flat (430 sqft I think? Though I have it configured as just a 1 bedroom so it feels spacious enough). Key things for me in the kitchen/ surrounding area:
One clever idea I have seen for chest freezers in small spaces is to get one that can substitute for something else ā say an end table next to a couch ā and cover it with a pretty piece of cloth. Not convenient if you need to access it every day, but workable for a once a week load up/transfer to a fridge freezer.
Alternatively, maybe somebody you know has a garage you could put one in/have access to? Again, not convenient for every day, but could become part of a weekly routine.
You can have my mugs from my child dead fingers! (Jkjk I know no one is after my mugs/to each their own. I am impressed. )
I think I would consider skipping a dining table/dining room entirely. Maybe keep a folding one under the couch or a gate leg as some have mentioned. Then you could use most of that 91" wall for cabinet/counter space.
Remembering some lessons from my grandparents Moscow apartment (<400sf). I donāt necessarily recommend living in this way but damn if they didnāt fit a lot into a small space!
The layout of this is pretty different to my grandparentsā place but has some similar features. Lots of other society apt tours on YouTube! (some are kind of sad/terrifying though ) https://youtu.be/JrJg4LP5E0E
Figure out which utensils you can make do without? For example, I havenāt had a 1t measure for yearsā¦ I just use the 1/2t instead. Ditto small knives, medium sized things (unless by using them you can get rid of the large and small ones?) like spoons, bowls, plates, etc.
Things I have gotten rid of in the past 2 years prepping to move into a very small kitchen: salad tongs, unnesting bowls, extra loaf pans, garlic press, lasagna pan, pizza pan screen, sifter, egg separator, utensil holder, paper towel holder, oil holder, and spice rack (all had been on the counter).
Dishes: 7 small plates, 4 āsaladā plates, 4 dinner plates, 2 other large plates I use for cooking, 4 meal size bowls, misc. other salad type bowls and too many tiny bowls. The tiny bowl collection needs to be either reorganized or culled, againā¦
When we eat here, we fill the dishwasher once or twice and run out of various sized plates/bowls etc. daily, which is what I was after. Enough to feed us 2 complete meals and snacks, fill the dishwasher once, and not have to wash plates in betweenā¦
Love that tableā¦ thanks for the link!
Itās the absolute best! It really was a game changer for being able to have people over for dinner in my rather small flat.
I would actually start from the other end. What is absolutely critical for all/most meals? If you could only have 2 pots/pans what would you choose? Basically start with an empty slate and āshopā the old house. Get rid of any chipped plates, peeling Teflon, etc (you wouldnāt buy them!). Obviously ruthless decluttering is great, but if you arenāt sure if you use something or have a hard time letting it go, putting it in storage and proving to yourself that you donāt really have a use for it tends to work well to let go emotionally. Helps you appreciate the trade off for SPACE.
When I lived in a 450 SQ ft studio I had this Ikea cart and stacked my pots and pans on the shelves.
I also used a cube storage as an open pantry.
I did have a very small dining table for two but with a breakfast bar available Iād probably just use stools there and not put a table in. Breakfast bar seating plus a couple cute tv table things for the couch is all I would need.
I have this table in white and I love it:
Ooooo. I like the Norden - that looks really good for the space, if I decide to get a table.
My plan, heavily influenced by yāallās suggestions, is to move in with my current stools to use at the bar. Then find some storage piece for the 25ā wall. And consider options for the back wall. I may decide the black moon shaped plant stand is too large, but I already have it and I think it would look fine in front of the window.
Iāve always had a dining table, and I sit there a lot. More so than the couch. But for the next week or 2 Iām going to sit at the kitchen bar in my house and see how it feels. One thing, if I donāt sit at the bar in the new house, I could put a storage piece (maybe cubes?) under it. But if I sit at it I will need a place for my feet to go.
Iāve heard sitting on backless stools is actually good for your back bc it forces you to work your back muscles.
Iām guessing there is a reason the plant stand is going in the kitchen/dining and not other rooms, which I assume have windows?
The IKEA Kallax fits well usually.
And the stools thing is interesting I was ALWAYS team no shoes/floor sit/ sit on a stool with no back. But Iām learning at B1ās OT that those are only good for most people, and adult people or child people who arenāt the most people need to do some serious work for those to be good choices. If I understand right, you should still start kids off that way, but be aware of signs they need more support.
A longwinded way of saying B1 has core issues and needs to keep up his exercises for unsupported sitting. And that I now claim undiagnosed core issues and not laziness and weakness for my weak core.
My best advice for living in a small space: have less stuff. Itās annoying but it works every time
Elle, I mean, I probably have a weak core. Becauseā¦ if thatās a thing, how could I not have it? Kind of like brain fog. Of course I have it.
Gallons, because itās not used as a plant stand. OMG - it just autocorrected Galliver to Gallons. It completely changed how I read that sentence into, āLook Gallons, donāt be disrespecting my plant stand.ā Sorry. That cracked me up. Iāll try again. Gallons, Itās technically a plant stand but I am currently using it as an entryway landing pad. I could design a much smaller landing pad. Maybe itās just too big for the apartment. Or maybe I completely need to change how I use it and start using it as a plant stand. I could possibly even put it on my balcony with plants in the summer and it would make the boring view more fun.
If I didnāt put the plantstand there I could more easily fit a table.
Oh thatās cool! Itās totally up to you, IMO, if it needs to be a landing pad or it makes more sense to prioritize a table and reinvent the entry. I could also see it being a cool nightstand/headboard sort of deal? No disrespect to the plant stand it needs a place!
Omg. That would be such a fun headboard! What a fun idea!
For space saving dishes, have a look at Correlle. You can stack them in virtually no space at all.