Every item on this page was chosen by an ELLE Decor editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy.
1
Pint-Sized and Pink Kitchen
William Jess Laird
“These clients wanted to have a lot of color, like what you would see in an English country house,” designer Clive Lonstein tells us of this recent project in Connecticut. He took their brief to heart—especially in the pint-sized kitchen which got an appropriately Barbie-proportioned coat of pink paint.
2
Color-Blocked Retro Kitchen
Maura McEvoy
This mid-century Maine home had its original ’60s-era kitchen. Designer Angie Hranowsky opted to keep it, but refresh its retro charm with a fresh lick of paint, carefully color-matched to the originals. Even if your kitchen cabinets are new, you can take inspiration from this quirky, color-blocked look.
Advertisement – Continue Reading Below
3
Work With Wallpaper
Chris Mottalini
A jazzy wallpaper can go a long way in a small space like a powder room or closet—and the same rule works for kitchens. Here, ELLE DECOR A-List firm Hendricks Churchill shows us how it’s done in an unexpected Manhattan apartment. (P.s. can you spot the gold range hood?)
4
Think Up
Ben Pentreath
If your kitchen is small but you happen to have tall ceilings, select tall shelves and cabinets to draw the eye upward. In a Viennese home designed by Ben Pentreath, the cabinets are painted in Farrow & Ball’s deep Green Smoke to add additional emphasis. And—if you can squeeze it in—you can always add a meat slicer, like these Austrian clients did, at left.
Advertisement – Continue Reading Below
5
Install Eye-Catching Lighting
Max Burkhalter
“There wasn’t a single surface I didn’t touch,” interior designer Georgia Tapert Howe says of this once blank-box apartment she designed in Manhattan. Here in the kitchen, she gave the cabinets a wash of taupe paint (Farrow & Ball’s Elephant’s Breath) and installed dramatic pendant lights from Stahl and Band above the island.
6
Design an Artful Backsplash
Giulio Ghirardi
Every square inch in a small kitchen counts, including areas you might forget about, like the backsplash. Here in a Paris apartment, designer Pierre Yovanovitch paired key-lime cabinets with a backsplash covered in darling hand-painted tiles by artist Matthieu Cossé.
Advertisement – Continue Reading Below
7
Try a Surprising Material
Daniel Schäfer
You’d never guess, but this eye-catching small kitchen used to be this Lisbon home’s primary bathroom. Instead of ripping out the unusual blue marble, homeowner Elan Yifrach decided to keep it. The view of gardens outside is “a really nice backdrop to washing dishes,” he says.
8
Go Monochrome
Adrian Gaut
Kitchens have been trending hyper colorful these past few years, but how is this look for a palate cleanser? In this Miami kitchen designed by Martin Brûlé, calming creams and clean lines rule the roost. The cabinets are by Boffi while the tiles that clad the backsplash and—yes—ceiling are custom-painted by Matthieu Cossé.
Advertisement – Continue Reading Below
9
Bring in Hits of Vibrancy
Kelly Marshall
When designer Rayman Boozer designs a home, he wants it to feel like, “Oh wow, a nice person lives here,” he told us. “Or at least that a nice person decorated.” We get precisely that feeling from this happy Harlem kitchen, which features hits of jewel tones via the green cabinets, red curtains, striped chairs, and plate-printed trompe l’oeil wallpaper.
10
Make It Disappear
David Mitchell
Your kitchen may be tiny enough to view only with the aid of a microscope, a fact you can choose to ignore—or embrace by hiding it entirely. In this kitchen, designer Omar Aqeel selected brushed stainless steel cabinets by Reform that practically melt from view. “I was trying to un-kitchen it as much as possible,” he says.
Advertisement – Continue Reading Below
11
Skirt Your Sink
Roger Davies
This small kitchen can be found in ELLE DECOR A-List designers Eric Hughes and Nathan Turner’s ranch-inspired home in Ojai, California, but there’s plenty of lessons to be learned here for indoor kitchens too. In lieu of a stainless steel faucet, for instance, they installed a rustic brass version. Instead of cupboards, they’ve hung their pots and pans on a rail. But our favorite detail is the charming skirt that conceals under-sink plumbing and other sundries. Simply ditch your hinges and doors, and pop on a cute curtain of your own.
