Small kitchens: three misconceptions that change how you design yours

There is a very common way to start thinking about a kitchen: with a figure.

The meters you have. The ones you are missing. The ones you would gain if you knocked down a partition or moved a wall.

But square footage says relatively little about how a kitchen will function. Two kitchens with the same surface area can be completely different depending on how much cooking is done, how many people use them, what needs to be stored, and how the work zones are distributed.

That is why, before asking ourselves how to make a small kitchen look bigger, perhaps it is worth questioning something else: do we really need it to be?

There are three ideas that constantly come up when designing small kitchens. And all three are worth revisiting.

Misconception 1: a small kitchen is a scaled-down version of the kitchen you really want

Thinking this way quickly leads to trying to fit everything we've seen work in twelve square meters into six. An island. A large pantry. A tall appliance cabinet. High cabinets. A huge countertop. Perhaps even a breakfast bar.

The result can be a kitchen that has many things, but little space to use them.

A small kitchen needs a different logic: instead of starting with a list of elements, it is better to start with actions. How many people cook at the same time? How much countertop surface is actually used? Is it necessary to store food for a week or a month? Is the oven used often? Are there small appliances that should always stay out?

The answers allow you to set priorities. It might be more important to gain a good preparation surface than to incorporate an additional tall cabinet. Or to have a dishwasher even if it means giving up a module. Or to concentrate storage on one wall to completely free up the other.

A small kitchen should not try to reproduce a large kitchen on a smaller scale; it should eliminate what it does not need and do what it does need especially well.

Misconception 2: you have to make the most of every inch

This is probably the most repeated rule when talking about small spaces. And also one of the easiest to get wrong.

Making the most of space does not necessarily mean filling it.

We can take all the furniture up to the ceiling, fill every wall with storage, make use of every corner, and add modules wherever there is still a gap. On paper, we will have achieved an extremely efficient kitchen. But perhaps we will have also built a room where everything is crowded.

In a small kitchen, empty space also serves a purpose. A wall without high cabinets can make the countertop more comfortable and let the space breathe. An open section next to a door can improve circulation. A clear workspace can be more valuable than having another small appliance permanently occupying it.

This does not mean giving up on storage. It means deciding where it is worth concentrating it. In many cases, a very efficient storage area—for example, a bank of tall units or cabinets that make use of the height—works better than spreading small modules throughout the room.

Making the most of every centimeter should mean giving it a purpose, not necessarily filling it.

Misconception 3: a small kitchen will always feel small

Here, how space is perceived really does matter. But making a small kitchen feel more spacious isn't just about painting it white.

Perception also depends on how many interruptions the eye encounters. Constant changes in material, freestanding appliances, prominent handles, cabinets of varying heights, or too many objects on the countertop can make the space read as a collection of disjointed pieces.

Continuity does exactly the opposite: a run of cabinets that maintains the same height, integrated appliances where it makes sense to do so, a countertop that continues up the backsplash, a reduced material palette, and enough storage so that most everyday objects can be tucked out of sight.

Everything doesn't need to be white or disappear; in fact, a small kitchen can be dark, incorporate wood, color, or a striking stone and still feel uncluttered.

The key lies less in the finishes we choose and more in how many different things we are asking the space to show at once.

Why expanding the kitchen is not always the answer

There is another idea that appears in the opposite direction: if we can expand the kitchen, we should do it. But every meter a room gains is lost by another.

In a renovation, expanding the kitchen might mean reducing the living room, modifying a bedroom, or changing the way light enters. And before doing so, it is worth asking what problem we are trying to solve with those additional meters.

If there is a lack of workspace, perhaps the layout needs to be reviewed. If there is a lack of storage, perhaps the problem lies in how the height is being used. If two people cannot cook comfortably at the same time, then there may indeed be a real issue regarding circulation and the distance between zones.

But "I want a bigger kitchen" does not yet identify the problem. Before moving a wall, it is important to know what the new kitchen should allow you to do that the current one does not.

The measurements that matter most in a small kitchen

Optimization is not just about getting more storage and counter space.

It is also about being able to open the dishwasher without completely blocking the path. Taking a tray out of the oven. Opening a drawer while someone else is using the sink. Moving between the prep, cooking, and cleaning zones without constantly dodging doors and cabinets.

In small spaces, these relationships are especially important because a few centimeters can significantly alter daily use. That is why the measurements that matter most are not always the room's total dimensions — sometimes they are the distances between things.

What small kitchens that work well have in common

There is no single layout or list of tricks that works for everyone.

But well-designed small kitchens usually start with the same decision: setting priorities before you start filling the space. What needs to be stored. How much countertop do we actually need. Which appliances do we use. How many people are cooking. What do we want to keep in sight. And how much space do we need to leave free so that all of the above can be used comfortably.

Only then does it make sense to decide where each module goes.

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