Do not know how to fit everything you need in a kitchen area of ​​7 square meters? We have prepared for you a 9-step guide with tips and 60 photo-ideas that will help you make your kitchenette beautiful and functional.

Step 1. Create a redevelopment plan

Redevelopment is not necessary for all kitchenettes and not always, especially since it requires a lot of work, financial investment and time. However, only with its help is it possible to radically transform and increase a mini-kitchen of 7 square meters. There are two variants to restructuring:

  • Combination with an adjacent room (a loggia, corridor,  living room, pantry);
  • Moving partitions and increasing the kitchen size due to the adjacent premises.

Most often, the kitchen is combined with the neighboring living room. After all, such an alteration is simple, and almost always resolved, and the premises themselves acquire a lot of advantages. So, in kitchen-living room designs, households can communicate and be close to each other, without interruptions. Mothers can, for instance, look after children while cooking, and it’s much easier to receive guests in a joint room. Another big plus – the opportunity to take the dining room into the living room and “not save”. This means that in increasing the kitchen to adjacent premises, you also create the ability to accommodate a big table, instead of a small one, since you have more space. However, before you break down the walls, think about whether you are willing to put up with the spread of smells and noise from the kitchen to the living room (and vice versa), the lack of privacy and the need to always maintain both rooms in order.

  • So that the culinary smells do not soak up the upholstery of the sofa and curtains in the living room, install a powerful hood and always cook with it.
  • To avoid the feeling of disorganization in the interior of the kitchen-living room, zonate the space, say, with the help of furniture or different finishes of the floors.

Remodeling with the transfer of walls is a good idea, in that it allows you to increase the kitchen space, and at the same time leave it isolated. This means the spread of noise is reduced, the smells of food do not spoil the textiles in the living room and the working disorder will not affect the view of the recreation area. In addition, if your kitchen has a gas column or stove, the transfer of partitions is the only available option for redevelopment. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that the cost of increasing the kitchen is a reduced living room size.

Step 2. Make repairs and use the hidden reserves of the premises

Whether you are ready to redevelop or not, try to find the hidden reserves of your small kitchen, which you can use during the repair and, thereby, optimize the space.

  • The windowsill will help save precious centimeters and will bring a lot of benefits if you modify it a little.For example, you can make it part of the headset, leveling with the level of the floor stand (for this, you need to slightly raise the window) and at the same time covering the radiator with facades. So the windowsill will perform the functions of the cutting table, and the space below it will become a repository. Another idea – a windowsill, converted into a bar for snacks and breakfast. Whichever version of the windowsill you choose, do not forget to create vent holes in its tabletop, for the passage of warm air from the battery to the window. Otherwise, the window will start to fog up, and this is dangerous as it may cause the appearance of mold.

  • In the process of repairing the kitchen, it is highly desirable to get rid of the door, replace it with a sliding door or simply rearrange the hinges so that the canvas opens outward, and not inwards.Keep in mind that a kitchen with gas must always have a door, either swinging or sliding.

  • If a corner is missing at the entrance to the kitchen, it is very desirable to move the doorway at least 30-40 cm to one side, and remove the door or replace it with a sliding cloth.This way, you will get a place where you can store and display items such as a bookcase on wheels or a cooler with water. In addition, if necessary, the doorway can be narrowed to 80 cm (for a door of 70 cm). This width will be enough to transfer the furniture and equipment (although a dining table of 70 cm wide cannot be transferred to another room without first disassembling).
  • When raising the partition between the kitchen and the living room, think about the device space.You ought to provide the room with cells for storing the service, glass, groceries, cookbooks, decor and other small objects. The partition can be made both through and one-sided.

Step 3. Plan the scenario of illumination and arrangement of sockets

Lighting is not only a practical function, but also plays a big role in the perception of a kitchen area of ​​7 square meters. To appear more spacious, it should be illuminated evenly, that is, instead of using one powerful lamp, use multiple small ones.

For a mini kitchen, the desirable lighting scenario would be: spotlights on the perimeter of the ceiling (or two parallel sides) + chandelier in the center or above the table + furniture lighting.

