Small Kitchen Design Tips

The Best of Small Kitchen Design - The Little Rock Whidbey

Small kitchen design is unique in its need for both functionality and eye appeal. Lindsey Lewis of Little Rock, Arkansas adapted the kitchen in our Whidbey plans and takes high honors in both!

The small kitchen photos below offer great solutions for solving some of the most common small kitchen design dilemmas with stunning results!

Storage is one of the biggest issues confronting the occupant of a small kitchen. Kitchens, by their very nature, require “stuff” – pots, pans, utensils etc.  Storing these necessary items in a way that does not create visual clutter is key. Lindsey’s stunning banquet is a great option.  Linens, large pots and pans, over-sized serving platters or your Aunt Helen's favorite candle sticks will all fit snuggly and out of site in large, neutral colored baskets beneath the seating. 

An island at the center of the kitchen provides additional workspace and another option for covered storage. It has the added benefit of providing space to place items coming out of the refrigerator or, with the addition of a stool or two, a space to socialize with a glass of your favorite Sonoma wine while the meal is being prepared.

Cabinets with glass doors help make small kitchens look larger. In her Little Rock Whidbey, Lindsey uses frosted glass in her cabinet doors and a brightly colored back wall with stunning results. 

Shelves are another common option for kitchen storage. They keep things open and light but come with a few pitfalls. Most designers suggest choosing which items to place on them with great care to eliminate potential clutter. Stark white plates with cherry red bowls and stew pots make the perfect statement next to this sink. Handy hooks for coffee mugs hang below freeing up more cabinet space.

The flooring helps to create much of the character and dynamic of this custom Whidbey. Extending that flooring from the great room through both the nook and kitchen helps maintain the uniformity of the space.

Lighting is an often over-looked aspect of design.  The natural light in this Whidbey is astounding but Lindsey also took care to provide “task” lighting in key areas. Note the lights above the table, island and sink. Carefully assess how you are going to use your space and locate task lighting according to your needs.

Small kitchens do have several things going for them that their larger brethren do not. There is an inherent efficiency in a well-designed small kitchen that no large kitchen can compete with. Everything you need is at your fingertips.

The other advantage a small kitchen has is cost. Because a smaller kitchen is going to use less square footage of counter space and fewer cabinets you will be saving money. Apply the funds to upgrades. High quality counter tops have great visual appeal and wear better over time. Custom cabinetry with high-end pulls and handles add immense value and character.

Congratulations Lindsey on a stunning adaptation of Tumbleweed's Whidbey! Your kitchen is an inspiration! 

For more tips from the number one name in small house design read The Small House Book by Jay Shafer, pioneer of the tiny house movement.  

5 Blog Post Worth Reading

Our blog is designed to keep you up to date on the latest happening in the small house universe. Here are 5 posts that you may have missed:

1. How to Get Around Building Codes and Zoning for Tiny House Living - TinyHouseTalk.com publisher Alex Pino and Small House Society President Greg Johnson share their insights. You'll really want to note the cities that are beginning to allow tiny houses to be legal dwellings
2. Have You Considered a Historic Neighborhood for Your Small House? - Kent Griswold, publisher of TinyHouseBlog.com explores an intriguing option for those looking to find a spot for their tiny house.
3. Building a Tiny House on a Mountain - Laura LaVoie is currently building her tiny house and has shared some very informative information about the building blogging process.
   
4. Virtual Tumbleweed Contest - Top 10 Finalists - Our fans are some super creative folks! Check out our latest Pinterest contest and get some ideas to personalize your own tiny house.
   

Yahoo! Deek is everywhere!

6 Ways to Make Small Space Seem Bigger

When you live in a small living space, it can sometimes be overwhelming to try fitting everything you need while creating a home that is pleasing to look at. Luckily, there are many decorating tricks to help make your small living area appear much larger than it is. Here is some tips to use when decorating with limited space.

