How do you organise a small kitchen efficiently?

Here is the complete English translation:

In 2014, 42% of people in the Netherlands cooked at home more often than they did in 2013. More than half also believe that a healthy meal is best prepared at home. However, many people feel that their kitchen is too small to cook comfortably. In this blog, we explain step by step how to make a small kitchen feel more spacious!

Step 1: What is taking up space in your small kitchen?

First, take a critical look at your kitchen layout to see how you can create more space. A dining table with chairs may be cosy, but it also takes up a lot of room. Does the dining table really need to be in the kitchen, or could you move it to the living room? Do you even still use it regularly?

When this is not the case, consider storing it somewhere else and bringing it out again whenever you host a dinner. Then take a look at your freezer. It takes up a considerable amount of space and is generally not used three times a day. You could therefore place it in the attic, storage room or shed instead. This instantly creates much more space in your kitchen!

Step 2: Clear out your kitchen cupboards

The second step towards creating more space is clearing out your kitchen cupboards. Which kitchen items have you not used for years, or no longer work properly? Throw them away or give them to someone else.

Which kitchen items do you only use once or twice a year, such as at Christmas? Think of your Christmas tableware, gourmet set, fondue pot, poffertjes pan or pasta machine. These can quickly fill several kitchen cupboards, which is a waste of valuable space!

Place these kitchen items in sturdy moving boxes and store them in a storage unit. Storage units are available from as little as 1 m³, so there is no need to put everything in the attic, where it will only get in the way again.

Another useful option is an all-in-one food processor, such as the Supercook. It combines eight different functions in a single appliance: frying, cooking, whisking, puréeing, chopping, mixing, emulsifying and melting. This allows you to store your other appliances elsewhere until you perhaps move into a home with a larger kitchen. You can find these machines at various online retailers.

Step 3: Create a practical kitchen layout

One in two people in the Netherlands considers functionality the most important feature of an ideal kitchen. The third step is therefore to organise your kitchen intelligently. When you do this properly, you will benefit from it every day.

Keep the items you use frequently within easy reach and store the items you use less often further away.

• Place oils, herbs and spices in a basket and keep it close to the cooker.
• Kitchen items such as a colander, spatulas, oven gloves and towels should also be easy to reach. Hooks are your best friend here! Look at the tiles or the section of wall between the worktop and the kitchen cupboards. You can use this space to store plenty of kitchen utensils. Attach some hooks and hang spatulas, scissors, spoons and other utensils from them. You could also hang frequently used pans there.

Pan-lid holders

Who does not get annoyed by pans and pan lids that never stack properly, are always in the way and are difficult to reach? There are several ways to solve this problem:

• Magazine racks: Attach a magazine rack to a door and use it to store your pan lids. You can also attach a small rack to the inside of a kitchen cupboard door. This can hold up to four lids per cupboard.
• Pan-lid holders: Shops such as IKEA and Blokker sell affordable holders designed especially for pan lids, so you no longer have to deal with the clutter.

Kitchen drawers

This tip may seem obvious, but using drawer dividers immediately gives you much more structure and overview. Do you have particularly long spatulas or kitchen tongs? Use diagonal dividers so that everything fits neatly inside the drawer.

Corner cupboards for small kitchens

Do you have a corner kitchen and feel that your kitchen cupboards are not being used efficiently? Install a corner carousel and you will be able to store a large number of items inside. By rotating the carousel, you can easily reach pans, jars and other kitchen supplies.

Pull-out storage systems

To make truly efficient use of the available space in a small kitchen, take a look at the images below for inspiration.

Looking for more kitchen inspiration and practical tips? Visit our Pinterest page!