75 Small Kitchen Design Ideas That Get a Chef’s Kiss
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If your home is cursed with a small kitchen, you’ll invariably deal with the usual frustrations: an oven the size of an Easy-Bake; a prep area the diameter of a postage stamp; and cupboards with the woeful capacity for a dinner-for-one (we blame the cheap contractor, not your Tinder record). Lack of houseguests aside, a dearth of square footage should never impede your kitchen’s design potential. In fact, you might be surprised by the myriad methods out there to make even the most pint-size of cooking areas look and feel grand—even if you’re the type of person who uses the oven strictly as wardrobe overflow.
But there are a few tricks to getting it just right, designers tell us. “Always extend your cabinets to the ceiling no matter the size of your kitchen,” advises Lauren Buxbaum Gordon, a partner at Nate Berkus Associates. “It will make your ceilings feel higher and your kitchen bigger.” She recently incorporated this spatial trick into a Manhattan apartment with a tiny kitchen.
If you’re on a budget, or sky-high cupboards aren’t possible (we hear you, renters), Buxbaum Gordon recommends thinking small: “Invest in details that will add up visually and feel impactful. Whether beveling or adding a brass band to the face of the countertop or bringing in vintage hardware, use these little details to make your personal imprint.”
Swapping a tired kitchen paint color for a light-and-bright one on your cupboards can go a long way too (how about this year’s It color, sage?), in addition to countless other tips and tricks. So we’ve rounded up 75 small kitchen ideas from our archive to show you precisely how it’s done. Read on to see gorgeous homes that make the most of their small layouts with bold cabinetry, double-duty accent pieces, sleek lighting solutions, and more. Dig in!
All-Day Diner
When the architecture firm Method Design and interior designer Nina Barneih-Blair teamed up on the design of this 490-square-foot Manhattan apartment, they needed to make the most out of every square inch. The solution? A kitchen island that serves multiple purposes over the course of the day—from ad hoc office to dinner party venue. An all-white palette of glossy cabinets and surfaces helps flaunt the flat’s greatest asset: natural light.
Zippy-Colored Cabinets
This space, in a Beverly Hills house designed by Gary McBournie, might be a mere butler’s pantry, but it offers plenty of inspiration for small kitchens. If it’s within your budget, opt for cabinets that offer a bit of Hollywood Regency glamour, like these ones here. If not, paint your existing ones in a vacation-ready hue like a bright key lime. The sunburst light fixture reminds us that it’s always happy hour somewhere!
Bold Flooring
One of the best design sleights of hand? Distraction. So if your cabinets or counters are ugly as sin, create visual interest with your floors. While we don’t have a single complaint about this breezy Ibiza kitchen designed by Studio Muñoz (take a look at that terrace!), the sea-blue tiled floors are a simple yet effective style statement. Even if a renovation might not be in the cards for you, a colorful kitchen rug will do the trick.
Towering Cabinets and White Paint
The client of this Manhattan apartment doesn’t use her small galley-style kitchen that often, but that didn’t keep designer Lauren Buxbaum Gordon from making it a showpiece. Her signature move? To extend the cabinetry all the way up to the soaring period ceilings. Light countertops and a glossy white paint job let sunshine into the room, but it’s the gleaming gold hardware and accents that really make this small kitchen a winner.
Cream Dream
This apartment, designed by New York firm Husband Wife, employs Buxbaum Gordon’s towering kitchen cabinet rule. But rather than resort to the usual all-white, the designers clad the walls in a swirling marble and coated the cabinets in the dreamiest shade of glossy cream paint. It’s the perfect combo of classic and contemporary.
Inky Black Backsplash
When you’re working with a 16th-century townhouse, like French designer Eric Allart did, you have to embrace the period quirks. This kitchen came complete with terra-cotta tiles. Rather than rip them out, Allart kept them in place and designed a quirky kitchen in unexpected hues to complement them. Here, an inky tile backsplash refracts sunlight, and a Pepto-pink shade on the walls and ceilings works to move the eye upward.
Eclectic and Collected
Sometimes it’s best to embrace the chaos. And we can’t think of a better example than this jubilant kitchen nook belonging to William Cullum, the senior designer at Jayne Design Studio, and his partner Jeffery Rhodes. A hot-pink Victorian-era pie safe-houses antique serveware, while a goat sculpture (formerly a display fixture at Saks Fifth Avenue) cheekily guards the fridge (camouflaged in whimsical artwork) against midnight snack marauders. In this space anything truly goes, as long as you do you.
