Creating Counter Space in Your Kitchen
July 21st, 2008 by Oh My ApartmentOne disadvantage for most apartment dwellers is kitchen space. One advantage for most apartment dwellers is that it makes Pampered Chef parties easy. You are completely honest in saying, “I can only buy the $1.75 orange peeler because it is the only thing that will fit in my kitchen.”
Creating counter space can be easier than you think. Adding a kitchen cart or an island is a quick, easy way to achieve this. There are products that I found that are quite inexpensive. There are products that I found that are quite expensive. They can be temporary and fold up to slip next to a refrigerator or they can be more permanent and used for extra storage also.
Kitchen carts have a huge range of prices, features and sizes. The website that I found that was by far the best showing this is was KitchenSource.com. The carts are very easy to find. Most stores like Target, Wal-Mart, and Bed, Bath and Beyond also have a few to chose from.
Before you purchase an island, ensure that the features match the functions you need. Don’t buy a $49 cart with painted wood if you want to use the top of the island as a cutting board. A little research may give you neat ideas for island uses, as well as sales or free shipping.
Mike from Bellevue, NE, has a kitchen cart which he bought from Wal-Mart for about $50. It has three baskets, a drawer and the top surface can expand three times in size with the drop leaves. He said that he keeps his potatoes, onions, garlic and such in the baskets since it is the perfect environment. He also noted that above his island, he hangs a pan rack which further frees up a lot of space in his kitchen. He hangs not only pots and pans but his stainless steel colander and other kitchen items with handles.
I found that these kitchen islands and carts have just about every combination of features you may like. The selection out there is outstanding. If you decide you want one, the hardest choice may be to decide how much to spend and what features to choose. To get all the cool features I saw, I would need a 20-foot cart, which may defeat the purpose. In any case, I’ll be able to go and buy more Pampered Chef items to fill that extra space right back up again.
Any other ideas on creating more space in the kitchen? Please share below.
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July 28th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
If you are allowed to bolt things to the wall, Ikea makes several different styles of rails. Bolt them to the wall horizontally, then use hooks or hanging baskets to hold stuff. I like to hang all my mugs up, then use the baskets for “big” utensils like spatulas. They do make a dish drainer that can hang from a rail and get folded up (my dish drainer takes up a ton of counter space), but I’m a little skeptical that they’re sturdy enough to hold a load of china plates.
August 13th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
I would love to get an island or kitchen cart but I don’t know where it would go. All the ones I’ve seen would take up all the floor space in my tiny kitchen.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:47 am
A lot of leases say that you can use nails and wall mounts to a “reasonable” degree. I would use this to make shelving, to get things off your counters. Also, use the top of your refridgerator. I keep things like bread or, as in my new place, my microwave, so I freed up that much counter space.
Also, take advantage of your drawers. While most apartment don’t have a wide range of counter space, they usually over do the cabinets and drawers. Keep food items in here or tuck away smaller appliances.
Also, keep the appliances you rarely used in the back, tucked away. Keep the gadgets you use often in front. This way, things will be more accessible, and you still have plenty of counter space to spare when you’re done using.
Last bit of advice? Clean. Don’t leave dishes out, or your cutting boards or George Foreman. When you’re done with it, clean it up and put it away. You would think this is a no brainer, but we never had any “space” in an old apartment because the couple we lived with never cleaned up after themselves. Once they moved out, I found that our kitchen was huge.
August 25th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Wal-Mart sells free standing pantrys for about 45.00!
They usually come with 4 shelves and are capable of being placed anywhere.
December 17th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Buy a large bamboo cutting board and lay it across your sink when you need instant extra counter space.
February 8th, 2009 at 11:12 am
These are all great ideas! I live in an apartment with a small galley kitchen; we have about 8 feet of counter space, of which the sink and dish rack take up half. We do a lot of what people have already said - we store things above the fridge and in cabinets, and we keep up with the dishes and put things away when we’re done with them. I’ve also found that the stove works for quick temporary counter space (if it’s not on!). We often use our kitchen table for food prep too. The best thing, though, has been a set of sturdy plastic shelves - I think they’re meant for a garage or basement, but I washed them well and we store our microwave, small appliances, and a lot of our food on them (we use small plastic bins/boxes to organize the food and use vertical space). The open shelves look a little ugly in the “dining room” (tiny space off the kitchen), but everything is right there and easy to find when we need it.
May 30th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
These are great ideas! Talk about small kitchens - I spent last summer in a small (27′) camping trailer. It made the 18″ of free counter space I had between the sink and stove in the apartment I was in last fall and winter look huge! (well, okay, nothing could make that look HUGE)
I appreciate apartments with large kitchens. I lived in two apartments (same complex) in Hutchinson, KS, where the kitchens were about the same size as a bedroom, and had THREE walls with counters and cabinets! Those were nice kitchens. They spoiled me. They were temporary assignments, of course.
July 19th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Another idea is they have those hooks made by 3m that you can use, I put them on my refridgerator and hang things from them, such as large spoons and my collander even. I also have a hanging basket and since I couldn’t find any possible place to put it in my kitchen I put it in my dining room in the corner above a small table with a decorative chain (because the ceiling is high) and put my fruit in them its quite lovely (just don’t keep it in direct sunlight because your fruit will go bad quickly)
Also I have a double sink and when I hand wash dishes I grab the dishdrainer (without the bottom) and put it inside one of my sinks , wash them drain them, dry them then put them away.
The fact is if you have a small kitchen your rent is probably cheaper than rent in an apartment with a huge kitchen, and sometimes when you save money you have to be willing to make sacrafices, such as the time and energy it takes to keep the kitchen clean and organized.. just keep everything put away and you will feel your kitchen is huge.