Kitchen Cabinet Design Ideas for a Small Kitchen: Things to Keep in Mind When Deciding on Small Kitchen Plans

Not all of you are blessed with gigantic kitchens. Space in your kitchen for preparing meals is scarce. So rather than waste square footage with poor design, these are several things you can do during a remodel or new design that will free up some valuable real estate in the kitchen and make meal prep a little easier.

Counter Space

Enough space to work is imperative, and one of the best ways to accomplish that in a small kitchen is using a galley configuration. Real galley kitchens are just two runs of cabinets along parallel walls. There are many variants of this style, but that is the basic layout of a galley setup.Consider saving some counter space by utilizing a microwave cabinet; this will eat up some wall space, but give you more room for food prep on the counter.

Try to stem clutter by creating a landing zone for the mail, car keys, and other junk that people tend to dump as they come into the house. If you could place this area somewhere outside of the kitchen altogether, you'd be better off.

Maximize Storage Area

You want to get as much usable storage space out of your cabinets as you can. This could more base cabinets with roll out trays , and less in the way of drawer or regular door and drawer bases; roll out trays are just more efficient in terms of space.

Some things will need to come off of the counter too, and live in cabinets instead. For instance, hanging things line whisks, mixing spoons, and spatulas up on the wall with a rack will keep them off the counter AND out of your cabinets.

The Work Triangle

It's easy to make a galley kitchen layout efficient. Many floorplans have the kitchen sink and stove across from each other. By placing the items this way, you'll be traveling shorter distances with things like dirty pans and boiling water. Putting the refrigerator off to one side of either, preferably on the side closest to passers by, will keep people from walking into the food prep area. At the same time, the fridge stays conveniently close enough to fetch food from, or to deposit leftovers.

Traffic Flow

Anyone wandering about while you're trying to cook is a problem. These people get in the way and you end up waiting for them to finish perusing the refrigerator, using the sink, or just poking around in general. With smart design, like the refrigerator tactic mentioned earlier, you can alleviate the congestion that occurs in many small kitchens.

Large kitchens are nice things to have, there's nothing wrong with a small kitchen, and they can be almost as functional as their bigger counterparts. There will be trade-offs during the design process between countertop area and cabinet storage space, but it is possible to strike a balance and create a kitchen you'll be happy with for years to come.

For more information on small kitchen design ideas, or to request sample designs of small kitchens, visit www.thecabinetfolks.com or email me: craig@thecabinetfolks.com