Renovating very small kitchen

We live in a little flat, we adore the location (I love it so much is going to be hard to leave, you think I can make DS and DD share forever?) so plan to be here for a good few more years, anyway want to do up the kitchen but it is seriously tiny and any standard depth cupboards will only work on one side of room (dishwasher which I want is a bit of an issue due to this) - so does anyone have any ideas about places that do kitchen cabinets etc for very small kitchens. When I google some seem to come up in Europe but not much luck here - everything is too massive (don't start me on why only seem to be able to buy fridges which my whole family could fit in!). Will we have to get it all custom made? Where do I start with just trying to think about what we want.

Would Ikea work for suggestions? They've got different ones set up so you might be able to see what you like?

Yep, I'd go to somewhere like IKEA or other kitchen showrooms to get some ideas. You could do a mix and match (in terms of supplier) and get some stuff from IKEA and then get a cabinet maker to match the colours, finish but change the cupboard depth on the other side.

Anyhow, worth going to have a look as those places always give you ideas.

Mum took me round IKEA (it is her next visit that has got me asking, I am seriously unenthusiastic about the whole thing, I want a dishwasher that is my only requirement :-)) Problem is their cabinets are all a standard depth and that won't fit on one side of the kitchen well if we had them we would have no floor space - so assume we would have to get them cut down or something. Was hoping someone on here would have a magic answer like - yes go to so and so they deal especially with small kitchens :-) What I really want is to say to someone - "I want a bog standard suitable for rental (eventually) neutral kitchen with a dishwasher without reducing the floor area too much, and a fridge/freezer combo which has the fridge at the top, and room for a microwave" - and get them to work out what to do - it is so tiny their really isn't much you can do with it.

We had a similar kitchen, could only fit full depth on one side. We investigated DIY ones and custom ones. Custom won. Honestly the 1/2 size works so well. Stuff does not get lost at the back. Perfect size for a chopping board.

We found a group that does make them from scratch, not just install a flat pack. The flat pack ones all come standard sizes, so if the space takes 3 and a bit doors, they put in a filler piece. Proper custom made will either make 3 or 4 doors fit properly.

Not sure where in Melbourne you are, we went with Direct Kitchens 7 years ago. We were happy with what they did with our kitchen (bathroom was a completely different story though :rolleyes:)

ETA: Cost was comparable to DIY ones after DH took into account doing alterations. You can use wall cabinets as floor ones, they will probably the right depth.

I can't help obviously with Melbourne cabinetry referrals, but I can suggest if you have limited space to not have cupboards but get drawers instead. You get so much better usable space.

Astrid - that is really useful info thanks - I am in Camberwell, I will have a look at Direct Kitchens (we are looking at doing our bathroom too - and that most likely to be first so any info you have on that would be great too).

LuluHB - Thanks for the tip on drawers, mum had mentioned that for the bathroom but hadn't thought about that for the kitchen.

I wonder who does all the kitchens in flats, when we were looking to buy most of the flats had a similar size kitchen and they all looked pretty much the same (aimed at investors for rental market).

Remind me tomorrow, or maybe Friday. I will have more time to write out some info and also load up some photos (for some silly reason we did not get many photos of the kitchen before moving)

Ooh, if you need appliance E&S can do a pretty good deal. Just make sure the kitchen company or yourself contacts them with enough time to have the appliances delivered at the right time (there was a bit of a stuff up with ours). E&S talk with the kitchen people, as often they need to check the sizing of the appliances to go in.

we had small kitchen issues too. we went through freedom. they were great in that they come to your house for a free measure and quote and can give you some great ideas and thinking.

The thing with small kitchens is to maximise storage. The ONE thing that bugs me about our new kitchen is that the overhead cabinets are a standard size and now i wish that i had of gotten taller ones (we have a high roof that would allow it). as for dishwashers...we have a tiny miele one that is about half the size of a standard and suits us very well. i think bosch have also just brought out a nice compact model too.
We have a small fridge and freedom dont really do a small enough fridge box. so that is annoying in that it takes up more room than i would like, but for resale it is better as i guess most people have the massive fridge :lol:

If i had the cash i would get a cabinet maker to do one...but again, it comes down to costs that you are willing to pay...but they are worth it i reckon!