It is very important to consider the distribution of light sources (especially wall-mounted ones) and the arrangement of outlets before repair, so that the future interior has as few visible wires as possible.

Step 4. Select the finish to visually increase the space

If you do not want to complicate the design of your kitchen, simply paint the walls with white paint, and lay a neutral tile on the floor. As a result, you will get a 100% successful result – the kitchen will be practical, light and visually more spacious.

However, designers have more interesting tricks to design small spaces, with which you can create the illusion of space.

  • If the kitchen is narrow, paint one of the walls with horizontal stripes to visually “move apart” the walls.
  • You can also make the kitchen appear higher with the help of wallpaper in a diamond or in a vertical strip pattern.With striped wallpaper, you have to be careful, because they also have the side effect of narrowing the space.

  • If on one of the walls to paste wallpaper with a picture of a road going into the distance, a forest path, a city street or any other picture with perspective, then the kitchen will seem less tight. True, such a brave reception requires a neutral background, otherwise the interior will be “overloaded”.

  • The mirror wall or mirror apron can work to increase the space.At what, the bigger the mirror, the stronger the effect. And if you install a mirror in front of the window, then the light in it will double. However, an apron with such a lining will suit only those who rarely cook at home, because it is not too practical and easy to care for. But the mirror wall, installed far from the plate and sink – a completely universal solution.

  • A win-win method for laying a floor (any) for a small kitchen is laying diagonally or across the room (for a narrow kitchen).The desired pattern of laying a wooden floor – in the descent or “herringbone”.

And now about the “finishing” contraindications. Wallpapers with large and bright print, if possible, then only on one wall (see the photo below). But the wide floorboard in the 7-meter kitchen is completely banned.

Step 5. Create a color gamut

As we said before, there is no surer way of increasing the size of a small kitchen than by painting the walls white. White can be not only on the walls, but also furniture, floor and even curtains. Care for white surfaces is important and requires the most common materials (except for tissues). Thanks to this monochrome you can create the effect of lack of boundaries, lighten bulky furniture, “disguise” pipes and gas columns. In addition, a pure white interior is good in case the room faces the north and does not have enough daylight. Well, to avoid the similarity of the kitchen with the hospital room, combine different shades of white, as well as interesting textures and materials.

If you want to introduce color in the interior, we recommend combining no more than 2-3 colors with each other, while using bright and dark shades in small doses, and using the same white as the basis.

By the way, dark shades are especially good on vertical surfaces, for example, in an apron, in the design of one accent wall or on the facades of a headset. The trick is that black, surrounded by lighter shades, seems to be inundated, giving the space volume and depth.

And one more color advice: if you do not like white, you can make the background of your small kitchen light gray, cream, light beige and other diluted shades.

Step 6. Plan the configuration of the kitchen set

This stage of the 7-square meter kitchen design is the most difficult. After all, how you plan the kitchen set depends on the functionality of the room, its convenience, the size of the dining area and the number of storage locations. Here are a few ideas and tips to help you choose the optimal kitchen cabinet configuration:

  • Corner (L-shaped) kitchen layout in most cases is the most optimal. Firstly, it captures just two walls and an angle. Secondly, it makes it convenient to arrange a plate, sink and a refrigerator on the principle of a “working triangle”. And thirdly, it retains enough space for a dining table.

If you are more inclined to the corner kitchen, then take note of the following two ideas for its optimization:

  • Trapezium, which, although takes more space, is very convenient for washing dishes, looks neater, and the closet under the sink makes it more spacious.
  • One of the sidewalls can be made narrower and sloping, then the passage to the kitchen will become freer.

  • Note that, with a narrowed sidewall, it is be better to combine a trimmed corner pedestal-trapezium.Below is a rough outline of such a configuration in combination with a vent box.
  • If the capacity of the dining area is a priority for you, then you can choose a more compact headset layout – linear.True, you have to sacrifice the size of the cutting zone (however, you can use a dining table for this) and the number of storage locations. In addition, the linear layout is considered the most inconvenient, because during cooking, the culinary master has to move back and forth many times. In the next photo slide you can see the interior of the kitchen area of ​​7 square meters with a linear layout.

