Kitchen Storage Issues

I have a tiny kitchen – no room even for a table and chairs. Because of the location of the kitchen, an expansion of our kitchen would require significant work on the foundation, plumbing and gas lines of our home – super expensive. So I’ve had to be crafty in storing my food and wares.

My kitchen is 8ft long and very narrow. There is one window over the sink. The biggest challenge is that there are 3 door-ways in the kitchen: one for outside, one for the basement and one to go to the rest of the house. Picture this: fridge, dishwasher, sink and stove all along one 8ft wall connected by counters and cabinets. It’s not pretty. The other wall is blank, but there is not enough width in the kitchen to fit a table (good think I have a dining room). I’ll show you how I’ve worked around the issues.

First, I added a free standing hutch. This fixed a few problems: added more drawers, more cabinet space, and it has room for the microwave so it freed-up much needed counter space. I use the very top to hold my canisters and cookbooks.

Next, I added a free standing cupboard. Very simple and plain: just two doors with 6 shelves inside to hold food.

Finally, I added a rolling cart. I love this! It can roll around the kitchen to where I need it. It added another drawer and storage. And the biggest bonus – the top opens out to provide more counter space!

“But nothing matches” you say. Simple enough to fix. I painted every piece of furniture and the existing cabinets with white semi-gloss (easy to wipe off spots). The unifying color makes it less obvious that they are each separate. The walls are painted a light yellow. And I positioned the hutch directly across from the window so the glass doors will reflect light.

I was also conscious to spread my accessories and decorations throughout the kitchen. I have every piece available from my Pfaltzgraff dish pattern, so I have plenty of functioning decorations. The canisters are on top of the hutch; the water pitcher is on top of the cupboard as well as the baking dishes; I hung 2 matching pie plates on the wall as accent. I also have an affection for roosters, so I have spread them around a bit.

While it’s not my dream kitchen, with a little creativity I was able to make my kitchen functional. It’s also very cute and cozy.