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30+ Small Kitchen Interior Design Ideas

If you’re searching for small kitchen design ideas to make the most of your limited space, remember that larger is sometimes better. Discover small, simple kitchen designs. Perfect for maximizing space and style in your cozy kitchen. The most experienced chefs understand that a tiny kitchen with the equipment needed to prep and cook within arm’s reach is more useful and practical than a large display kitchen.

A smaller kitchen is easier to clean and maintain, allowing you to focus on the necessities. You can make a tiny kitchen more efficient by removing clutter, adding storage, and maximizing vertical space. With intelligent design and décor modifications such as new flooring, wall paint colors, a backsplash, or countertops, you can transform a tiny room into something snug and welcoming.

1. Add Flexible Seating

A sleek bar visually divides the room, gives more counter space for meal preparation, and has a slide-out component that doubles its width for eating.

Kitchen design
Add Flexible Seating © Hervé Goluza

2. Hang Floating Shelves

Open shelves instead of top cupboards may make a tiny kitchen feel more light and spacious. The trick to making this work is to keep those open shelves properly organized. Hang floating shelves to increase storage in a small kitchen.

Small Kitchen
Hang Floating Shelves © Pinterest

3. Use Lacquered Cabinetry

High-gloss lacquered cabinets with a flat-front design would brighten a compact L-shaped kitchen like this all-white one.

Small Kitchen
Lacquered Cabinetry © Pinterest

4. Add a Corner Banquette

A circular, tulip-style table with no sharp corners makes for simple mobility in the small area. Glass-front cabinets keep the compact galley kitchen from appearing cramped, and a sparkling tile backsplash on opposing walls helps to bounce light around.

Kitchen design
Corner Banquette © Pinterest

5. Try a Peninsula

If you want a kitchen island but don’t have enough square footage, consider building a peninsula.

Small Kitchen
Peninsula Kitchen Design © Pinterest

6. Add Patterned Tile

A geometrically patterned tile backsplash defines and energizes the open kitchen space. The U-shaped design keeps everything you need for meal preparation, cooking, and serving within easy reach.

small Kitchen design
Patterned Tile © Pinterest

7. Skip the Island

In a compact kitchen, replace an island with a round bistro table and chairs, which serve as both an eating area and an additional surface for food preparation.

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Compact kitchen © Pinterest

8. Optimize Odd Angles

A small kitchen is tailored to seamlessly fit into the room’s angled walls to maximize storage and functionality.

small Kitchen design
Angled walls to maximize storage © fantastic frank

9. Define Space With Pendants

A pair of pendant lights can delineate space in a semi-open kitchen.

Kitchen design
Pendant lights © Pinterest

10. Install a Modular Table

A custom-built fold-down burnt-wood table provides an eating area that can be neatly stored when not in use, freeing up room.

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Modular Table © Design Cafe

11. Add an Interior Window

Increase the light in a tiny kitchen by opening the wall and installing an inside window.

Small kitchen design
Interior Window in Compact Kitchen © 99acres

12. Embrace Scandi Style

Scandinavian style at its best. The airy, light-filled room features basic white and silver finishes, a streamlined wall of cupboards and appliances, painted white bentwood chairs, and a tiny table draped in a lace tablecloth for a touch of nostalgic charm.

Kitchen design
Scandinavian style © Design Cafe

13. Minimize Upper Cabinets

Consider minimizing upper cabinets to open up your small kitchen space. This creates a more airy and spacious feel, making your kitchen look bigger.

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Minimize Upper Cabinets © DLIFE Home Interiors

14. Use Reclaimed Materials

Rustic salvaged wood and textured walls make the kitchen feel cozy and welcoming.

kitchen design
Use Reclaimed Materials © Pinterest

15. Make It Multi-Functional

The kitchen has towering ceilings and is filled with light from skylights on the roof, making the tiny space appear larger. The deep teal bottom cabinets provide a grounding effect, while a compact multi-functional kitchen island accommodates the stoves and a breakfast bar for two.

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Make It Multi-Functional © Pinterest

16. Keep It Open

With an open design, even a tiny kitchen may appear larger. Add organic materials to contrast the contemporary cabinets and island.

kitchen design
Open design, even a tiny kitchen © Pinterest

17. Amber Kitchen

Orange accents provide vitality to a modest kitchen design. The ceiling is covered in textured orange wallpaper to bring more light into the room. The use of a light backsplash with dark wood cupboards and counters opens up the space.

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Amber Kitchen © Eric Piasecki/OTTO

18. Try Two-Toned Wall

The kitchen is painted in two colors: black and yellow. The walls add a unique touch to the area and even harmonize with the unexpected green counter.

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Two-Toned Wall © Real Homes

19. Enclose With a Curtain

Enclose your kitchen with a curtain to hide clutter and add a touch of elegance. It’s an easy and stylish way to keep your small kitchen looking neat.

kitchen design
Enclose With a Curtain © The OTTO HOUSE

20. Display Your Tools

The simple kitchen is completed with high-quality materials that give it a classic yet modern appearance. A gallery wall of cutting boards is both fun and functional.

