Small Kitchen Planning Preparation Checklist

Note every point where you turn sideways, shuffle past someone or put a bowl down on the floor because no surface was free.

These moments are the real brief for a small kitchen, and they vanish from memory the moment you leave the room.

Write down which cupboard door or drawer you cannot open fully today, and what is in the way when you try to open it.

An obstruction that has become normal is easy to design straight back in, because nobody thinks to mention it.

Mark on a rough sketch the narrowest gap in the room and what stands either side of it, without trying to judge whether that gap is adequate.

Working gaps and clearances depend on the fittings and appliances chosen, and belong with the manufacturer and the installer rather than with an owner.

Note where you stand while waiting for a kettle or a pan, and whether that spot blocks the only route through the room.

In a narrow kitchen the waiting position is often the same square of floor everyone else needs to pass through.

Record what is stored outside the kitchen today because it never fitted, including anything living in a hallway, a landing cupboard, a garage or a shed.

This overflow is the hidden storage requirement, and a compact design that ignores it simply pushes the same items back out again.

Photograph the worktop and floor as they look on an ordinary evening, clutter included, rather than tidying the room first.

A tidied photograph hides exactly the problem a small kitchen plan has to solve.

Decide and record whether laundry has to stay in this room, and what else could occupy that space if a machine went elsewhere.

A laundry appliance takes one of very few full height positions, so this decision usually shapes the rest of the plan.

Moving a washing machine involves water supply, waste and power, so what is possible must be established by suitably qualified trades.

Consider whether bulk shopping, tinned goods or drinks could be stored in another room, and note exactly where that place would be.

Bulk storage takes a disproportionate share of a tight kitchen and is usually the easiest thing to move somewhere else.

Write down whether meals are eaten in this room or elsewhere, and how firmly that would hold if seating cost you worktop or a tall unit.

Seating and surface compete directly in a small kitchen, and deciding late tends to mean losing both.

Note whether a second fridge or freezer could sit outside the kitchen, and whether the place you have in mind stays cool enough in every season.

Whether an appliance suits an unheated or outbuilding location depends on the manufacturer instructions, which should be checked before anything is moved there.

Record which small appliances you would accept storing in another room and fetching when needed, and which ones must stay within reach.

Being honest here prevents scarce worktop being lost to machines that are used only occasionally.

Note which way the room door swings and whether it opens across the front of a run you would want to use for appliances or tall storage.

A door swing rules out more of a small kitchen than of a large one, and it is trivial to establish before anything is drawn.

Write down what happens when the oven door and the dishwasher door are open at the same time, and whether anyone could still get past them.

This clash is normal in tight kitchens and is almost never shown on a plan, so it has to be raised by the owner.

Consider whether drawers on facing runs would collide if both were pulled out, and record which runs that would apply to.

In a galley arrangement this decides whether drawers are usable on both sides or only on one.

Ask what hinge side and door swing options exist for each appliance you intend to keep or buy, and record the answers alongside the appliance details.

Hinge positions and door swings vary by model and by installation, so the manufacturer instructions and the installer determine what is workable.

Note whether the fridge door has to swing wide before its shelves and salad drawers can be taken out, and where that door would land in the new plan.

In a tight run this is what quietly makes an appliance impossible to clean properly once everything is fitted.

Record whether replacing the room door with a sliding or pocket arrangement is something you would consider, and flag it as a question rather than a decision.

Altering a doorway, even one that looks simple, involves considerations only a qualified professional can assess for your property.

Identify where you currently put a hot pan down, and whether that surface sits beside the cooking position or across the room from it.

Which surfaces suit heat beside a cooking appliance is a matter for the worktop supplier and the installer to confirm for the material chosen.

Consider whether a board over the sink or a pull out surface would give usable preparation space, and note what each would block while it is in use.

Borrowed surface works well in a small kitchen provided you know what you cannot do while borrowing it.

Write down which appliances live permanently on the worktop today and whether any of them could be housed inside a cupboard instead.

A kettle, a toaster and a coffee machine together can occupy the only clear stretch of surface in the room.

Note whether a windowsill, a shallow shelf or the top of a chest is quietly doing worktop duty today, and say so plainly in your notes.

These improvised surfaces show where preparation space is genuinely needed, which a plan drawn from the room alone will miss.

Decide whether you would accept a narrower run on one side to keep the floor between the runs usable, and record which side that would be.

How narrow a run can be depends on the cabinetry, worktop and appliances chosen, and must be confirmed with the supplier and the installer.

