How to Make More Space in Your Kitchen When You’re Cooking

There’s good news if you’ve been itching to expand your kitchen to accommodate your love of cooking and entertaining. Instead of investing in thousands of dollars worth of new cabinetry and countertops, you can create the space you need with a few kitchen hacks. Here’s how to get started.

Get creative

The first step in making your kitchen more usable is finding the space to actually cook. Short of expanding your oven or stovetop range, you can simply use a hot plate or two instead. Set it up as a warmer to keep your dishes hot or use it to heat up stews and sauces while you get to work on the main entree. The best part is, when you’re done you can simply tuck it away and revert back to your cozy kitchen. An instant pot or crock pot can also act as a stand-in to cook up your favorite dishes.

Add more counter space

You don’t need a big kitchen budget or carpentry skills in your wheelhouse to add more counter space to your kitchen. Instead, create it on the fly whenever you need it with a few inexpensive kitchen additions. Add a rolling island to wheel into your kitchen to chop up fresh vegetables when cooking for friends and family. Afterward, roll into your living room and transform into a bar cart. You can also repurpose an oversized cutting board and add place it over a stovetop or sink to extend your counter space and create even more room to cook.

Get rid of space wasters

You may think you have your kitchen as organized as possible, but chances are there are some space wasters that are still lingering. For starters, get rid of the countertop mixer and purchase a hand mixer that quickly tucks away in a drawer. You can also get rid of sugar and flour jars and instead use airtight containers that stack neatly in your cabinets or pantry. Get ruthless and give away your countertop can opener in favor of the smaller handheld option, and use a magnetic hanging board for knives and cooking utensils.

Use the right tools

We already talked about tossing those space-wasting tools and gadgets like standing mixers and can openers. But what about your pots and pans? Instead of a set, focus on core pieces, from a single cast iron skillet to one or two saucepans that suit your needs. You can always transport to a ceramic dish on a hot plate or tuck into your oven while washing up and moving onto the next dish.

Go vertical

There’s no rule that your plates, cookware and gadgets need to be neatly lined up in standard cabinets. Instead, go vertical and install a pegboard to hang up pots and pans to free up both countertop and cabinet space. You can also install a hinged board that folds out from the wall when you need more countertop space and tucks away neatly when you’re done. Now everything you need to cook is within your reach and ready to go.

And there you have it. When it comes to expanding your kitchen to maximize your cooking space, you can do it with a few simple tools and organization strategy. From hot plates to going vertical, you can create the space you need, whenever you need it.