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Wall of cutting boards © Pinterest

21. Utilize Built-In Storage

Small kitchen decor with built-in storage that seats four and helps to define the cooking area. Built-in cabinets extend to the ceiling for maximum storage.

kitchen design
Built-In Storage © Pinterest

22. Add Contrast With Tile

Added contrast to the kitchen’s white walls with emerald green backsplash tiles and dark wood wraparound shelving that complements the reclaimed wood ceiling.

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Contrast With Tile © Pinterest

23. Choose a Small Island

To keep things flowing smoothly, choose a tiny kitchen island that is proportionate to your area.

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Small Island Kitchen Design © Pinterest

24. Downscale Furniture

Replace the home’s space-consuming built-in island with a smaller, freestanding one. Instead of bar stools, a comfy corner seat is set up for dining.

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Downscale Furniture © HomeLane

25. Add a Peg Rail

The tiny space kitchen features a delicate color scheme and a wrap-around natural wood pegboard instead of top cupboards, which brightens the wall and offers a display area for tools and plants.

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Natural Wood Pegboard © Pinterest

26. Limit Your Color Palette

Choosing finishes, appliances, and dishware in a similar color scheme can decrease visual clutter in a compact area.

kitchen design
Similar color scheme © Pinterest

27. Define Space With Lighting

Good lighting enhances the functionality and mood of a tiny kitchen. Warm LED strip lighting creates a pleasant glow while also defining this small apartment kitchen and surrounding peninsula.

kitchen design
Warm LED strip lighting © Pinterest

28. Maintain a Neutral Palette

A neutral color selection may help your kitchen seem more spacious and tranquil. Handmade tiling, marble countertops, and cabinets make subtle references to the outdoors.

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Neutral Color Kitchen Design © Pinterest

29. Use Faux Brick

Add flair to your little kitchen with the look of exposed brick for less. A classic red brick, but it was only for appearances.

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Faux Brick Design © Pinterest

30. Lavender Kitchen

Sure, green and black kitchens have been popular in recent years, but we like this cheerful pastel lavender version. The color helps to define the area, which the textile designer personalizes with open shelves and knickknacks.

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Lavender Kitchen Design © Pinterest

31. Mix your materials

The kitchen is modest, but its clever spatial solutions and powerful material palette of locally sourced stone and lumber allow this snug cooking room to outperform its size.

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Mix Material Kitchen design © Pinterest

32. Select metallic finishes

The cabinets’ high-shine, high-contrast brass finish offers a sense of additional space while also adding a Midas touch to the open-concept area.

kitchen design
Metallic finishes © Creatv El/Unsplash

33. Black with pop color

A bubble-gum-pink table adds a playful yet edgy touch to this bold black-and-white kitchen.

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Black with pop color © Pinterest

34. Incorporate sweet details

Use an antique garden table and chairs to bring the outdoors inside the kitchen. They mix in easily with the overall theme of this pleasant, country-style kitchen.

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Country-style kitchen © Architectural Digest

35. Colorful corner

Silk-cushioned chairs surround a Saarinen table hidden away in a cheerful nook of the kitchen.

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Colorful corner © Foyr

36. Moody Blues

An open-concept kitchen has gloomy blue cabinets that stretch to the ceiling, creating a sense of more space and leading the eye to the statement colors.

kitchen design
Moody Blues © Pinterest

FAQs

How can I make my small kitchen look bigger?

To make a small kitchen look bigger, use light colors for walls and cabinetry, minimize upper cabinets, incorporate reflective surfaces like high-gloss lacquered cabinetry, maximize natural light with interior windows or skylights, and keep the area clutter-free with built-in storage solutions.

What are some space-saving ideas for small kitchens?

To save space in a small kitchen, consider adding flexible seating like a slide-out bar or fold-down table, installing floating shelves instead of top cupboards, utilizing odd angles for custom cabinetry, using a peninsula instead of an island, and opting for a modular table that can be stored when not in use.

What types of materials work best in small kitchens?

Materials that work well in small kitchens include lacquered or high-gloss cabinetry to reflect light, geometrically patterned tiles for a stylish backsplash, reclaimed wood for a rustic, cozy feel, metallic finishes to add a sense of space, and faux brick for an exposed brick look without taking up space.

How can I add personality to a small kitchen?

You can add personality to a small kitchen by using colorful accents like orange wallpaper or pastel lavender finishes, mixing materials such as stone, wood, and metal, adding unique touches like a peg rail for tools and plants, displaying kitchen tools and cutting boards as functional decor, and incorporating sweet details like antique furniture or vibrant textiles.

What are some efficient storage solutions for small kitchens?

Efficient storage solutions for small kitchens include built-in cabinets that extend to the ceiling, floating shelves for open and accessible storage, corner banquettes with built-in storage under seating, multi-functional kitchen islands with additional storage, and utilizing vertical space with pegboards and wall-mounted racks.

Written by Isha Chaudhary

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