10 Small Kitchen Hacks

If your kitchen is small, that doesn’t mean you need to feel restricted to what you can do or how your kitchen can work for you and still be beautiful. Your kitchen can be comfortable and functional even in a small space when you know how to maximize every square foot.

Here are some small kitchen hacks to help you expand your ideas of what’s possible in a tiny kitchen.

1. Try a roll-up drain rack for your sink

No need for a separate drain rack sitting out on your small countertop. A roll-up model sits beside your sink, ready to roll out when you need it.

2. Use a hanging organizer or pocket door

A door can be quite useful for storing all kinds of items. Try a clear plastic hanging organizer where you can store scissors, notes, can openers, or other small items. Pocket doors are also useful for storing larger items that you don’t need to see, and they look beautiful.

3. Use wire racks or hooks on cabinet doors or walls

The insides of cabinet doors are handy places to put knife racks, wire racks for cutting boards or other items, or hooks for cloths.

There are even spice organizers that fit inside a door, so you can see all of your spices at a glance.

You could also fit hooks (or attractive planks of wood to embed the hooks) on your wall to make the most of vertical storage.

Vertical storage can be useful for smaller items, too, such as knives. You can easily make a magnetic knife rack for your wall using a piece of wood and some magnets.

4. Fit rails on your ceiling or walls

A ceiling rail is perfect for hanging pots and pans in style. Hang some hooks, and you’re all set.

If your pots and pans are attractive, all the more reason to have them on display.

You could also set up rails above your countertops for stove utensils and other small items.

If you don’t want to hang pots and pans, try hanging baskets for fruits, veggies, and other foods that don’t need refrigeration. You can even have your rail extend the length of your wall so that you can slide baskets towards you as needed.

5. Consider a pull-out counter space or table

You could install a pull-out counter space to allow for extra room when you are prepping food without having to knock down a wall!

A budget option for this hack is to pull out a drawer and place your cutting board on top. Sorted!

Some kitchen units can store a pull-out table, which is just the thing for small spaces. You can either use it as a table or as extra food prep space.

6. Make the most of hidden spaces

Often, a small vertical space doesn’t get used, such as the gap between one side of the fridge and the wall. See if you can install a vertical shelving unit there so that you can store cans, bottles, spices, and other dry goods, all without using precious cabinet space.

Get a unit on wheels so that you are creating a type of rolling pantry – easy to access at any time.

7. Create your own café counter

If you don’t have room for a table and chairs in your kitchen, try setting up a café-style eating space by your window. This can be as basic as a plank of wood with two stools – you can watch the world go by as you enjoy your food at home.

8. Use the space under your cabinets

If you have high cabinets, consider attaching the lids of jars underneath. You can then use these jars to store pasta, rice, flour, and other dry ingredients creatively.

9. Use open shelving where possible

There may be spaces in your kitchen where you could use open shelving where deeper cabinets aren’t workable. Open shelving is perfect for storing your more attractive cookery equipment such as your colorful Dutch oven (like at https://unocasa.com/products/enameled-cast-iron-dutch-oven), your brass pots and pans, or gorgeous glassware.

Dishes, glasses, mugs, any everyday items are within easy reach with open shelving. And of course, you can add in other touches of color, such as fresh flowers.

10. Use the outsides of existing cabinets too

The outsides of cabinets are fair game for storage, too. Consider attaching a few rods along one side of a cabinet or other kitchen furniture pieces to store pot lids, wine bottles, or large platters.