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Kitchen Cheat Sheet
Kitchen Cheat Sheet
From our Mag
March 11, 2026

Kitchen Cheat Sheet

Small kitchens don’t need to feel small. From “anti-kitchens” that disappear behind joinery to movable islands, hidden storage and light-maximising tricks, this cheat sheet rounds up clever ideas for designing a hardworking, personality-filled kitchen – no matter how tight the footprint.

We’ve gone a bit kitchen mad in this issue and for good reason – the kitchen is the heart of the modern home after all – and why should that be any different in a small one? While kitchen work triangle conventions and typical layouts might need to be thrown out the window, there is plenty that can be done within a small footprint to realise your kitchen dreams.

Eloïse Lachicorée
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Eloïse Lachicorée
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Location, location, location

Small footprint kitchens will always come with their challenges but who says you have to play within the rules? Who says your fridge needs to be in the kitchen? Or that your kitchen needs to follow a traditional layout? We say meet your constraints with creativity and forget what you think a kitchen should be and instead work towards the kitchen that’s right for you.

The anti-kitchen

When you’re living in a small home, your kitchen space might also be your living space and perhaps your sleeping space too. So what do you do when you need a kitchen but don’t want it to dominate or look too kitcheny?

Make it your own 

Though it’s often easy and efficient to either work with what you’ve got or buy ‘off the rack’ when it comes to updating your kitchen, breaking with conventions and adding personal touches that make it unique will make it more of a joy to spend time in. This might be as simple as introducing a favourite colour, displaying some treasured teacups or adding a small piece of artwork. You might also have some clever and creative friends or family who can contribute, or you might be clever and creative yourself!

Finding space

For most of us, our kitchens are social places. A hub in our home where we congregate with friends and family, cook and prepare food for ourselves and our loved ones, and perhaps where we dine too. Less glamorously, it may well be where you do your laundry, so this is a workhorse of a space and a space that needs to be flexible. So how do you meet such diverse demands of a single space within a constrained footprint?

Bring in the light

By nature, kitchens are spaces that require effective task-based lighting to make cooking and cleaning easy, but this doesn’t mean downlights are the only option. And while good task lighting is essential, it doesn’t mean that natural, ambient and accent lighting can’t play a role too.

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As featured in Issue 6 of our magazine!

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Eloïse Lachicorée
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