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Sleek & Stylish Appliances for Small Kitchens

Get More Sizzle Out of Less Space

    One of the simplest and least painful ways to free up storage space in a small kitchen is to reduce the size of the appliances you use wherever possible.  An astonishing number of people feel compelled to buy grand-sized ranges and refrigerators for kitchens with less-than-grand dimensions and to use full-sized dishwashers or microwaves, even when downsizing any of these would cost them little in the way of function and convenience.  On the other hand, in a compact kitchen the payoff for using smaller appliances can be huge in terms of added cabinet and countertop space.

By using small appliances in place of large ones in a small kitchen you gain space for storing things like your prized collection of All-Clad cookware or the exotic ingredients you like to cook in them, plus you’ll pick up more counter space on which to prepare and serve the tasty food that results.  By installing a 24-inch wide range, for example, instead of a 30-inch wide model, plus a 24-inch refrigerator in place of a 36-inch, and an 18-inch dishwasher instead of a 24-inch version, you will add nearly 10 cubic feet of base cabinet storage space, or the equivalent of an extra 24-inch base cabinet.  If you are using 36-inch high wall cabinets above that, a smaller range and refrigerator will let you add another 4½ cubic feet of space to your wall cabinets.  That’s a total of 14½ cubic feet of extra storage, which is a lot in any small kitchen.  You will also end up with an additional 4 square feet or 24 linear inches of countertop.  If instead of base and wall cabinets, you can fit a full depth, 24-inch wide X 90-inch tall pantry cabinet into that reclaimed space, you will pick up a total of nearly 29 cubic feet of additional cabinet storage space, greatly multiplying the advantages of using smaller appliances, although you will obviously not gain any counter space.

While there are obviously downsides to using smaller appliances, they tend to be inconsequential, especially when compared to the gains you can get in the form of usable space.  A 24-inch range or wall oven will still cook the biggest bird you are ever likely to want to eat.  A 24-inch cooktop will still have four burners, more than enough to cook whatever multi-course meal you fancy.  Moving to a smaller refrigerator will mean that you need to be more careful about overbuying, but you will also greatly reduce the risk of wasting piles of money or contracting food-poisoning from all those unused leftovers and ingredients that usually end up moldering away at the back of most full-sized refrigerators.

    Traditionally the realm of bargain-hunting landlords, struggling students and starving artists, the market for small appliances was for years dominated by ugly, low-end products that satisfied only basic needs and were cheap to buy.  No longer.  More appliance manufacturers from Europe and Asia, where small kitchens are more common, are coming into the North American market, offering up a large and growing range of small-sized appliances to choose from, many with the very latest technologies.  Still, since they represent a limited segment of the market, you will typically find fewer options when shopping for these appliances, but most of those options are cosmetic and don’t effect their utility.  Colors, styles and some features may not be as varied as they are in larger sizes, but that is changing fast.  As the demand for compact appliances grows, so too are the number of brands and options.   Some of these, particularly the premium brands, where you will find the greatest choice, can be pricey, but growing competition is bringing costs down.

This elegant 24-inch gas range from HAIER delivers as much capability as most 30-inch ranges.  It has four burners, with an edge-to-edge cast iron grid, a big convection oven, state-of-the-art steam cleaning and a removable back guard for a cleaner look.

Sizes, styles and options available for smaller refrigerators are growing fast.  The two 24-inch wide refrigerators shown here are a case in point.  The freestanding counter-depth GE , left, offers many of the bells and whistles that larger models do, while the integrated FAGOR, right, also lets you attach panels for a build-in installation.

An 18-inch wide dishwasher often makes more sense in a small space.  Although you lose a bit of capacity you can find models with all of the features of a full size model, as with this integrated BERTAZONNI, left, with hidden controls or, the panel-ready WHIRLPOOL dishwasher, right, shown here fitted with a matching door panel that allows it to disappear into the cabinetry.

Kitchen technology is evolving fast with hot new products transforming the way we cook.  Most now come in compact sizes, like the 24-inch microwave drawer from ZLINE, left, which makes having an easy-to-access microwave below counter height a cinch.  Super popular steam/convection ovens now also come in 24-inch sizes, like this built-in by JENNAIR, right.

Popular refrigerator drawers are now available in 24-inch sizes, like this unit from THERMADOR, left.  Sleek, sculptural vent hoods, housed in a simple box are turning up in more and more kitchens.  This 24-inch model, right, from FUTURO FUTURO in white, black or stainless, fills the need for smaller kitchens. 

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