70 Small Kitchen Ideas to Do More With Less in 2025

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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?

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!

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.

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!

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.