Small kitchen ideas: Expert design advice for the most compact kitchens (2024)

Country properties often have low ceilings and small windows, especially in the kitchen. This clever kitchen from British Standard Cupboards uses a few design tricks – the tiny pendant lights, open shelving, miniaturised accessories and brilliant whites – to make the room feel brighter and more expansive.

Pictured: Bespoke Kitchen at British Standard Cupboards

This example is a bit of a covert money-saver. If you have a small kitchen with awkward dimensions, you might have to spend a lot of money on bespoke, integrated storage. But first, try measuring up for a freestanding cupboard, vintage sideboard, or even an antique chest of drawers – the sizes might work well without the extra cost of buying bespoke.

Read more: 22 of the best online stores for antique and vintage furniture

Storage, and especially hidden storage, is a life-saver in small kitchens. “Ensure your kitchen is used to its full potential, by using all the available space," says Al." To store utensils and make use of otherwise wasted space, install magnetic strips between your wall and base cabinets. Or, add a spice rack to the back of your cabinet door and use storage baskets and containers to utilise both under-sink and cupboard storage."

Pictured: Country Living Whitstable Kitchen at Homebase

Curtains are part of the recent resurgence in some quaint areas of kitchen design – we've seen classic pantries return, pain rails holding rows of vintage copper pots, and these sweet ruffled curtains under sinks or units. This will have the effect of breaking up a run of cupboards that can appear imposing in smaller spaces.

Pictured: Bespoke Kitchen at British Standard

Small kitchens will always require a good deal of planning, but the one-wall kitchen is truly an exercise in ingenuity. This diminutive layout requires a real balance between storage capacity, functionality and flow – it can be tempting to install a whole row of cabinets on your one-wall kitchen, but that can be imposing. Open shelving can be a bit of a visual break, and adds opportunity for decoration – an important element in an otherwise functional space.

Pictured: House Beautiful Finsbury kitchen at Homebase

Using a butcher block as a makeshift kitchen island is one of the best solutions for smaller kitchens. You can buy really wonderful vintage and reclaimed versions, and they are exceptionally sturdy and hard-wearing for even the most demanding family kitchens.

Read more: The best kitchen island ideas

If your kitchen is small in width or length but benefits from high ceilings, they can be emphasised with an impactful feature wall. This can be achieved with a wash of colour, but the most practical solution is a great stretch of tiles that fills the whole wall.

Pictured: Nina Campbell Tiles at Fired Earth

Any good source of natural light or large window should be a focal point in a small kitchen. These shutters create a lovely frame, even if they are never used and the seat underneath – softened with cushions rather than any fussy upholstery – makes it all the more functional.

Read more: How to increase natural light in your kitchen

"We need our homes to feel that much roomier, lighter, and brighter. White kitchens do this perfectly, offering an energising, transformative aesthetic to any space and mastering the art of illusion, making smaller rooms feel bigger," says Tom Howley, Design Director of the eponymous kitchen company.

Pictured: Bespoke Kitchen at Plain English

It's sometimes surprising what you can integrate into your kitchen cupboards. We love the hidden cat door here, dog bowls can be set into the base of your cupboards too, and integrating larger appliances like microwaves and coffee machines frees up valuable work surfaces.

Pictured: Bespoke kitchen at Neptune

Any paint with a gloss or eggshell finish will work wonderfully to reflect natural light and make your space feel brighter and more expansive. It won't be suitable for all surfaces – it's a tricky one for walls unless they are clad in wood like this fabulous green Neptune kitchen – but we've seen it used successfully on ceilings, staircases and floors. A lacquer on all your wooden surfaces – doors, bannisters, kitchen cabinets – will work in much the same way.

Pictured: Wycombe Bar Stool at Neptune

"In narrower kitchen spaces, everything can be within arms-length, making it easy for a designer to plot an efficient ‘golden triangle’ of cooker, fridge and sink," says Tom. "Creating a run of cupboards or a bank of appliances is easy in parallel kitchens. This layout is appealing because it’s intimate, functional, easy to work in and can look stunning with beautiful floor-to-ceiling cabinetry."

Pictured: Bespoke Kitchen at British Standard

A dining table will most likely be out of the question in a small kitchen, but an informal breakfast nook with a petite bistro table makes for a great alternative. So too do bar stools tucked under a work surface. It provides a level of informality in the kitchen – not quite as relaxed as a cup of tea and a piece of toast on the sofa, but without the ceremony of a dining room.

Pictured: Bespoke kitchen by deVOL

Red is a great choice to uplift pokey kitchens without much natural light. Combining red cabinetry or even red walls with raw materials, like natural woods and stone, offsets any risk of your reds appearing too bright or garish.

Pictured: Bespoke kitchen at Plain English

One for truly compact kitchens – this sweet window seat adds an extra place to perch. Integrated seating just needs a spare corner, and the joy here is that you can create extra storage underneath.

Pictured: House Beautiful Bamboo Blinds at Hillarys

In planning the layout of your overhead cabinets, it is a natural instinct to line them up with the work surfaces below, but that could rob you of some precious storage. This example extends them beyond the limits of the work surface into a space that would otherwise be unused or simply decorative.

Pictured: Bespoke Kitchen at British Standard

Ceiling drying racks are becoming hugely popular, and they are a great choice for smaller kitchen that can't afford to lose any floor space. We love this natural wood design that feels a touch vintage and country-inspired, rather than purely functional.

Pictured: Quinta Marron Tile at Bert & May

A small shelf, dainty accessories, a sweet miniaturised Aga and even a tiny stool – go a little smaller than standard on your furniture and appliances, you won't even notice the difference.

Pictured: Walls painted in Bancha at Farrow & Ball

The natural inclination in a small kitchen might be to include as much storage as possible, including overhead cabinets, but opening up space at eye level and above, will provide more of an impression of space. Plus, open shelves can take more decorative accessories that can warm up an often clinical space.

Pictured: Country Living ArtisanWhite Ceramic Tile at Homebase