In a small kitchen the workflow matters more than the metres
A small kitchen works when the route between fridge, sink and hob is short and free of crossovers, and storage goes all the way to the ceiling. Worktop area comes second: a metre and a half of well-placed prep space beats three metres chopped up by appliances.
Start with how you cook. You take food out, wash it, chop it, put it on the heat and serve. If along the way you have to step round the open dishwasher door three times or carry a hot pan past the fridge, the kitchen will annoy you every day however good it looks. Draw that route on the plan before choosing any doors.
Which layout suits the space you have
A single-wall kitchen suits narrow rooms. The order is simple: fridge at one end, prep space, sink, more prep space, hob. You need at least one unit of clear worktop between sink and hob, otherwise there is nowhere to chop.
An L-shaped kitchen gives more worktop, but the corner eats storage. The right hardware rescues it: pull-out mechanisms or corner drawers, not a blind cupboard nobody ever looks into.
A galley kitchen, two runs facing each other, is very efficient in long rooms, which are common on the courtyard side of Eixample flats. The gap between runs must let you open a door and a drawer while someone else walks past. Check it on the plan using the real appliance dimensions, not by eye.
If the kitchen can open onto the living room, a small kitchen often stops being small. That is a separate decision involving extraction, walls and permits, and we cover it in another article.
Storage: height, depth and internal fittings
In a small kitchen the wall units go up to the ceiling. The top row is for things you use a couple of times a year, but it still beats a dusty ledge above the cupboards. A tall unit with oven and microwave at eye level frees up worktop and saves you bending down.
Below the worktop, drawers work harder than doors. In a drawer you see everything from above; on a cupboard shelf half your things disappear at the back. Even the plinth can become a low drawer for trays.
Plan waste and recycling separately. Barcelona separates several waste streams, and if there is no room for several bins under the sink, they end up on the floor. It gets solved in the design, not after installation.
Appliances: compact and integrated
A 45 cm dishwasher, a compact oven, a two-zone induction hob or a hob with built-in extraction are all available in manufacturers' premium ranges and do not make the kitchen any worse. Integrated appliances behind matching doors remove visual clutter: the kitchen reads as one calm piece of joinery rather than a showroom of gadgets.
Choose appliances for the way you live, not as if you had eighteen square metres. If you rarely cook for a crowd, a full-size oven and six burners take space that would work harder as storage. Appliance models are fixed before the joinery is made, otherwise the openings will not match.
Light and finishes that add space
Lighting under the wall units is not decoration, it is task light: without it you chop in your own shadow. Handleless doors, with a recessed profile or push-to-open, remove anything sticking out into a narrow walkway. Worktop and splashback in the same material read as one surface and calm the whole kitchen down.
Light, matt doors with one or two materials across the whole kitchen work better than a contrast of three textures. In a small room every extra line and joint shows.
Common mistakes, and what to send us
A fridge pushed against a side wall so its door cannot open fully and the drawers will not slide out. A dishwasher in the corner whose open door blocks the drawer next to it. Sockets placed before the appliances were chosen. A sink under an inward-opening window that hits the tap. All of this shows on the plan if you check it with real dimensions.
If you are planning a small kitchen renovation in Barcelona or Castelldefels, send us a measured plan, photos and a list of appliances you want to keep. We reply within an hour and, after a site visit, propose a layout and a quote with joinery, worktop, appliances and building work as separate items.