How to make your studio apartment kitchen look larger than it is

One of my favorite small-time hobbies involves anything and everything interior design. I don’t know if it’s because I grew up playing The Sims, but for whatever reason I am obsessed with interior design, and the psychology behind it.

You know, what makes an entry way inviting? Is it the warm colors? Is it the different textiles? Is it the lighting?

And my fascination with interior design has recently been viewed through the lens of small apartment living because…I live in Manhattan, what more can I say?

So today I want to share some hacks and tips I’ve learned and utilized over the years to make my small space look bigger (and fancier) than it really is - starting with the kitchen. Let’s get into the post!

Section 1: Keep your counters as clear as humanly possible

This first section is all about hacks that keep your counters clear because that, is the Number One way to make your kitchen look large. Clutter in any area decreases the size, but it’s especially crucial to keep your counters clear in a studio.

If you have a coffee pot on your counter - store it unless you need to use it. If you like to keep your air fryer out - store that sucker too. Or, at least, try storing your items unless you need them for a week, and see if it changes the look of your kitchen in a good way.

Tip #1: Get an overhead paper towel holder

To me, the best part of Covid was creeping into people’s homes zia Zoom calls - both to see their interior design, but also the gadgets they have inside. During a Zoom creep sesh, I saw my co-worker had a paper towel holder that hung underneath her cabinet and it made so much sense to me. After all, when you put a fresh roll of paper towels on your counter, they start off as incredibly thick before you use them, and the thicker the item…the more counter real estate it occupies.

I got this paper towel holder on Amazon for 11 bucks, it comes with either screws or sticky adhesive (I used the adhesive) and it’s made my kitchen counter area look 100x cleaner since using it.

Tip #2: If you have to have items on your counter, use leveled two-tier storage

I swear by this little storage unit for anyone who lives in a small apartment.

In my first apartment, I used this when I had no room on my dresser counter for makeup. I would keep my makeup items on the top part of this, and put skincare on the bottom. Now, I use this in my kitchen, and I have vitamins on the top (if vitamins aren’t in direct eyesight I don’t take them) and produce on the bottom.

Section 2: How to make your kitchen look and feel more expensive than it is

Keeping our kitchen clean and empty is one thing…but it’s missing the element of fun that I love. Here are some hacks I use and items I buy to give my kitchen more of an up-leveled and upgraded look (on a budget)

Tip #1: Turn your normal refrigerator halfway bougie by getting this Brita dispenser (not the pitcher)

I can’t wait for the day that I have a fridge that dispenses water through the outer wall. But unfortunately, I am a mere renter in Manhattan and those fridges only exist for the upper echelon in Manhattan.

So, to pretend like I have one of those fancy refrigerators, I got this Brita dispenser that comes with a nozzle in your fridge, so you can just open the door and pour yourself a glass of water without having to remove anything clunkily.

I’ve had this for years and it’s a game-changer. Filling it up lasts you 3x longer than filling up the pitchers of Brita, and it’s also just so much easier to pour glasses of water for folks when they come over.

Tip #2: Glass meal prep containers - not plastic ones

I hate reading articles about how plastic is going to kill us, and how it’s in everything we use because honestly, it just makes me depressed. But I do try my best to avoid using plastic when I can, and while that was the initial reason for buying these glass meal prep containers, I have found much better reasons for using them now.

First, no plastic, which is great! Secondly, these basically serve as baking dishes to me. They can be microwaved, and they can also bake things in the oven (which plastic Tupperware can’t) and since I have a tiny oven to match my tiny apartment, it’s a huge help.

Lastly, they don’t stain. You know how sometimes plastic Tupperware will be clean but like…have a color to it from months of being used? These wash super easily, and look as new today as they do when I first got them.

Tip #3: Fancy ice cubes

I know. You think they’re stupid, but one you have them, your drinks become 10x bougier.

In an effort to impress a guy I was dating a few months ago, I bought these fancy ice cube trays. Basically, he would always come over and have tequila in a glass, and my tiny little ice cubes made the drink look ridiculous and I wanted to look cool. You feel me?

So my vanity got the best of me, and $12 dollars later, I had these trays. Let me tell you - the next tequila drink I served looked incredible with a round ball of ice rolling around in it. Forget about him - it turned me on.

Now, I make myself iced coffee every morning in a cocktail glass with one of these sphere ice cube balls, and it still delights me. So if you want to impress a guy (or I guess…anyone haha) give these a shot. They make it seem like you have your shit together when you serve a drink.

Section 3: What I’ve bought for my kitchen that didn’t work at all

It wouldn’t be an honest blog post if I didn’t tell you what I wouldn’t recommend haha. There are so many kitchen tools and gadgets I’ve tried over the years, and here are the ones that really just didn’t serve me.

Those gadgets that chop vegetables for you

I wish so badly that these worked. One of the many stages of becoming an adult is realizing that cooking is a pain in the ass because of the prep time (aka, chopping vegetables) and the cleanup time. And while a dishwasher can help you with the later, there’s nothing really to help with the former. This gadget included.

I have bought multiples of these over the years, and they just…they don’t work well. They’re really hard to close, not seamless, and washing them is such a pain in the ass, don’t even get me started. Great idea in theory - but horrible in practice. On a similar note, never had much luck with zucchini spiralizers either.

A portable blender for smoothies

I was so excited to try this bad boy that I saw on someone’s TikTok video (that should have been my first warning sign haha). It’s a water bottle - with a mechanical bottom - that blends items for you, and then you can pop off its bottom and take it with you to go.

The blender just isn’t powerful - the blades aren’t sharp, it does a shitty job of blending, and once again so hard to wash! I have a dishwasher, and yet every time I took this out of the washer, it would be…not dried. And weirdly moist. Skip it!

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Those are my main tips for a larger and more expensive looking kitchen! I do, of course, have many more tips (both about the kitchen and the rest of my apartment) but those are to come in later blog posts. And some of the hacks are a bit pricey, so maybe I’ll put together a post later of the pricey (but well worth it) hacks to upgrade your space.

Let me know in the comments below if you have any tips of your own for organizing or decorating your kitchen!

Until the next one,
S