How to Make a Tiny Kitchen Stylish

Living Pretty Ep5: Small Apartment Kitchen Ideas: How to Make a Tiny Kitchen Stylish

Hey pretty! Need some small apartment kitchen ideas for your tiny kitchen design? You may think there isn’t enough room for kitchen decor in tiny spaces, but trust me, just some simple accessorizing is all you need for decorating a rental kitchen. 

In this video, I show you my rustic kitchen decor in my 42 square foot kitchen and give you some simple kitchen decorating ideas that are perfect for a small space.

If you want to know how to make a tiny kitchen stylish, how to approach kitchen decor for apartments, and how to get that cute Pinterest kitchen look, this video will walk you through how I did it in my small studio apartment kitchen!

Watch the video now!

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My little kitchen in my studio apartment is only 42 square feet, doesn’t have a dishwasher or garbage disposal, and the only way to have a seat in here is to sit on the counter tops.

I’m gonna show you how you can take a tiny kitchen and make it functional and stylish. Because a tiny kitchen really can be a diamond in the rough.

After over a decade of small space living - from New York to LA and now Seattle - I’ve not only learned how to make the most out of limited space, but also how to make it look good.

So watch this video until the end to see how I took my tiny kitchen from blah to beautiful.

My name is Steffi and I'm the creator of the style blog Moda Misfit. You're watching my YouTube channel Living Pretty, the place for apartment styling tips and inspiration. Just because you rent your space doesn’t mean you can’t own your style, so let’s find the power in the pretty. Because your style is pretty powerful.

For stylish apartment living tricks and tips, subscribe to my channel and hit the bell to be notified when a new episode goes up every week!

So, the easiest way to make a big impact in a tiny kitchen is to pay attention to the little details that are super easy to overlook. I’m talking about little things like a paper towel holder, dish towels, soap dispensers…

Just spending a few bucks at Target on some pretty and stylish soap dispensers - it’s such an easy way to uplevel the style in your kitchen. And I’m talking about using these soap dispensers instead of the kind that you just buy at the store, like Dial or something.

Which is prettier? This or a soap dispenser with the name Dial on it…?

So paying attention to these tiny, little details in your space is a really easy way to already take your style up a few notches, especially in a tiny space. These little things stand out more than they would in a big kitchen. So use these tiny things as opportunities to show off your style.

By the way, what would you say the style of your kitchen is right now? What would you call it? Tell me in the comments. Is it like a boho rustic vibe like I have? Is it French country? Is it dark and moody? I wanna know - tell me in the comments!

And if you feel like you don’t have a style in your kitchen, tell me what style you would like. And what’s getting in your way of achieving that style? Tell me.

Another thing that I find really helpful with my tiny apartment is to create what I call the window effect.

And I use the window effect with two key pieces of wall art in my kitchen - this one and this one. This one is a window to the mountains and this one is a window to the forest. 

So by choosing a picture of the mountains and a picture of a forest, I’m basically creating windows in my tiny space so that I can kind of trick my brain into thinking I’m looking at a beautiful mountain view when I’m washing the dishes. Or when I walk into this tiny, tiny cavern of a kitchen, I feel like I could be walking into a forest.

Oh the games that we have to play with ourselves.

But really, it’s a nice effect that makes this space feel bigger in here. And you can do this with other things like mirrors, but I like having little windows to nature in my space.

By the way, this little mountain view over here is actually from an Aritzia shopping bag that I cut and framed. So think twice before you throw your shopping bags away. There might have some free art there.

Another super simple way that you can make your tiny kitchen instantly more stylish is to make your rug count.

Choose a rug that exemplifies your style. Your rug is where you can shine in your tiny kitchen. I chose a rug that really exemplifies the boho rustic style that I love, and it pulls the entire kitchen together. All 42 square feet of it. 

Don’t choose a rug that you just feel sort of “meh” about. Your rug is where things… where magic can happen. We don’t have a lot of space, we don’t have a lot of room to really express our style, so something like a rug on our floor of our tiny kitchen… that is where the majority of our style can speak.

So now let’s talk about accessories. And yes, just because you have a tiny kitchen does not mean there isn’t room for accessories. There’s always room for accessories.

You can line things up in a row like I’ve done and just have them against the wall, and they’re really not taking up that much extra space. They’re just giving a nice little visual impact. 

Things like faux succulents, a cutting board that I use as sort of a de facto backsplash because my kitchen doesn’t have a backsplash - which I wish it did. Subway tile, how I long for thee!

And then I have these pieces from Ikea and just a little row of some cute recycled glass cups. And then over by my toaster I have this marble serving tray that actually turns, and another faux succulent, and some pretty faux greenery.

Yes, they’re all unnecessary things, but again, we’re talking about making things stylish and adding some visual appeal to an otherwise pretty boring, straight-forward kitchen.

And the final thing you can do to make your tiny kitchen more stylish is to avoid clutter at all costs. Now, that might sound kinda funny coming from someone who literally has shit on her countertops, but there’s a fine line between clutter and accessorizing.

And it can be hard to notice the difference, and it varies space by space. But what I always say is you listen to that “ahh” feeling. When a space is cluttered, you get that sort of stressful, chaotic feeling, and things don’t feel like they’re in their right place. 

The “ahh” feeling is when things really seem like they’ve come together, and they make sense, and they feel good. So that’s really the main way I judge whether a space is cluttered versus accessorized - is just go with what your gut is telling you and listen to it. 

If a space is not making you feel relaxed and happy, then something is wrong. You deserve to feel relaxed and happy in your space.

So what are some examples of clutter in a kitchen? Well, here’s some really easy things that you can do. No dirty dishes in the sink - and I say that as someone who doesn’t have a dishwasher, so it’s really hard, the struggle is real, I understand - but it makes a big difference. Dirty dishes are not attractive.

Not having spices and cooking oils and stuff like that sitting out... I would make sure to have that stored away. And I would basically make it so that the only items that are actually out are decorative.

I know I might be sounding a little bit like a psychopath, but… I’m not.

I mean, case and point… isn’t this much less visually please than this?

So that’s the approach that I took when I styled my tiny, 42 square foot kitchen in my studio apartment here in Seattle. If you have any questions or need any advice on your specific tiny kitchen, comment below and ask me! I’d love to geek out with you about decor.

For more small apartment inspiration, follow me @moda.misfit on Instagram. 

And if you liked this video, please let me know by liking it below and share it with anyone you know who also has a tiny kitchen!

And if you want to stay up to date on all of the Living Pretty episodes, subscribe and hit the bell to be notified when a new episode goes up every week.

Happy styling, my friend. And remember, your apartment is destined to be pretty. And you’re pretty powerful.