60 Small Kitchen Ideas to Do More With Less in 2024 – ELLE Decor

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This small kitchen can be found in ELLE DECOR A-List designers Eric Hughes and Nathan Turners ranch-inspired home in Ojai, California, but theres plenty of lessons to be learned here for indoor kitchens too. In lieu of a stainless steel faucet, for instance, they installed a rustic brass version. Instead of cupboards, theyve hung their pots and pans on a rail. But our favorite detail is the charming skirt that conceals under-sink plumbing and other sundries. Simply ditch your hinges and doors, and pop on a cute curtain of your own.

As much as we may love the way kitchen cabinets can elevate a cooking space, they can also take up a lot of visual real estate, especially if youre dealing with a small room. We love how designer Timothy Brown ditched heavy cupboards in favor of industrial stainless-steel shelving in his New York apartment. Not only does it provide a space for clip-on lights to illuminate chopping (or in this case, floral arranging!) it also allows him to flaunt his collection of vases and display small framed artworks.

This kitchen is as modern as it gets. But the designers at StudioDB wanted to add a fashionable edge too. In fact, this small New York kitchen was inspired by the color palette ofwait for itPrada stores. But nothing says galley kitchen like the pair of portholes in the pink pocket door. It conveniently can hide pre dinner-party chaos or simply serve as a style statement on its own. Ahoy matey!

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At first blush, this kitchen designed by ELLE DECOR A-List firm Pappas Miron might look like your standard-issue white kitchen. But its the pendant light, as pretty and enticing as a peppermint, that takes it to the next level. If you have ceiling space to spare, install one that will similarly steal the scene.

If youre sick of the all-white kitchen but still want the lightness and space-creating magic the look affords, take a page from designer Mark Grattans 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?

The black kitchen is the sexy antithesis to the ubiquitous all-white one. And here, in his Milan apartment, hospitality designer Eric Egan brought all the drama. Not only are the countertops made from an unusually-textured Porphyry stone, but the back wall is entirely mirrored, making these pint-sized space feel positively cavernous. As for inky cabinets? Theyre from Ikea!

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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 dayfrom ad hoc office to dinner party venue. An all-white palette of glossy cabinets and surfaces helps flaunt the flats greatest asset: natural light.

When youre 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.

This space, in a Beverly Hills house designed by Gary McBournie, might be a mere butlers pantry, but it offers plenty of inspiration for small kitchens. If its 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 its always happy hour somewhere!

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The client of this Manhattan apartment doesnt use her small galley-style kitchen that often, but that didnt 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 its the gleaming gold hardware and accents that really make this small kitchen a winner.

Sometimes its best to embrace the chaos. And we cant 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.

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 dont have a single complaint about this breezy Ibiza kitchen designed by Studio Muoz (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.

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This apartment, designed by New York firm Husband Wife, employs Buxbaum Gordons 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. Its the perfect combo of classic and contemporary.

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.

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.

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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.

A small area didnt stop Nate Berkus from incorporating a diminutive table and chairs (a vintage architects 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.

Youd 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 ships cooking space.

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Like most busy New Yorkers, the resident of this Manhattan apartment doesnt have time to cook often, but that doesnt 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 & Balls sultry Preference Red. Bonus: Its the perfect nook for displaying the clients collection of ceramics.

Just because you have a miniature cooking space doesnt 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.

Anna Fixsen, Deputy Digital Editor at ELLE DECOR, focuses on how to share the best of the design world through in-depth reportage and online storytelling. Prior to joining the staff, she has held positions at Architectural Digest, Metropolis, and Architectural Record magazines. elledecor.com

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60 Small Kitchen Ideas to Do More With Less in 2024 - ELLE Decor