Tiny House Kitchen Storage: Every Space Has A Purpose

NAVIGATION

Kitchen TroubleCorner StorageDrawer StorageShelves and CountersUnique StorageSpecific Items

The kitchen is often called the heart of the home, and that’s true no matter the size of your home. Whether you have an off-grid kitchen, like me, or a traditionally powered one, the kitchen in a tiny house is as important as in any other house, designed to support daily life.

Hi, I’m Ryan

As a minimalist who’s lived in a tiny home for over a decade, I’ve gotten to the point where my kitchen storage is a well-oiled machine. Every nook and cranny serves a purpose, maximizing my storage in a truly tiny space.

The Trouble With Tiny House Kitchen Storage

Planning storage for your tiny house kitchen can feel tricky at first. After all, you’re not working with much space, and it’s got to deliver a lot! More than maybe any other area of your home, the kitchen is a place where you’ve got to find or create homes for many small, frequently used things.

Tiny house kitchen storage shouldn’t be hard — on the contrary, it can be quite fun. When I creatively designed my space to accommodate all the supplies and tools I needed, I felt victorious! Spend some time looking at how others have done it and gathering inspiration.

When I designed my tiny house kitchen, I wanted to create a space where I could comfortably cook and enjoy meals with my girlfriend, while still having the storage space to keep everything I need on hand.

Purge And Declutter Before You Start Organizing Storage

There are a lot of creative ways to add storage to a blank slate. But before you think about installing or building kitchen storage in your tiny house, it’s important to think about what you really need.

The good news is that many have gone before you, and you can use their experiences to guide you as you sort through kitchen essentials and start organizing.

I usually begin by taking inventory of all the items in my kitchen and apply the reliable logic that most minimalists use to declutter. I’ve collected some tips on decluttering room by room, starting with the kitchen. Remove the items that you don’t need or want and then start thinking about organizing what’s left. Reminding myself of places to pass on decluttered items always helps me keep up the momentum.

Maximize Tight Spaces With Cabinets And Cupboards

Tiny house storage has limitations that larger homes don’t have. When I designed my own tiny house, I had to do a lot of research since there wasn’t a ton of information out there at the time. Now that it’s built, I’ve collected some of the top considerations to keep in mind when designing your space.

If you’re reading this before you start building, you can design the space to meet your unique needs. Even if you’re not, though, you can still make some design tweaks.

When it comes to tiny house kitchen storage, sometimes corners get neglected. But cabinets and cupboards are the powerhouse of your tiny house kitchen storage and can actually make corners home for a lot of stuff.

Cupboards with sliding pull-outs are a great way to make use of otherwise dead space. The small blueprint these tucked-away storage spaces take up mean that they are a great way to hold several things that would have otherwise cluttered up a countertop.

Strategically Shaped Cabinets

Under-Stair Cupboards

L-Shaped Cupboards Make The Most Of Floor Space

Add Kitchen Storage With Drawer Space

Hideaway Kitchen Storage

Dividers And Drawer Organization

Find The Best Use For Kitchen Shelving And Countertop Storage

In a tiny house, efficient storage becomes a little easier if you identify your daily habits and design your kitchen to support those daily habits. To me, shelving is one of the most interesting ways to get creative with tiny house kitchen storage. With just a few tools and a little ingenuity, shelving can turn dead space into a storage powerhouse. By building a shelf in a place that previously offered no storage, your kitchen storage space is multiplied.

Floating Kitchen Shelves

A couple of floating shelves, just a few inches wide, will keep your space feeling airy and open while also ensuring your most-used ingredients remain close at hand for efficient food prep. Open shelving like this takes advantage of wall space that’d otherwise go unused or wasted and gives you the chance to show off your favorite mugs or other kitchen essentials with pizzazz.

Overhead Tiny Kitchen Storage

Unique Storage Ideas To Try In Your Tiny House Kitchen

Magnetic Storage

Pegboards, Wall-Mounts, And Baskets

Customized Tiny House Kitchen Storage

Hanging Storage

Storage Solutions For Specific Items In A Tiny House Kitchen

I know that my kitchen storage needs might vary slightly from yours, since everyone has food preferences and cooking styles unique to them. No two households are the same. Keeping this in mind, there are some categories of items that you’ll need to address in your own way.

Trash And Recycling Bins

Spices And Sauces

Oddly Shaped Items

Cleaning supplies and tools are one class of objects where it can be hard to keep them all in one space. Some items are small and stackable, while others are large and bulky.

The way I like to address storing supplies like these is to assign one closet or cupboard to the storage of all cleaning supplies. Use hooks and racks to put the walls and floor of the space to work, while brooms and mops can be stood up, spanning the entirety of the space.

Oddly shaped goods like wine, cider, and beer, don’t need to take up a lot of space. A series of cubbies is a simple yet effective solution in any kitchen storage concept, which can be placed in an easy-to-access, innocuous location, such as above a sink or counter.

Broom and Cleaning Supply Storage Closet

Wine Storage Cubbies

Kitchen Towel Storage In Your Tiny House

Kitchen storage usually needs to include an area for things like towels. Towel storage can take a lot of forms, from a hanging rack to easily moved suction hooks to piles neatly in a drawer. Mountable silicone buckle holders are a new storage method that keeps a towel secure when you aren’t using it, while still letting it dry.

Ideas For Tiny House Kitchen Utensil Storage

Tiny House Kitchen Food Storage Ideas

I find that food storage solutions differ a bit from tiny home to tiny home. Homesteaders with large gardens will have a need to keep larger quantities of different fresh foods, as well as what they are able to store for future use. Those with more of a prepping mindset will rely on flat or sliding places to keep quantities of dry or canned goods and long-term storage containers.

Even if you’re not storing for the long-term, I’ve found that transferring food from the original packaging to uniform, airtight containers creates a minimal, tidy storage system with the added benefit of letting you see exactly what you have at any given time. These containers are also a great way to store dehydrated foods.

When it comes to storing nonperishables, kitchen food storage solutions that are adaptable are the best bet. A cupboard featuring internal trays or baskets that slide in and out is useful for a couple of reasons: it keeps the food close at hand and easily accessible, while also keeping it protected from light, heat, and pests.

Because I took the time to set up my tiny house kitchen in a streamlined and organized way, prepping food is a breeze. Remember that when the world is full of messages to the contrary, a simple lifestyle approach, a little planning, and creative organization solutions go a long way to creating a more peaceful and functional home.

Your Turn!

• Is there an unused spot in your kitchen where you could maximize storage space?
• What item or items will these kitchen storage concepts help you store it more efficiently?