Despite my dreams of living in a huge house with a swoon-worthy open-plan kitchen, I’ve been living in a tiny house with an even tinier kitchen for the past six years. In fact, my galley kitchen is barely big enough for two people to walk through without bumping into each other - and storage is a serious issue. Mostly because we barely have any.
For a while, I let the constant clutter and lack of storage space really get me down, and it got to a point where I started to resent the house that we’d spent years saving up for. But then I made it my mission to invest in clutter-busting items for a small home and incorporate them into my own space. Including my tiny galley kitchen.
Understanding what people with tidy kitchens always have also helped this process, and I can now confidently say that I’ve curbed the chaos and maximised the space in my tiny space. The kitchen feels spacious and organised, and I don’t want to run for the hills every time I open the door - and these are the clever clutter busters I have to thank for that.
1. Over-the-sink (and hob) additions
When you have a tiny kitchen, you need to make the most of all available counter space - especially when you’re trying to cook. But while much of this space is taken up by immovable essentials like the sink, draining board, and hob in my house, I’ve learned to use this to my advantage rather than see it as a negative.
In fact, when our Content Editor, Holly, introduced me to over-the-sink chopping boards, I realised they would perfectly solve the lack of space and cluttered feeling in my galley kitchen. They instantly increase worktop space, and you can even buy over-the-hob alternatives, like this Typhoon Elements Set of 2 Glass Quartz Effect Hob Protectors (£30 at Dunelm).
However, the over-the-sink options don’t end with food prep. Right now, I have my eyes set on buying either a new over-the-sink dish rack or an extendable one that can sit on my draining board and extend only when needed - saving some serious space post-mealtimes. This Joseph Joseph Platform Folding Over Sink Drainer (£19 at Amazon) is currently top of my to-buy list.
This over-the-sink dish rack is ideal for smaller homes, and the water drains directly into the sink for quick and effective drying. It also has extendable arms to make it bigger or smaller.
Best suited to double sinks, this over-the-sink chopping board allows you to extend your counter space while you're cooking. This should help to banish clutter and keep things organised.
Although this dish rack isn't designed to fit over your sink, the extendable design means that you can extend it when in use but then retract it when it's not. This should still help you save space.
2. Hanging hooks and racks
Utilising vertical space is essential in a small kitchen, and I’ve found that one of the best ways to organise a galley kitchen is to use hanging hooks and racks for items that would otherwise clutter the bottom of cupboards and cause a landslide of pots, pans, and even food items.
There are so many ways to use vertical space to maximise a small kitchen, but in my own home, I’ve utilised the Joseph Joseph Set of 4 Pot and Pan Lid Holders (£13 at Amazon) to hold my lids and allow for better pot-and-pan stacking. I’ve also recently installed this FOMANSH Mug Rack (£14.81 at Amazon) underneath the upper cabinets, and just above our coffee machine, to keep them handy and organised.
Another thing people with tidy kitchen cupboards always have is storage solutions on the inside of cupboards, and many people swear also by adding kitchen rail organisers to their walls for pots, pans, utensils, and even spices.
These racks can be used on any magnetic surface in your kitchen, whether that be your fridge, coffee machine or washing machine. It'll add much-needed storage space if your cupboards are full.
Rails like this can be added under cupboards, on the sides of cupboards, or even above your hob to store everything from mugs to pots and pans and tea towels.
This pack of two comes with two different types of hooks - flatter rails for tea towels and a slightly larger hook to keep your kitchen roll handy. This will stop them from cluttering up your countertops.
3. Drawer organisers and shelves
It may sound counterintuitive, but organising the areas of a small kitchen that aren’t always visible is one of the best ways to keep the visible space neat, tidy and clutter-free. I’ve learned this the hard way, as clutter would often spill onto the worktops when I struggled to keep my drawers and cupboards organised.
And while there are so many kitchen storage ideas out there, those with small kitchens like mine have limited space to begin with. So, the key is maximising what you’ve got with clever tools and accessories. For me, a game-changing addition to my kitchen drawers was this Lifewit 25pcs Drawer Organiser Set (£21.99 at Amazon), which I’ve split up and used in different cupboards, and even to organise my fridge.
Using fake shelves can double your storage space in larger cupboards that have no shelves, and even those with shelves can be made more practical. In fact, this Joseph Joseph CupboardStore Under Shelf Storage Organiser (£16 at Amazon) is a firm favourite among the Ideal Home team.
This is the cutlery organiser I use in my galley kitchen, and I couldn't recommend it enough. It's ideal for smaller drawers, but still has enough space to fit a full set of cutlery thanks to its five compartments.
This extendable shelf (in the middle of the image above) will help you organise your kitchen cupboards, allowing you to make full use of the vertical space.
The organiser tray is fully customisable, with 32 pegs you can insert to suit your pots and pans or Tupperware. It'll keep everything tidy and organised.
4. Door-mounted bins
What many people don’t realise about small kitchens (until they live in them) is that it’s not just cupboard and counter space that’s minimal. You also have very little floor space, which means it can quickly look messy and cluttered if you use any of it. And while we moved into our house with every intention of having a freestanding bin in our kitchen, we quickly realised that they didn’t work.
The freestanding bin took up way too much of our limited floor space, making the area incredibly impractical. So, we swapped it for a smaller Simplehuman 10 Litre In-Cabinet Kitchen Cupboard Bin (£30 at Argos) that now sits on the inside of the under-the-sink cupboard.
It’s small enough not to encroach on the cupboard's storage space and frees up floor space, making the area look bigger and less cluttered. We also decided to do away with our indoor recycling bin completely to encourage us to place recycling in the outside bin as soon as possible, and it’s worked wonders in decluttering the space.
This compact rubbish solution still offers 10L of space, and will look relatively unassuming in any cupboard in a small kitchen. It comes with a nice wall mount to slide it on and off, too.
If you have space for two bins, this set will still suit a smaller kitchen perfectly. They will fit in your cupboard, and are quick to empty thanks to a handy carrying handle.
This door-mounted bin comes with a double sided opening, which is operated by a single pull for ease of use. It also has a roll top silent lid mechanism to keep things quiet.
Tiny galley kitchens can be restrictive, but I'm proof that it is possible to make a small space practical.
