More and more these days, people find themselves living in apartments instead of homes, especially in the major cities. There are a lot of advantages to this, of course; city living is more exciting, it’s easier to get around, and apartments are cheaper to rent or own than houses; but all your benefits are offset by the major downside; size. Apartments are small, and nowhere is this squeeze felt more than in your kitchen. Compact units are the answer. If you’ve got a gorgeous apartment with a fantastic view of downtown, you’d probably consider a cramped kitchen an acceptable compromise. There is however no reason your kitchen can’t still be top of the line, and cosy to boot.
The Appliances
What takes up more room than anything in your kitchen? The stove, the sink, the fridge, etc. Large appliances like the stove in particular are big to accommodate, especially if you own one that’s two times too big for your needs. Global Industrial carries a stove by Danby that is only twenty inches wide across the front, yet is still deep enough to cook a turkey with little issue, and comes with a full four range top.
Then, there’s the fridge. You could spring for a mini fridge, but that comes at the cost of a freezer compartment. Summit has a great compact unit that has both, standing at only 5.1 cubic feet, 32 inches high. As an added benefit, you can build in a stand that holds the unit above the ground, leaving the below space for storage, and also brings the fridge up to a more comfortable level. Remember, in a compact kitchen, you have to take advantage of all the space, especially the vertical.
Compact Units: Space Is King
Food preparation requires a decent amount of wiggle room to play around with, so it’s absolutely paramount to make sure you have plenty of it to spare. One quick and easy way to increase your counter space when you need it is covers for your sink and stove. The Cutting Board Company makes boards that can easily be fit over the sink to increase your counter space during food prep, and they make a cutting board that can be built into the bottom of a cabinet, to be pulled out when needed. When you’re done, simply wipe it down and push it in.
The most valuable weapon in your arsenal when it comes to space saving is a table with collapsible leaves, and with countless styles, models and colours to choose from, you’re spoilt for choice. Room & Board’s Adam Leaf table comes highly recommended, specifically due to how flexible it is in design, meaning it will fit right in no matter what kind of kitchen you have- figuratively and literally.
Having compact units in your kitchen doesn’t mean you’ve doomed yourself to frustrating cooking experiences; you just have to find kitchen appliances that fit into the space you’ve got to work with.