Pair Smart Storage with a Fresh Hue
This Victorian farmhouse in the Oxfordshire, England, digs of Toast CEO Suzie de Rohan Willner may be on the small side, but it sings with country charm. Bright green lower cabinets help the eye to zip around the space, while open shelving allows for smart storage and display of chic knickknacks.
Splashy Hues
This Brooklyn apartment is blessed with super-tall ceilings and tons of natural light. Designer Danielle Fennoy of Revamp Interior Design amped up the airiness in the combined kitchen and dining area with vibrant jolts of jewel-toned colors, including with this emerald green backsplash (which replaced the original, developer-installed white subway tile) and retro-chic Knoll dining chairs reupholstered in scarlet, “nightclub ready” Ultraleather.
Tiny Dining
A small area didn’t stop Nate Berkus from incorporating a diminutive table and chairs (a vintage architect’s desk and school chairs) into his former Chicago kitchen. The metal cabinets were original to the 1929 apartment and pack in just the right amount of industrial-chic storage.
Shipshape Charm
You’d never believe it, but this Provincetown, Massachusetts, cottage started life out as a humble fishing shack. Designer David Cafiero embraced the nautical theme throughout the house, including in this pint-size galley kitchen, which was modeled after a ship’s cooking space.
Jewel Box Kitchen
Like most busy New Yorkers, the resident of this Manhattan apartment doesn’t have time to cook often, but that doesn’t mean the kitchen plays second fiddle to the rest of the home. Instead Sarah Mendel and Risa Emen of Cochineal Design converted the space into a functional showpiece of its own, with bold marble and cabinets lacquered in Farrow & Ball’s sultry Preference Red. Bonus: It’s the perfect nook for displaying the client’s collection of ceramics.
Mini Island
Just because you have a miniature cooking space doesn’t mean you need to forgo areas to prep and dine. The trick is to think small, as with this diminutive kitchen island in an apartment designed by Nicholas Obeid. With vintage stools tucked beneath and a pair of Allied Maker pendants hung above, this vignette has all the impact of its sprawling suburban cousins.
Statement Hood
We love how this kitchen, in a family-friendly Brooklyn apartment for the cofounders of Civilian, packs in plenty of storage with whimsical details. The custom island, topped with an eye-catching piece of marble, doubles as a repository to stash cookbooks and dinnerware, while the cherry-red hood (also custom) adds a fun postmodern pop.
Burnt Sienna Lacquer
We’ve been seeing lacquered cabinets everywhere lately and this chic example, located in a Paris pad designed by Hugo Toro, proves that the finish can add extra oomph to even the smallest of spaces. In addition to the glossy coat, in a custom shade of burnt sienna from Redfield & Dattner, Toro incorporated handsome brass finishes (just check out that ceiling!) and bold marble on the walls, countertops, and ceilings.
Airy and Bright
Relying on a light palette is one of the oldest tricks in the book when it comes to creating the illusion of space, and with good reason. Here, in the Washington, D.C., home of Dan Sallick and Elizabeth Miller, feathery marble, crisp white cabinets, and warm timber details work in concert to foster the airiest of cooking nooks. The inky David Weeks chandelier adds a graphic touch.
Lavender Kitchen
Sure, green and black kitchens have been trending in recent years, but we love this happy pale lavender version in the Milan apartment of Lisa Corti. The hue works to delineate the space, which the textile designer further personalized with open shelves, knickknacks (we love the framed photo of the cat), and a sky-blue table.
Boxed In
Who says thinking inside the box is a bad thing? It certainly isn’t in this sculptural kitchen in a Los Angeles bungalow designed by LAUN. A green lacquered volume not only is a chic way to camouflage the refrigerator, it also serves as a handy device to break up the home’s mostly open floor plan. High-shine brass cladding around the sink and cabinets, meanwhile, amplifies the room, not to mention gives the scheme a glam Midas touch.
Geodesic Kitchen
Not all of us can say we live in a refurbished 1970s geodesic dome, like hatmaker Nick Fouquet, but there are still spatial lessons to be gleaned from the kitchen: Instead of fighting the quirky architecture, Fouquet embraced it, creating a faceted cooking area and echoing the building’s geometries in the island. He even installed shelving in the triangular-shaped structural elements.
A Miniature Breakfast Nook
Even though designer and paint entrepreneur Nicole Gibbons has a small New York apartment, she made her kitchen feel light and airy by painting the walls an ever-so-subtle duck egg. A petite breakfast nook—complete with its own tiny gallery wall—makes the most of her square footage and her budget, with a small table from Amazon and Marcel Breuer–style chairs.
