Even after renovations (which made my kitchen a million times better) we still had limited space that I needed to optimize. I found some awesome products that made a huge impact for a compact design.
I absolutely love Joseph Joseph brand. I bought their utensil storage tray for our silverware. It worked out so well I bought a second one for additional items. I was able to keep all of our utensils in just a small drawer instead of having everything laid out taking up unnecessary space.
Narrow drawer knife block. I was excited to find this narrow knife block. It allows you to keep your knives safe in a narrow space. I bought one of these again for our new kitchen.
Pot strainers are the best. If you have kids and do a lot of mac and cheese or other things that require quick draining, these things are going to be your new best friend. No need to dig out a bulky colander that is a pain to wash. This thing gets the job done quickly and cleans with a quick swipe.
This thing was so nice. I could use it to store the dishes to air dry, but then when they were dry and put away I could collapse it down and store it under the sink out of sight and leaving more space on my counters.
I think that dish drying mats are great. They absorb more than towels but they are not bulky like a drainer would be. You can hang it on a hook under the sink, throw it in the washer easy, and it is just a great thing that I think should be in every kitchen.
Spice Rack. Rather than just jamming all of my spices into the cabinet like I had previously and digging through them every time, I decided to optimize my space and organization to get spice racks that fit in my cupboard.
I realize the next two are part of the kitchen renovation themselves, but I cannot emphasize enough what a difference they made in my life.
This is an absolute must. Our old sink was 6inches deep and could fit nothing. Doing dishes was a nightmare. Not doing dishes caused more of a nightmare. Having the giant sink changed everything. Then when our house burned and we were forced to move ,going back to a small double sink was no fun at all. My sink was one of the things that I missed the most.
Pulldown high arch. You can fit your big pots and cookie sheets under it easy, you can spray the entire sink out, and you only have to have them drill one hole in your pretty countertop.
