Tuck It Away
If your kitchen is too small for even a small island, ask a carpenter or cabinet maker to build in a hideaway counter that slides out from a base cabinet when you need it.
If your kitchen is too small for even a small island, ask a carpenter or cabinet maker to build in a hideaway counter that slides out from a base cabinet when you need it.
Top it with a useful surface — heatproof stone or tile, butcher block or stainless steel are good multifunctional choices. When you aren’t using it, just slide your extra counter space back under the counter. You will hardly know it’s there.
Read more about this compact kitchen
Read more about this compact kitchen
This tuck-away kitchen work surface includes an entire base cabinet. Match it with the rest of the kitchen or not — it’s entirely up to you. Here, the top doubles as a cutting board.
If this is a good idea for your kitchen, work with your designer or contractor at the beginning of your remodel to make sure there is enough space under the counter for your cabinet to fit.
Keep butcher block in great shape with careful cleaning and a little periodic maintenance. It will return your kindness with many years of good, knife-friendly use.
If this is a good idea for your kitchen, work with your designer or contractor at the beginning of your remodel to make sure there is enough space under the counter for your cabinet to fit.
Keep butcher block in great shape with careful cleaning and a little periodic maintenance. It will return your kindness with many years of good, knife-friendly use.
Fold It Up
Mounting a drop-down table on the wall offers another way to get more counter space in a small kitchen. This one turns into a kitchen work surface with seating for two.
Mounting a drop-down table on the wall offers another way to get more counter space in a small kitchen. This one turns into a kitchen work surface with seating for two.
When not in use, the table lifts completely off the ground and lies flat against the wall, its wood finish blending with the kitchen counters and cabinets.
Find a cabinetmaker to help with a custom installation
Find a cabinetmaker to help with a custom installation
This unusual folding table-cabinet combination offers room to eat, write, prep, play games or do homework, and the narrow cupboard stores small items. When not needed, just clear off the table and fold it up — like a Murphy bed for your kitchen.
Finish the underside of the table to look like a cabinet when closed, or paint it to match the wall. Be as creative as you like (chalkboard?) to suit the household.
Finish the underside of the table to look like a cabinet when closed, or paint it to match the wall. Be as creative as you like (chalkboard?) to suit the household.
Flexible, fold-out kitchen tables call for light, foldable chairs or stools that can be easily stored or used elsewhere when not needed.
The shallow ledge that remains when the table folds down can become a small display or storage shelf.
A drop-leaf table in the center of the kitchen offers another kind of customizable working area: small job, leave the leaf down; big job, unfold the leaf. This table serves as a mini island, with storage possibilities on the ends and underneath — not a square inch is wasted. The large, open leaf hinge means easy cleaning, with no hard-to-reach areas.
A small surface area like this is easier to keep free of clutter, offering a visual rest and allowing you to appreciate the other elements of your kitchen and focus on the task at hand.
A small surface area like this is easier to keep free of clutter, offering a visual rest and allowing you to appreciate the other elements of your kitchen and focus on the task at hand.
Put It on Wheels
Built-in islands can be tricky in narrow narrow kitchens because building codes often require a certain number of inches between appliances and fixed cabinetry for safety (typically 36 to 42 inches).
If you haven’t got the space for an island but still want one, consider mounting a countertop on wheels so it can just be rolled out of the way when you want to use your oven or dishwasher.
Use locking wheels — and remember to actually set them — to avoid runaways, unexpected travel or rolled-over toes.
Built-in islands can be tricky in narrow narrow kitchens because building codes often require a certain number of inches between appliances and fixed cabinetry for safety (typically 36 to 42 inches).
If you haven’t got the space for an island but still want one, consider mounting a countertop on wheels so it can just be rolled out of the way when you want to use your oven or dishwasher.
Use locking wheels — and remember to actually set them — to avoid runaways, unexpected travel or rolled-over toes.
It’s possible to completely match your other cabinets and have your kitchen island on wheels too.
What do you do when you have a party and the beverages take up the counter space you need for something else? Enter that 1950s standby, the bar cart, which has come back for another go ’round with all kinds of style.
Place a bar cart at the end of a table or counter and it becomes an extension of your surface while keeping drink makings organized and contained. When the party moves away from the kitchen, so can the cart, and nobody misses a second of merry-making.
If there are bumps along the path your bar cart may take, be sure to close up all the open bottles and jars. Place the most top-heavy ones toward the center of the cart, closely surrounded by the others so they can support each other during the trip.
Place a bar cart at the end of a table or counter and it becomes an extension of your surface while keeping drink makings organized and contained. When the party moves away from the kitchen, so can the cart, and nobody misses a second of merry-making.
If there are bumps along the path your bar cart may take, be sure to close up all the open bottles and jars. Place the most top-heavy ones toward the center of the cart, closely surrounded by the others so they can support each other during the trip.
A rolling cart can be perfect in a kitchen where work areas are spread far and wide, as well as in a small kitchen where you might not always want it in the middle of everything. Carts allow you to move lots of equipment and supplies with little effort. Just wheel it around to where it works best for you.
When you have company, clear the surface and cover your cart with a tablecloth to hide the things stored below. Now you can use it as a handy serving surface.
Show us your clever island alternative: Have you incorporated a flexible work space in your kitchen? Please tell us about it and share a photo in the Comments below.
More
How Much Room Do You Need for a Kitchen Island?
20 Creative Kitchen Islands
How to Remodel Your Kitchen
Find movable islands and kitchen carts
When you have company, clear the surface and cover your cart with a tablecloth to hide the things stored below. Now you can use it as a handy serving surface.
Show us your clever island alternative: Have you incorporated a flexible work space in your kitchen? Please tell us about it and share a photo in the Comments below.
More
How Much Room Do You Need for a Kitchen Island?
20 Creative Kitchen Islands
How to Remodel Your Kitchen
Find movable islands and kitchen carts
Great ideas and worth saving for future reference.
Great article & ideas! I needed a larger 'workstation' to do my baking & prep, but my inherited 80 year old solid hard rock maple butcher block from my folk's Mom & Pop grocery store just wasn't large enough. I bought a larger 3' x 4' butcher block table top & placed it on top, & attached it with 4 L-brackets. Now I have about 30% more working area and an overhanging ledge to just wipe messes into a bin below. I know it's not exactly pretty, but it works for me, and I can still pay homage to the old Boos block. I also made my own custom knife holder too and attached it as shown. My only problem now is keeping our two cats from 'lounging' on top.
Some great ideas. In this "Tiny-ish" Home I built for my dad, I tucked the microwave into a nook that recesses into a hidden pantry next to the fridge. It makes for an easily accessible micro without cluttering up the counter which has a window as a backsplash.