Mixed Materials
This kitchen in a secluded alpine getaway may be small, but its smart spatial solutions (we love the hanging shelves above the sink) and strong material palette of locally sourced stone and timber allow this cozy cooking space to punch above its weight.
Maximalist Finishes
A pint-size space is a good excuse to go bold (take the humble powder room, for example), and a kitchen is no exception. In this truly one-of-a-kind kitchen in a St. Petersburg apartment, designer Tim Veresnovsky covered the walls, cabinets, and chair in a black-and-white striped eucalyptus veneer.
Gleaming Surfaces
The high-shine, high-contrast brass finish on the cabinets in this Milanese kitchen creates the illusion of more space and gives the whole open-concept space some Midas-tinged glam.
Minimalist and Neutral
In a Roman penthouse, a covelike kitchen may seem tight, but the crisp counters (with plenty of storage space concealed beneath) keep things feeling architectural—not cramped. The neutral, peach and white color palette also creates the feel of a bigger room.
Sunny Simplicity
If you’re sick of the all-white kitchen but still want the lightness and space-creating magic the look affords, take a page from designer Mark Grattan’s book: In his Mexico City apartment he specified all-white cabinets and tiles but refreshed the look with pops of gold and terra-cotta in the travertine countertops, golden rug, and earthy plant stand. And, if your space and light levels allow, why not include a tree?
Black—with a Pop of Color
A bubble-gum-pink table gives this statement-making black and white kitchen in a Midtown East apartment a fun, yet edgy, pop.
Open Concept
Even a small kitchen can seem larger with an open concept, like in this East Village condo belonging to and designed by Augusta Hoffman. To contrast the modern cabinetry and island, she made sure to incorporate organic elements, as with the woven barstools.
Amber Kitchen
Pops of orange infuses energy into a small kitchen design scheme. In an effort to add more light to the space, the ceiling is covered in a textured orange wallpaper. The combination of a light backsplash, paired with dark wood cabinetry and countertops, open up the area.
Open Shelving and Wallpapered Ceilings
Opt for open shelves instead of cabinets, like designer Charlie Ferrer did here in his Manhattan studio apartment. He added Donald Judd–style green shelves and papered the ceiling in a vintage Italian wallcovering he’d bought in Provence, which he says reminds him of “carpaccio.”
Sweet Details
In interior designer Amaro Sánchez de Moya’s Seville, Spain, pied-à-terre, he brings the outdoors into his kitchen with a vintage Spanish garden table and chairs. They blend seamlessly into the overall motif of this fun, country-style kitchen.
Two-Toned Walls
In the Milan apartment of Emiliano Salci, the creative director of Dimorestudio, the kitchen is painted in two colors—black and yellow. The walls bring a distinct flair to the space, and even somehow coordinate with the unexpected green counter.
Stash Books Up Above
Inside the home of Mark Badgley and James Mischka, bookshelves are placed up to the ceiling to make room for their many cookbooks.
Bar Cart or Island?
Take note: A bar cart from the Thom Filicia Home Collection for Vanguard is set in the center of the kitchen in designer Thom Filicia’s Manhattan apartment. Instead of investing in a large island in a compact kitchen, try a smaller, decorative table or cart like this for extra storage and work space.
Over-The-Top Color
This kitchen in a Manhattan apartment doesn't hold back in the color department, and it pays off. The cabinets, walls and table are painted in Benjamin Moore's Courtyard Green; the stove is by BlueStar, and the floor is laser-cut linoleum.
Moody Blues
An open-concept kitchen in this Canadian lake house features moody blue cabinetry that extends up to the ceiling, giving the illusion of a larger space while drawing the eye to the statement shades.
Colorful Corner
Regency chairs with silk cushions surround a Saarinen table tucked away in a cheery corner of the kitchen in this colorful apartment. The walls are lined with vintage silk paper, the artworks are by, from left, Rachel Lee Hovnanian, James Nares, Steven Klein (top), and Mark Shaw, and the television is by Samsung.
Bright and Airy
Fashion stylist-turned-decorator Estee Stanley transformed the kitchen in her Mediterranean-style Los Angeles home into a bright and airy space. The design includes a fresh white palette with stainless steel touches. To complete the look, Stanley opted for a Viking hood, a Waterworks faucet, and Ikea barstools.
Unexpected Color
The kitchen countertops are poured concrete, and the doors, window frames and custom cabinetry are all painted in a custom color that helps the single row of countertops make a bit impact in this Greek home.