In cases where the dining room is taken out to the attached drawing room, it is possible to consider more convenient, but less compact layouts – U-shaped and two-row.The U-shaped set is more suitable for a square room, and a two-row layout for an elongated one. Anyway, the passage between the kitchen furniture should be at least 1 meter.

 

How to provide the kitchen with as many storage spaces as possible without harming its footage? The answer is simple – use its height, raising the headset to the ceiling.In the uppermost lockers you can store rarely used things – for example, a stock of cans for pickles, a festive set of dishes or groceries. At the same time in the additional tier you can hide the air duct.

Below is a photo of a sample kitchen design of 7 square meters with a high set.

Not only the top of the kitchen can be useful, but its base also.Built-in drawers at the base create an excellent storage for trays, rolls, lids, molds and other kitchen trifles.

Step 7. Choose household appliances and plumbing

In the arrangement of the kitchen area of ​​7 square meters, emphasis is placed on space optimization, so, as far as possible, the technique should be selected in a reduced amount. Moreover, the functional mini-technology does not always lose to its standard brethren.

  • Thus, a dishwasher 45 cm wide (see photo) fully meets the needs of a family of three.And for 1-2 people, a 35-40 centimeter model will do at all.

Ideal hob for a standard family – with three hot plates. For a couple or one tenant, 2 burners will suffice. The refrigerator selected should be narrow, but high. For lodgers alone, even a refrigerator with a chamber capacity of 120 liters is suitable. In this case, you can place a microwave or TV on top.

  • You can additionally save space in the kitchen with multifunctional appliances like microwave ovens or bread makers.

Important nuance: The appliances in a small kitchen should be built-in. This makes the eye happy and saves space.

 

Step 8. Select chairs and table

The choice of a dining table in many respects depends not only on the size of kitchen, but also on the way of life of tenants and their amount. So, for 1-2 people who have little and rarely eat at home, there will be enough two-seated sliding table, which can be easily transformed into a 4-seater table if necessary. For the mostly mobile occupants, a bar stand, bar-sill, coffee or a folding wall table will do.

Ideas for arranging a mini-dining room can be found in the next selection of photos.

A full dining area for 4 people in a 7 square-meter kitchen is much more difficult to equip. Here are some tips:

  • The table should be chosen as a square or rectangular shape, as they rationally expand space.Making the corners of the tabletop round makes a cramped room safer.
  • It is best if the table is folding or sliding. Note that, before buying it is necessary to be sure that in the assembled form it “floats” in the doorway. This way you can take a table in the living room for parties and home celebrations.
  • Unfortunately, massive tables are the privilege of only large kitchens.Small kitchens are also suited with light and elegant models on thin legs, perhaps with a glass top .
  • The chairs ought to be light, especially well-suited folding models (a la garden), as well as transparent chairs made of polycarbonate, which are not only very practical but also inexpensive.

  • A little space can be saved by positioning a bench or a banquet set close to the wall.Although they are stationary and slightly less convenient than chairs, they have built-in storage boxes, lack backrests, and do not require a reserve of space for push-pull-out. The distance between the table and the bench is always the same – 10-15 cm. Thus, to provide, say, 5 seats for a rectangular table, you need to put a bench near the wall, two chairs on the opposite side, and to the end of the table – a chair or stool.

  • It is desirable that the chairs do not have armrests so they can easily slide into the table.

Step 9. Decor and decorating

Choosing curtains , decor and accessories for a small kitchen area of ​​7 square meters follows the slogan “less is more.” However, minimalism should not be applied too extensively. The clock on the wall, the kitchen textiles selected for the interior, the plants in the pots and a couple of posters on the wall – that’s the best set of decor.

  • Windows in the mini-kitchen are best covered with short curtains, possibly with an easy assembly. Roman or roller blinds , curtains, cafes, blinds and curtains just a little below the windowsill will not overloaded the space and cleaning will be eased.