Cabinet and Storage Ideas for Small Toronto Kitchens

Small kitchens are where custom cabinetry earns its cost most clearly, because in a small room every wasted centimetre is a meaningful share of the total. These strategies apply to the three types we see most in Toronto: the narrow row-house kitchen, the condo galley, and the closed post-war bungalow kitchen.

Go up

The largest available gain in most small kitchens is the space above standard wall cabinets. Standard uppers stop around 2,100 millimetres, leaving 300 to 600 millimetres of dead air below the ceiling that collects dust and holds nothing.

Running cabinetry to the ceiling recovers all of it. The top shelf becomes seasonal and occasional storage — the roasting tin, the preserving jars, the platters used twice a year — which is exactly what you want out of the way. It also makes the room look taller, because the eye follows an unbroken vertical line.

Rethink depth

Standard base cabinets are around 600 millimetres deep. In a galley where the two runs face each other, that can leave an uncomfortably narrow walkway — and a 400-millimetre-deep run on one side often gives back more in comfort than it costs in storage.

The same applies to uppers: 300-millimetre-deep wall cabinets over a shallow run keep the room from closing in at head height, which matters more in a narrow space than the litres involved.

Recover the awkward volume

• The gap beside the fridge. A 150 to 300 millimetre pull-out for oils, spices or tins is one of the highest-value small units in a kitchen.
• The toe kick. Shallow drawers in the plinth hold trays, boards and flat items. Not for everyone, but genuinely free volume.
• Above the fridge. Usually a shallow useless cupboard. A tall unit either side, or a full-depth cabinet with a pull-down mechanism, does better.
• Under the sink. Cluttered in nearly every kitchen. A purpose-made U-shaped pull-out that clears the trap makes it usable.
• The corner. See our storage article for a comparison of the options — in a very small kitchen, skipping the corner cabinet entirely and using that counter for appliances is sometimes the better answer.
• The end of a run. Open shelving or a narrow tray unit is more useful than a filler panel.

Before you remove a wall

Opening a kitchen into the dining room is often the first thing people consider, and it is always the most expensive option — structural work, possibly a beam, electrical relocation, flooring, drywall and paint across two rooms.

It is worth doing when what you want is a different way of living in the space. It is worth reconsidering when what you actually want is more storage, because removing a wall usually removes cabinetry rather than adding it. We would rather draw you both options and let you compare than assume you need the bigger project.