How To Maximize Counters In A Small Kitchen

*Today’s post was made possible by CrossCountry Mortgage. All opinions are my own.

The kitchen in our mid-century ranch is tiny. Like, really tiny. The photo above shows the bulk of our workspace, and the photo below offers a view of the other side by the fridge and the minuscule counters that we have available over there. I think you can get a pretty clear idea from those perspectives of just how little we have to work with. When we replaced the old countertops two years ago, we did opt to extend the new ones as far as we could to (a) give us more counter space for meal prep and serving, and (b) to create bar seating, and that upgrade has been a welcome one. But we still have to be really intentional in the way we lay things out so we can maximize square footage.

The main thing we’ve learned is that there can be nothing on our counters that we don’t use every day. Everything (aside from a few thoughtfully placed decorative plants, that is) has to be utilitarian and functional so that we’re not wasting space. It was hard at first and we had to make some key investments, but now we have things worked down to the finest detail and no spot is left unused. I think the overall look, though, doesn’t feel cluttered because of how strategic we’ve been with our color/design choices when it comes to appliances and accents. Keep scrolling to read my tips for curating items that maximize counters in your own small kitchen.

How To Maximize Counters In A Small Kitchen:

1. Make use of vertical square footage by storing typical countertop accessories up on the wall or ceiling using things like open floating shelves or a tiered hanging fruit basket by the window.

2. Style your open shelves with practical-yet-pretty kitchen accents, such as your kettle and a ceramic mixing bowl for whipping up sauces, plus a few pieces of décor (think: plants, leaning art) to round things out.

3. Store everyday spices on the countertop in a neat row using something like a vintage storage box or basket. Learn more about the secondhand box I upcycled for exactly this purpose here. Essentially, though, this method helps spices look more decorative rather than purely utilitarian.

4. Purchase nice-looking, color-coordinated appliances and containers so that your counters look styled rather than cluttered. I love our minty green toaster (it matches our kettle that sits up on the floating shelves!), and our cream-colored countertop Wonder Oven. Even the coffee maker looks nice and sophisticated out on display, I think, because of its soft gray color.

5. Swap out your wooden knife block for a magnetic rack that stores knives in a flat orientation up high rather than in a bulky bunch right on your countertop. The one we chose is attached to the side of the fridge with magnets on the back, so there was no drilling required.

6. Consider using a decorative console in a neighboring room (think: your dining space) to store extra appliances, like a microwave, and backup food items, like extra peanut butter and spices. You can see the one we use in our own dining room just off the kitchen in the photo below. If you store the food in opaque baskets, no one will ever know that your dining room plays host to a bonus kitchen pantry! 

I hope that insight helps inspire you as you work to reorganize and rearrange your kitchen in honor of the new year. I know I started this post off by lamenting about how tiny our kitchen is, but I love the way it works for us. The small square footage actually makes moving around and grabbing items while cooking really quick and easy. The kitchen at our old house was larger, but I prefer our current kitchen over that one because of how efficient it is. I think our careful countertop arranging has also made this space function so much better for us. Leave your own space-saving kitchen styling tips in the caption if you have some to add!

*This post contains affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission when you purchase products that I recommend at no additional cost to you. This allows me to provide free creative content for you to read, save, and share. Rest assured that I never recommend products we wouldn’t use or don’t already love ourselves.