Charming Paris Kitchen
In a charming Paris apartment, an open-concept kitchen and dining area is outfitted with 17th-century French chairs, a Napoleon III chandelier, along with a backsplash featuring 18th-century Portuguese tile. The custom French oak boiseries and cabinets are in the style of the 18th century. The kitchen's flooring is antique oak and the fireplace is original to the apartment.
Minimalist and Modern
If you like minimalism taken to the extreme, look no further than this modernist Stockholm apartment belonging to a family of four. The kitchen features stainless-steel countertops and lower cabinets, which allow for ample storage down below—rather than at eye level—for a sleek and clean look.
Compact Design
Just because your kitchen space is small, doesn't mean you can't have all of the amenities. This compact design by Jennifer Jones features storage, cooking surfaces, and a statement backsplash.
Metallic Cabinets
Small yet striking, this Jean-Louis Deniot–designed Miami kitchen features custom stainless-steel cabinetry that has been laser-printed with an abstract pattern, reflecting the natural light while creating a sense of movement.
Streamlined Silhouettes
This snug bachelor pad kitchen features big design moments, with a sleek Carrara marble countertop, brass barstools by CB2, and pendants by Tom Dixon, all of which make a statement while taking up minimal visual real estate.
Small Statement Backsplash
While a full backsplash may overwhelm a petite kitchen space, actress Amanda Seyfried’s weekend retreat proves that a little goes a long way. The tiles by Heath Ceramics draw the eye in, while leaving plenty of white space to keep the area bright.
Multifunctional Peninsula
Making the most of your countertops is key to a functional kitchen, and the cook space in model Joan Smalls’s Miami penthouse offers a place to cook, wash, and dine all in one.
Mirrored Backsplash
The mirrored tiles of John McClain’s kitchen backsplash reflect light while adding depth, making up for the small square footage and minimal natural light.
Disappearing Kitchen
In this futuristic Greenwich Village apartment, a sleek gray kitchen features several large door panels, which are fully integrated into the walls and millwork to conceal the small space when needed.
Compact Loft Living
In an open-concept loft designed by Bella Mancini, the petite kitchen space flows while feeling distinct, with white cabinetry and countertops, backdropped with dark paint.
Pots Hung High
Event designer Bronson van Wyck's Manhattan kitchen features an Urban Archaeology pot rack hanging over a salvaged pine island, putting the typically underutilized space to good use.
Sunny Skylights
In a minimalist—and monochrome—West Village apartment, the petite kitchen feels light and bright with its skylights and streamlined design.
Smart Lighting
Pastel blue cabinetry, white marble countertops, and bright recessed lighting keeps the small kitchen in Bill Wackermann's apartment feeling spacious and clean.
Black and White Accents
In a PR maven's glamorous New York City apartment, Sam Still artwork hangs on a wall covered in a Madeline Weinrib wallpaper. The antique birthing chair is from New Orleans and the custom kitchen island has a Carrara marble top.
Pool House Kitchen
Designer Sarah Wittenbraker opted for glossy blue cabinetry, toile wallpaper, and cement tile for a pool house kitchen.
City Kitchen With A Country Feel
This New York apartment's kitchen boasts a range by Wolf, the sink and fittings are by Lefroy Brooks, the cabinetry is by Smallbone of Devizes, and the Bertoia barstool is by Knoll.
Modern Galley Kitchen
In the galley kitchen of a bohemian family home, the kitchen's range and microwave are by Wolf, the refrigerator is by Sub-Zero, the custom hood is by Vent-a-Hood and the countertop is Calacatta Gold marble. Hans Wegner chairs, purchased at auction, accompany a table by Eero Saarinen from Design Within Reach.
Dark And Sleek
In a Monaco apartment abundant with 70s whimsy, the small kitchen table and chairs are by Jeanneret. The oven, cooktop and hood are by Aster Cucine. Meanwhile, sunlight floods into the space, making it appear larger than it really is.
Moody Yet Inviting
The kitchen in this neutral NYC apartment features cabinets lacquered in a custom shade by Donald Kaufman Color, proving dark shades don't always accentuate a room's small size.
Neutral, Modern Kitchen
A modern kitchen by architect Achille Salvagni crafted for a storied Roman palazzo, combines a brass light fixture and a Venetian portrait from the 1780s.
Sophisticated Charcoal
The Chelsea kitchen of Etsy's COO features dark charcoal cabinetry, which adds contrast to the white walls and marble countertop.
