The most spacious 1.8 m2 micro kitchen
Sure. My apartment is tiny, but that does not mean I cannot have lots of storage space, all the appliances I need, and an amazing design.
Designing the kitchen
My go-to advice is to try to lower the costs where possible and spend more money on things that matter the most. That is why I decided against a custom-designed kitchen but rather to adjust the space and make the kitchen fit perfectly. The wall of the bathroom was moved to make the kitchen fit the space. Ikea offers cabinets that are 40, 60, and 80 centimetres wide. This means endless options for combining them and making them fit your space.
I decided to go with the most minimal kitchen design and spice it up with some statement pieces that add a final touch. My apartment has only 32 m2, meaning every corner needs to be planned carefully to keep the apartment as spacious as possible. Since the kitchen area is tiny, I thought of using the upper area to the fullest – by filling the space up to the ceiling. I picked six cabinets of sizes 3 x 100 cm and 3 x 60 cm.
So far everyone that has come to see the apartment, said: “Oh, interesting, but is it practical? Will the top cabinets be useful at all? And how will you reach them?” Well, I thought of that myself when I saw a lot of interesting Pinterest photos of storages with huge ladders, but so far, I did not see any kitchens of such a style. So I thought, let's give it a try and I am glad I did. Not only that the design looks sleek because cabinets fill the whole space, but they also add extra storage for things not used daily but every so often, such as Christmas lights or extra light bulbs. I bought a mini wooden ladder that can also be a decorative element. I am planning to colour it, thought. :)
Building the kitchen
I must say how grateful I am for my friends and family who helped me build the kitchen cabinets, so we did it faster. :)
Right after I went shopping for everything else I needed.
Kitchen appliances had to be carefully chosen as well. First, to fit the space, and second, to match the style I was trying to achieve. I did not want to chose Ikea's appliances because Ikea does not have a large selection and the ones they offer are not budget-friendly.
I advise you to make sure to go through the measurements carefully to see if one would be able to fit the space or not. I went with a mini (table) dishwasher, which I inserted in one of the cabinets, and with this I managed to keep one of the drawers.
When picking the kitchen hood, there was not much choice, so we did a bit of hacking to make the hood fit the cabinet. Ikea's hood is as big as the cabinet and is screwed directly onto the cabinet. Since I wanted to save money, and the hood is not that important, but I still wanted to have one built-in, I decided for the one where we had to cut the lower part of the cabinet and attach it to one of the shelves to keep it in place.
I always admired retro fridges in crazy colours, so now I had the perfect opportunity to buy one for myself. It took me forever to decide which colour to take. But I love that I have a red one now, and it breaks the whiteness and gives it a pop. ;)
One of the statement pieces is definitely my faucet. I decided to go with Damixa from Torna. I wanted to hale one inspired by the industrial style.
Damixa’s tag line is when design makes sense and it could not be explained better. It has a beautiful design and yet is super practical. The faucet has a movable head and is very useful when cleaning large pots.
The faucet also has a water-saving function option, but I have decided to keep the standard settings. What caught my eye was the fact that this faucet received a red dot award.
I was also amazed at how friendly the Torna staff was. They were astounded by my story of how I am trying to make things DIY-style and that I will install the faucet myself. The CEO was so friendly that he made a tutorial for me. If you wish to try it yourself, hop to my Instagram Highlights and follow the instructions. If I could do it, so can you.
That is all for now. I hope these tips were helpful to you to optimise your micro kitchen and make it wow your guests.