Making the most of a limited space involves prioritising, using space wisely and designing to avoid both physical and visual clutter.

Image by ASKO.

The suburban nuclear family of 50 years ago is nowhere near as prevalent today. People these days are far more likely to live on their own, or with a partner and no children. Many more people live in apartments these days too. This change in Australia's demographics means that not only do Australians need a greater diversity of house sizes, but also that there's a far greater demand for small-but-functional kitchens.

Small kitchen designs and renovations

Let's start with a caveat - no matter what size, if you're altering an existing plan or renovating it's always best to try and work within the existing load bearing walls and the piping. Moving load-bearing structural elements or committing to ambitious plumbing changes is opening up a pandoras box of time, cost and planning grief.

That's not to say you can't take out walls, or sections of walls though. Opening up a void between load bearing beams in an existing wall is often as good as removing a wall altogether in terms of the openness it provides, and respecting existing load bearing supports may only mean leaving a doorway or pillar in place.