A small kitchen doesn’t have to be awkward and insufficient.  Clever design ideas can help you make the most of the space you have so that you completely enjoy your time in the kitchen, no matter its size.  According to Blum’s Dynamic Space concept, it’s all about planning and designing for optimal workflow, space and motion.  Without proper planning based on how you actually use the kitchen day-to-day, even working in the most spacious kitchen will be tedious and frustrating.

Here are six top tips for planning a practical small kitchen:

1.     Zone your kitchen for optimal workflows – the smallest of kitchens, regardless of size or shape can be divided into the five kitchen zones that underpin efficient and easy workflows.  There need to be zones for consumables and non-consumables, as well as cleaning, preparation and cooking zones.  For right-handed people, these zones should be laid out in this order in a clockwise direction, and the order should be reversed for those who are left-handed.  This ensures that distances between workspaces are as short as possible and that everything is conveniently placed within reach when you carry out a cleaning or preparation activity.  Designing according to these five zones will save you time and energy.

 2.     Make every corner count – in a small kitchen, you just cannot afford any dead or difficult spaces and kitchen corner cabinets are always the worst culprits.  Choose innovative corner cabinet solutions such as Blum’s SPACE CORNER cabinet that give you full and easy access to everything you have stored in it.

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3.     Replace doors with drawers – one of the main principles of an ergonomic kitchen is to fit base units with drawers instead of shelves and doors.  This keeps your workflow simple because everything is easily at hand instead of awkwardly out of reach. Drawers help you save space and provide the easiest access to interiors.  Choosing quality, handle-less drawers with superior self-gliding motion makes your life even easier.

 4.     Organise everything – don’t skimp on the interiors of your drawers.  Good quality dividing systems, such as Blum’s ORGA-LINE inner dividers enable you to organise kitchen utensils, knives, electric gadgets and much more, ensuring that everything that you need in a particular kitchen zone is exactly where you want it to be.

 5.     Create more storage space – Blum’s SPACE TOWER is an ideal space-optimising pantry solution for the consumables zone in small kitchens.  It enables you to neatly store your essential day-to-day items used in daily food preparation such as bread, cereal, sugar, pasta, rice, oils and condiments.  Easy to use, the SPACE TOWER’s inner drawers open individually and you can access the contents from the front and both sides.

 6.     Give wall cabinets a lift Wall cabinets play an important role in increasing storage space in a small kitchen.  Doors fitted with standard cupboard hinges swing directly into your path interfering with your space and workflow. Lift systems, such as the Blum AVENTOS range allow the doors to lift up and out of the workspace, thereby giving you full access to the interiors of your wall cabinets. Doors can remain open in any desired position while you work and you can find what you need far easier and quicker. Opening and closing these systems is done with the lightest of touches.  

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