Rustic Connecticut Kitchen
For a kitchen in a Connecticut family home, design duo Vivian Lee and James Macgillivray collaborated with a local millworker Wayne Tobin. The appliances in the kitchen are from Miele, GE, LG, and Fisher & Paykel. Most of the light fixtures in the space are from Schoolhouse Electric, with the exception of the Minka ceiling fans.
A Modern Finish
A 1930s Connecticut weekend house gets a modern makeover; In the kitchen, the island has a top of honed Carrara marble, the wall tiles are by Waterworks, the stove is Viking, and the stools are by York Street Studio; the 19th-century Windsor chair is a family heirloom, and the 1920s English pendants are from BK Antiques.
Paris Kitchen
In a glamorous Paris apartment, the kitchen embraces a fresh vision of luxury with mod pendant lights by Tom Dixon and a custom-made, walnut-veneer kitchen island and cabinetry. The stools are by Mater Design, the ovens and refrigerator are by Gaggenau and the sink fittings are by Franke.
Cozy Kitchen
A cozy kitchen in a Greenwich Village penthouse showcases a farmhouse sink, skirted in a Ralph Lauren Home linen, an antique chest found at a Paris flea market, and a French sconce.
Craftsman Cottage
In the kitchen of this 100-year-old Craftsman cottage, a super slim island adds dimension—and extra cutting space—to the small kitchen. The alder cabinetry is custom made, the countertops are black granite, and the vent hood and range are by KitchenAid.
All-White Kitchen With Vibrant Accents
In a Brooklyn townhouse owned by wallpaper maven Kate Reynolds, the kitchen counters are Calacatta Gold marble, the backsplash tile is by Waterworks, the range is by Capital, the stools are from ABC Carpet & Home and the light fixture is by Apparatus.
Stylish City Living
Like most Manhattan apartments, designer Kimille Taylor's Upper West Side abode has a pint-sized kitchen—but that doesn't mean she had to sacrifice style. The chic space contains a Bertazzoni oven, a Fisher & Paykel refrigerator, and marble counters. The subway tile is from Home Depot and the unique flooring is oak painted with a custom design.
Dark Cabinetry
In Emmy Rossum's classic New York City apartment, the elongated kitchen space has a range and hood by Bertazzoni, the cabinets are by Scavolini, the antique runner is from Stark and the photograph is by Roger Mayne.
Concrete Chic
"The kitchen is another example of applying real design ingenuity to small dimensions," Refinery29 founder Christine Barberich says of her Brooklyn Heights space. "My husband found the best appliances he could that were all smaller in scale, so nothing felt out of proportion. I love the XO relief tiles that create the white backsplash. They’re just fun because you might not notice the pattern until you’re up close. We had the concrete countertop made in Bay Ridge by this three-generation family of concrete designers. We loved the idea of having this major industrial moment right in the middle of the apartment and it really does serve as an entertaining area, workspace for cooking, or flower arranging. It’s unexpected in its brutalist vibe against the white backdrop and softer, colored details."
A Table For Two
A pair of 19th-century English chairs and a Kartell table fit perfectly into the corner of this tiny Brazilian kitchen in a São Paulo building.
Traditional Kitchen With Extra Shelves
In Marisa Tomei's home, the small kitchen is marked by a Saarinen table paired with 1940s French garden chairs. The range is by Viking, the dishwasher is by Asko and the flooring is cork.
White Sculptural Kitchen
An inviting, all-white kitchen in Michael Bruno's Tuxedo Park home is complete with a custom-made sink and counters and a Fisher & Paykel dishwasher.
Farmhouse Kitchen With Rustic Style
In a Woodstock, New York retreat, a pony peeks into the kitchen, which showcases custom-made beadboard cabinetry, a Rohl sink and a vintage Moroccan rug.
Modern And Understated
In a Moscow apartment designed by Olga Kulikovskaia-Ashby, pendant lights by Tom Dixon hang above a black table in a quaint kitchen. The chairs are by Vitra and the plates on the counter are by Seletti.
New England Cooking Space
In this Cape Cod cottage, the small kitchen's custom-made cabinetry is painted in Tanner's Brown, and the walls are in Cream, both by Farrow & Ball. The countertops are butcher block, the sink fittings are by Waterworks and the Wedgewood stove is antique.
Rustic Storage
Model Anne Bannert made the mahogany top for this kitchen's 1950 wood-fired barbecue grill. The copper hood is from the same decade, and the steel chair was found at the local dump.
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