Decide whether units should run up to the ceiling, and note who in the household would actually reach the top shelf and what they would stand on.

High storage becomes seldom used storage by default, which is fine if it is planned that way rather than discovered afterwards.

Consider whether shallower units along one wall would keep the room passable, and record what would no longer fit inside them if you did that.

Reduced depth on one side often buys back the circulation that makes a narrow kitchen tolerable, at a cost you should name in advance.

Note what happens in each corner of the layout, and ask what is being given up there before assuming a corner fitting recovers it.

Corners swallow more space proportionally in a small kitchen than anywhere else, and the fittings that reach into them differ widely in what they recover.

Write down whether plinth drawers, a recess over the doorway or the space above a wall unit could hold flat items such as trays and boards.

Flat awkward items are what usually end up leaning against something, and they need very little depth to be stored properly.

Record whether you would accept open shelving in place of wall units on one side, and be honest about how much grease and dust settles in this room.

Open shelving keeps a narrow room feeling lighter but moves cleaning from an occasional job to a routine one.

Ask what internal fittings each tall unit would have, and whether one larder arrangement could replace a whole run of wall cupboards.

A single well fitted tall unit sometimes does the work of several shallow cupboards, which matters when wall space is scarce.

Decide whether a reduced width dishwasher, a drawer arrangement or no dishwasher at all suits how your household actually eats and washes up.

This single decision usually frees or consumes the most useful run in a small kitchen, so it belongs near the front of the brief.

Consider whether a combined appliance, such as one that both washes and dries or both cooks and heats, is acceptable, and note what you would give up.

Combined machines save a position in the layout and typically compromise on capacity or on doing both jobs at once.

Write down how many hob zones you genuinely use at once for a normal meal, and whether a narrower cooking appliance would cope with the busiest occasions.

Cooking habits, not room size, should decide this, and most households overestimate what they use every day.

Note whether an oven under the worktop or at a raised height suits the people who use it, and who would be lifting a heavy dish out of it.

Where an appliance may be positioned depends on the manufacturer instructions and the installer, and should be confirmed rather than assumed from a plan.

Ask what ventilation each appliance needs around it when it is built into a tight run, and keep the answer with the appliance paperwork.

Ventilation requirements around built in appliances vary by model and must be confirmed with the manufacturer and a qualified installer.

Record whether the appliances you are drawn to can be pulled out for servicing once fitted between units, and ask how that would be done here.

In a small kitchen an appliance is often trapped by whatever sits either side of it, which only becomes apparent when it stops working.

Write down how many separate waste and recycling containers your household needs, and where each one would sit in the compact plan you are imagining.

What must be separated and how it is collected varies locally, and should be confirmed with your local authority rather than assumed.

Note where shopping is put down when it comes into the home, and whether that surface still exists in the layout you have in mind.

Unloading needs a clear stretch of surface for a short while, and in a small kitchen that stretch has to be planned rather than hoped for.

Consider where wet clothes, a drying rack or an ironing board go if the kitchen is where they currently end up.

Drying laundry in a small kitchen adds moisture and takes floor space, so it is worth raising with whoever discusses ventilation with you.

Record where the mop, the vacuum and cleaning materials live today, and whether the new arrangement still leaves them a place.

Cleaning equipment is usually forgotten in compact plans and then blocks the only clear corner of the finished room.

Note whether pet bowls, pet food or a litter tray have to be in this room, and which gap they would occupy without sitting across a door swing.

In a tight kitchen these items end up wherever there is a gap, which is often exactly where somebody needs to stand.

Observe how daylight reaches the room and which run falls into shadow when somebody stands working at the worktop.

In a narrow kitchen the person working usually blocks the only source of daylight, which changes where task lighting is worth discussing.

Consider whether wall units on both sides would make the room read as a corridor, and note which side you would rather leave open if you had to choose.

This is one of the few decisions that changes how a small kitchen feels without changing how much it holds on the floor.

Decide whether an uninterrupted run of matching fronts or a deliberate break in the run suits this room better, and record your reasoning.

Interruptions can make a tight room feel busier, and a designer can only balance that if they know which way you lean.

Write down whether the floor finish should run along the length of the room or across it, and ask what the supplier advises for a space this narrow.

Laying direction and suitability depend on the material and on the floor beneath it, and must be confirmed with the supplier and the installer.

Record whether more than one person needs to work in this kitchen at the same time, or whether it is accepted as a room for a single cook.

This is the honest question a small kitchen asks, and answering it plainly prevents a plan that half suits everybody and fully suits nobody.