12
Swap Your Cabinets for Shelves
Richard Powers
As much as we may love the way kitchen cabinets can elevate a cooking space, they can also take up a lot of visual real estate, especially if you’re dealing with a small room. We love how designer Timothy Brown ditched heavy cupboards in favor of industrial stainless-steel shelving in his New York City apartment. Not only does it provide a space for clip-on lights to illuminate chopping (or in this case, floral arranging!) it also allows him to flaunt his collection of vases and display small framed artworks.
Advertisement – Continue Reading Below
13
Don’t Forget About Your Doors
Matthew Williams
This kitchen is as modern as it gets. But the designers at StudioDB wanted to add a fashionable edge too. In fact, this small New York kitchen was inspired by the color palette of—wait for it—Prada stores. But nothing says “galley kitchen” like the pair of portholes in the pink pocket door. It conveniently can hide pre dinner-party chaos or simply serve as a style statement on its own. Ahoy, matey!
14
Hang a Cool Pendant
Tim Lenz
At first blush, this kitchen designed by ELLE DECOR A-List firm Pappas Miron might look like your standard-issue white kitchen. But it’s the pendant light, as pretty and enticing as a peppermint, that takes it to the next level. If you have ceiling space to spare, install one that will similarly steal the scene.
Advertisement – Continue Reading Below
15
Bring in a Plant
Maureen M. Evans
If you’re sick of the all-white kitchen but still want the lightness and space-creating magic the look affords, take a page from designer Mark Grattan’s book: In his Mexico City apartment he specified all-white cabinets and tiles but refreshed the look with pops of gold and terra-cotta in the travertine countertops, golden rug, and earthy plant stand. And, if your space and light levels allow, why not include a tree?
16
Paint It All Black
Francesco Dolfo
The black kitchen is the sexy antithesis to the ubiquitous all-white one. And here, in his Milan apartment, hospitality designer Eric Egan brought all the drama. Not only are the countertops made from an unusually textured Porphyry stone, but the back wall is entirely mirrored, making these pint-sized space feel positively cavernous. As for inky cabinets? They’re from Ikea!
Advertisement – Continue Reading Below
17
All-Day Diner
David Land
When the architecture firm Method Design and interior designer Nina Barneih-Blair teamed up on the design of this 490-square-foot Manhattan apartment, they needed to make the most out of every square inch. The solution? A kitchen island that serves multiple purposes over the course of the day—from ad hoc office to dinner party venue. An all-white palette of glossy cabinets and surfaces helps flaunt the flat’s greatest asset: natural light.
18
Inky Black Backsplash
Simon Upton
When you’re working with a 16th-century townhouse, like French designer Eric Allart did, you have to embrace the period quirks. This kitchen came complete with terra-cotta tiles. Rather than rip them out, Allart kept them in place and designed a quirky kitchen in unexpected hues to complement them. Here, an inky tile backsplash refracts sunlight, and a Pepto-pink shade on the walls and ceilings works to move the eye upward.
Advertisement – Continue Reading Below
19
Zippy-Colored Cabinets
Annie Schlechter
This space, in a Beverly Hills house designed by Gary McBournie, might be a mere butler’s pantry, but it offers plenty of inspiration for small kitchens. If it’s within your budget, opt for cabinets that offer a bit of Hollywood Regency glamour, like these ones here. If not, paint your existing ones in a vacation-ready hue like a bright key lime. The sunburst light fixture reminds us that it’s always happy hour somewhere!
20
Towering Cabinets and White Paint
Kelly Marshall
The client of this Manhattan apartment doesn’t use her small galley-style kitchen that often, but that didn’t keep designer Lauren Buxbaum Gordon from making it a showpiece. Her signature move? To extend the cabinetry all the way up to the soaring period ceilings. Light countertops and a glossy white paint job let sunshine into the room, but it’s the gleaming gold hardware and accents that really make this small kitchen a winner.
Anna Fixsen is the deputy digital editor of ELLE DECOR, where she oversees all facets of ELLEDECOR.com. In addition to editing articles and developing digital strategy, she writes about the world’s most beautiful homes, reviews the chicest products (from the best cocktail tables to cute but practical gifts), and reports on the most exciting trends in design and architecture. Since graduating from Columbia Journalism School, she’s spent the past decade as an editor at Architectural Digest, Metropolis, and Architectural Record and has written for outlets including the New York Times, Dwell, and more.
Advertisement – Continue Reading Below
Advertisement – Continue Reading Below
Advertisement – Continue Reading Below