See How We Optimize Storage Space in Small Kitchen with Awkward Layout
969
- Modern Farmhouse
- HDB (Resale)
- ~1,100 sqft
- 3 br
- Couple Living
Welcome to our humble nest! We are a couple living with our cat, Daikon, who's sure to make an appearance in some of our posts. Keep an eye out — you never know when she'll pop up in the background! As we open our home and showcase the little treasures within, we hope you feel the warmth and love that fills our heart. After all, our handle is @hellokokoro, where "kokoro" means heart! *** Today, we're back in our kitchen to highlight some of the ways we keep things organized. If you're curious about the overall layout, check out our dedicated kitchen post for more detailed photos and insights! In this first photo, you'll notice our pull-down elevation rack inside one of the cabinets. With a simple pull, it glides down smoothly, allowing us to easily access and retrieve items without a need for a step stool. No more forgotten items lost at the back of the cabinet! 
Now, let's take a step back and view the kitchen from the entrance to get a better sense of the overall space before we continue to dive into more details. Our kitchen follows a triangle layout, but we've made the most of the space by squeezing in both a dishwasher and a washing machine! Despite the awkward layout, we've balanced functionality and efficiency, ensuring that everything fits without compromising the flow or usability of the kitchen. 
As we move into the kitchen, the wall panels seamlessly extend from the living room into this space, creating a cohesive flow. And mounted on the wall panels are these charming wooden flower hooks, perfect for hanging our grocery tote bags and aprons. These small details not only enhance functionality but also add a warm rustic touch that complements our modern farmhouse vibe. 
We opted for mostly closed cabinets to minimize dust accumulation and keep the space looking neat and clutter-free. Aside from the kitchen countertop, the tea and coffee area is the only other open niche in our kitchen. To keep things tidy and accessible, we've added organizers for neatly storing sachets, making it easy to grab a tea bag or coffee whenever we need. The rest of our tea and coffee stash is tucked away in the closed cabinet above! We keep our kitchen countertop as clear as possible for easier cleaning, with just the essentials on display. The main items are our cooking tools and chopping boards — both have their own designated holders, ensuring everything stays organized and easy to access. On a side note, the under-cabinet light is increibly useful when working on the counter, providing a softer, more pleasant illumination compared to the built-in light from the cooking hood. It creates a much more comfortable environment for food prep and other tasks. We've tucked our electrical power points under one of the cabinets to maintain a clean and tidy look. This keeps the space visually uncluttered. Instead of the more popular power track, this solution works perfectly for us given our tighter kitchen countertop space. And here are all our appliance switches, conveniently hidden in the cabinet above the washing machine! This setup lets us easily access everything in one place, so we can quickly check whether anything is turned on or off. Each switch also has a light indicator, making it even easier to see its status at a glance. Additionally, to keep everything organized, we've labeled the switches for easy identification. Here's the space under our kitchen sink — we specifically requested it to be tiled to protect against any potential water leakage and make cleaning up easier. This also allows us to store heavier items, like cleaning solutions, without worrying about spills or damage to the cabinetry. To maximize storage, we've added racks for organizing our supplies. For the bottom carpentry, we highly recommend drawers for easy access and visibility — ensuring that you're not left rummaging through clutter. Given the space limitation in our kitchen, these are the only two deep drawers we have for the bottom cabinetry. On the right, we have a pull-out spice rack which is a great space-saver and keeps our spices and sauces neatly organized. Above the kitchen sink, we have a cabinet with a lift-up mechanism, making it easy to access the content inside. This compartment remains unused for now since it's just us two and we have ample storage in the other cabinets! We decided to skip the door for the dish rack, allowing our dishes to dry faster. We don't mind the open look, as it keeps things airy and we find it's not too unsightly at all. 
Let's take a closer look inside our two drawers. First, we have an inner drawer — essentially a smaller drawer nestled within the main one — to maximise space and create separate compartment for our utensils. All our soft-closing hinges, drawer mechanisms, and cutlery trays are from Blum! We highly recommend them for their exceptional quality and ability to withstand heavy weight while maintaining smooth, durable performance. 
Beneath the utensil drawer, we have our bowls neatly organized using a standing rack, allowing for easy retrieval. This method keeps the area tidy while ensuring everything is visible and conveniently placed. We also have a mini rack to store smaller bottled spices in here. Here's another view where the upper inner drawer holding our cutlery is more visible. In the bottom drawer, we use a standing rack for plates and another for pots and pot lids. We try to avoid stacking as much as possible to keep things easy to reach. And to the right of the drawers, we have our pull-out spice rack. We used the top section to store cling wraps and aluminum foil, and the bottom to hold larger sauce bottles. Here's the other side of the kitchen where we've placed the fridge. 
Above the fridge, we've storage for less frequently used items, such as larger bowls and our hotpot and grill appliances. The fluted glass panels not only add a stylish touch to the design but also keep everything neat while allowing us to see what's inside, ensuring we don't forget about these items! Picking a fridge with multiple compartments allows us to store food in an organized and hygienic manner, especially when it comes to our furkid's raw food! In the narrow space between the carpentry and fridge, we've tucked a folding stool for easy access whenever we need it to reach the upper cabinets, making the most of every inch of available space. And that brings us to the end of our kitchen organization tour. We hope it inspired you with some ideas for your own kitchen planning. Thanks for following along, and we'll see you in our next post!
- 1 December 2024
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