Use Multi-Purpose Furniture

The biggest obstacle in a small space can be fitting the furniture you need. One way to combat this is using multi-purpose furniture. For instance, a storage ottoman, is a great item of furniture every small space should utilize. It can serve not only as an ottoman for you- but extra seating for guests, and a place to store those extra blankets and books. Another great piece of multi-purpose furniture is a daybed. Daybeds can be dressed up to look and act like a sofa during the day and in the evening, it easily becomes a guest bed.

Be Smart When Arranging Furniture

Where you place furniture makes a big impact on the overall flow of the living space. In a small area, it's vital that you place furniture in a way that allows you to maximize every square foot. Better Homes and Gardens suggests placing a sofa away from the wall, it's a great way to make your living area seem large. This technique works even better using armless sofas to help open up the room. Console tables are a great item to place behind a floating sofa- they're very narrow, and provide you with a work space.

Occupy Every Space

In a confined area, it's important there is no unused corners or walls- built-in bookshelves is a great way to use empty wall space up. They allow you to easily store all of your things, and they're very easy to build on your own. You can even use floating tables next to your bed instead of nightstands so that you have more available floor space. A great idea from Better Homes and Gardens is using narrow closets as a work space. To cover up your space when not in use- simply hang a curtain in front of the closet.

Think Tall

Whether in the living area or kitchen, it's important to think like the tallest man on earth. Using cabinets or curtains that extend all the way to the ceiling will make the room seem bigger than it is.

Reflect On Artwork

According to HGTV, mirrors are a great way to make your room seem bigger. Place the mirror across from a gorgeous piece of artwork, you will create a unique view to enjoy from any angle. It's also a good idea to place mirrors across from windows to help bounce light around the room.

Assign Everything A Place

One of the quickest ways to make a small room look smaller is by having clutter everywhere. For this reason, you should make sure everything in the house has a place to go. You can use baskets or fabric-covered boxes to make shelves seem less cluttered. Just because you live in a small space doesn't mean you have to feel like you live in a small space. Using the tips above will help you feel like you're living in a home much bigger than it actually is- what other ways have you found make your small space seem larger?

Building a Tiny House on a Mountain

The iconic image of the Tumbleweed Tiny House is a little home on a trailer. While most people go this route to build their tiny house, it is precisely the opposite of what we did.  Our tiny house is built in a little clearing about 200 vertical feet up a mountain with no road access.  You heard that right – no road access. We had two main motivations for this process. The first was, of course, to have a tiny mountain home nestled in the woods off the beaten path. The second was to prove to ourselves that we could build this thing without instant access to power or water.  We are not professional builders in any way so we had to learn how to do everything before we set out to build. The house is done now and we live there completely off the grid.

We started the project about three years ago. Because we lived in Atlanta and were building in North Carolina we could only work on weekends.  We drove up to our land about two weekends a month during those years.  Some friends occasionally came to help us and it was a lot of fun and a lot of exceptionally difficult and occasionally dirty work. 

We primarily used rechargeable battery powered tools that we would then take back to Atlanta with us to charge up before the next trip. We also have a very small and efficient generator we use for larger power tools like the table saw. There is also a semi-reliable ATV that we could occasionally load up with supplies and building materials. When the ATV failed, we carried things up to the build site by hand. 

The single most difficult part of this process was pouring the concrete foundation.  Because we were building the house into a mountain we decided to go with post and pier but that meant we had to dig holes, pour concrete and set the hardware. We had to transport a small cement mixer, 30 gallons of water, and 2400 pounds of unmixed concrete up to the site. The ATV struggled and could only haul three bags at a time. And without any access to electric power, we mixed and poured concrete until the sun went down. It was the most difficult thing I have ever done, but I figure if I can do that there really isn’t much else I can’t do. 

As I mentioned, we live in the tiny house now and everything is off the grid. I hope to share more about how we live this way in the weeks to come.  

Laura LaVoie and her husband live full-time in their Tumbleweed and blog about their experience at Life in 120 Square Feet. Get your own copy of a tiny house plan here.