Small kitchen inspiration runs abundant in Marie Claire Maison - and not just in their Mini Cuisines section. Maybe it's the source: are efficient yet stylish kitchens a European thing?
We can't get over the flooring and equally dark woodwork with dull stainless in the first kitchen, our favorite. The rest range between everything from all-ivory to jewel tones. Some small space solutions we're spotting?
- Compact appliances.
- Sharing the space with a dining table and chairs.
- Simple and stylish cabinetry that you're proud to display if your kitchen's in one open space with the rest of your apartment's functions.
- Tidy open shelving that's a joy to look at - not an eyesore.
Check out more kitchens from Marie Claire Maison right here. Sure, there's the occasional spacious one, but we're really appreciating the general small size of the kitchens they've featured.
Images: 1, 2: Mai Linh, 3: Marc Eden Schooley, 4: Marie-Pierre Morel, 5, 6: Emmanuel Barbe, 7-10: Vincent Leroux
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Small? Those are luxuriously large compared to mine!
The seventh (turquoise blue) is such an interesting take on Indian kitchens found in small towns and villages. The owner's retained all the common elements like stainless steel jars, plates, dinnerware organizer, the 2 burner cook-top, etc. But the color is quite unexpected & I've never seen the gas cylinder covered like that, I stared at it for a while before I realized what it was.
ferta good observation. I thought Indian or Moroccan. But I did not see the spice box which is a staple in most Indian Kitchens.
Have to agree with tfoss and zoee - A few of those look nothing close to "small". Any kitchen that can fit a table with 8 chairs is NOT small!
I'm curious too... how are you defining "small"?
Ditto to the "this is small?" remarks. Those are *huge* compared to mine, and I thought I was living high on the hog after moving from an apt. with 2' of counterspace to one where I have 8' (and a dishwasher! Hallelujah!).
small? anything with room for a table (of any size), or in fact any furniture other than what is built in, is by no means small...
I've gotta echo the "this is small??" comments. I mean, I can't turn around in my kitchen if a cabinet door is open. And I've found that to be true in almost all the apartments I've rented over the years. But still, these are really beautiful medium-sized kitchens :-)
How about an ode to the galley kitchen?
I could fit 3 or 4 of my kitchens in those "small" kitchens.
Yes these are not small kitchens. In Europe even if you have a good size kitchen you do not buy jumbo appliances. Unfortunately those inexpensive small sized appliances (Homedepot quality in Europe) cost thousands in US, the land of bigger is better. For example induction stove is so inexpensive and common. Loved the dining table in the middle of the kitchen.
where do I get the lighting in the last one? I want it!
As a European myself, I can tell you that
1) things over here are generally smaller than things over there
2) these kitchens are not small (as everyone's saying, if it's got space to sit, it's not really small)
3) Krisse is right - hardly anybody has gigantic stoves or fridges here; my grandmother in NYC has a kitchen no bigger than mine and at least 50% of it is taken up with the appliances, while mine has such a small fridge that we've nicknamed it 'the minibar'; my parents have a big eat-in kitchen with a single oven, small 4-burner hob, and under-the-counter fridge - it's more eco-friendly that way, people! Lose the status appliances!
This post was really disappointing! I got some good decorating ideas but nothing that can help me make better use of the space in my own tiny kitchen.