I completely agree with the "clean as you go" tip. When baking, for example, I make sure to put the flour/spices/etc. back in the cupboard as soon as I know I no longer need them. I also have gotten rid of all the plates/cups/dishes that I don't need, to make my shelves less crowded. Washing dishes as you go is easiest when you have a recipe that requires wait time, and you can get a LOT one in even just a minute. Example: While you're waiting for the oil in the pan to heat up, just wash a plate or two. Some might disagree, but this works for me.

I have a veer small kitchen, only 4 drawers and one cabinet! But, luckily, we have a pantry. I have a small shelf in the pantry where I mix dressings, rubs,measure out ingredients, etc. Having all my oils, vinegars and spices right at my fingertips makes for quick and easy mixing and even quicker clean up.

Yes! Clean as you go is a must. Up until last year my family of 5 lived in a 850sq. ft house build in the 40's. As you can imagine, the kitchen was small. I had about 2ft of counter space. I did not lay everything out ahead of time, as in such a small kitchen everything is reachable, but I did put things away as soon as I used them. This takes a bit of practice, as sometimes a pot will be boiling over just as you are trying to put the milk back in the fridge, but eventually it just gets added into the cooking process...

I'm a HUGE fan of the Mise En Place plan. I prep all of my ingredients and place the perishible ones back in the fridge. I wash all of the prep dishes. Then I get to cooking.

Another big thumbs up for clean as you go, as well as prepping what you can ahead. Not only does it save space, but it's so much nicer to end a meal knowing there's not a huge mess still waiting back in the kitchen.

Great tips!! I definitely have a SMALL workspace in my kitchen! Wouldn't it be fun to post pics and vote on who has the smallest kitchen?! lol! The ideal prize would be "the winner gets a NEW kitchen!!!!" ;-)

I completely agree with the whole "clean as you go" thing, but no matter how hard I tried I just could not make it work in one of my former kitchens. To be fair, though, I had about 1 square foot of counter space, and so ended up doing most things on a large cutting board propped over the sink. This meant I had no sink to wash things in until after I was done. (And no dishwasher, obviously.)

Big and small kitchens alike. This is especially true for when you've got guests over. Makes cleanup so much easier when you've done all the pots and pans and all you have to do is the dinner dishes at the end.

I've always done this, no matter the size of the kitchen. After one eats there is so little to clean up, which makes it so nice, especially since we all want to relax after a fabulous meal.

I have a pretty large kitchen, and I clean as I go. The advantage is not having a huge mess staring you in the face after dinner.

I would make more of a mess if I tried to clean AND cook in a small space, either mess up the food or break things. If my kitchen was as small as the one in that photo, I would have a basin on the floor to throw used dishes, and wash everything after cooking.

I have been trying to convince my significant other to do this for a very long time. She always leaves a mess and pile of dishes after making a meal.
Another thing, most of the items used only need a quick rinse/rub with water, dried and put away. This is especially true for pans. I only use soap when things are greasy or have touched raw meat.

I totally agree on that last point, MRMTS. For example, if I use a spoon only to scoop out some instant coffee, it simply gets a rinse. Or if I can get away with just wiping out a hot pan with a wet paper towel, I'm all over it. It never fails to amaze me how quickly a sink can fill up, so anything I can do to keep stuff from landing there is a bonus!

Although she does clean up afterwards, my mom leaves the measuring cups, spoons, and bowls on the counter until she has completed the meal. I wash each item as I finish using it. When we cook together I sometimes wash something she hasn't finished with yet. Hey!

I actually do this because of my teeeny tiiiny kitchen, but I hate doing it because it makes cooking anything into a real chore that takes twice as long, which can be a bit of an issue when you've got dietary restrictions that require you to eat as early in the night as possible.

My tip is to stop assuming everything has to be done in the kitchen. As long as you're clean about it, there's no reason you can't snap those beans in the living room.

I do put away the things I'm finished with as I go, and I rinse everything that's dirty, getting it ready for an easier wash. But I wouldn't wash, dry and put away dishes, pots and pans as I cook. I think it would interrupt the flow of cooking. My tip to add to the list: start with a clear counter, no matter how small it is. Clear it of everything you don't need to accomplish the task at hand.

My first house had a 3 foot counter and no dishwasher, and I quickly learned that cleaning as I cooked was an imperative. (Along with mise en place - with a small space I found I needed to prep the food and get it put away to make room for the next thing.) Now that I live in a house with 10 feet of counter space, I still find that I mostly restrict myself to 3 feet of work space next to the stove, usually forgetting that I have another counter right behind me! And I still clean as I go (although now that I have a dishwasher it's a lot easier).

Yes. You also need less stuff if you clean as you go...two or three bowls in the cupboard vs. 5 or 6. I cook on Saturdays for the week, and it's just a rolling cook/clean/cook/clean party for about four hours. But then the rest of the week it's all about simple re-heating or finishing. It really helps cut down the work and the mess.

Before my husband and I were married he taught me this while we were both working as landscape garden designers. Before each break we picked up all tools and plopped them into the wheelbarrow, which we stowed out of sight. The homeowner could return at any time and be pleased it was so tidy. We felt organized and efficient. We took this into the kitchen and the rest of the house when we moved in together then later married. It was a revelation to me at the time!!!

I always do this! But also because I hate having mess & clutter staring me in the face at any time. I find it so much more enjoyable to cook on a nice clear counter top.

Yes, I cooked for awhile in a kitchen no larger than that in NYC, and that first shelf I made my additional prep space. I'd keep my knives & bowls & chopping block there, pull them down to the counter to use, and then that shelf was free and acted as extra counter for me to set bowls of ingredients as I prepped the food. In a tiny space that one little change in prep style made the biggest difference for me and, in really what could only be termed a closet kitchen albeit a well-organized one, I was able to make sit-down dinners for 6 people.

I should implement the clean as you go more often otherwise I wouldn't be in the argument that I am with my husband about the mess that I made cooking dinner last night.

My tip is to never store anything on the counters, not even a dish rack. Get rid of any extra appliance you don't use daily or don't truly need, and buy the right-sized things you do need. Getting a new compact cutting board that fits over the sink is a godsend. Learning to toast your bread in the broiler is better than giving up your counter space to a toaster.

Even though I agree and practice the "clean as you go" tip, on a handful of occasions I've missed steps in the recipe because I was focused on cleaning up. A batch of pumpkin bread had no sugar and chocolate chip cookies had no baking powder. Oops!

I also put my microwave in a cupboard and my cutting board over the sink. Even though our kitchen is very small, I was able to use almost every inch of our counter space during the Christmas baking season and it didn't seem that small at all.

PAINT IT WHITE. With 4 kids and a tiny galley kitchen, it goes without saying that one must clean as you go. At the first opportunity we painted our dated solid oak (well made) cabinets all white to fool the eye. Now the space looks bigger than it really is. Counters cleared are a dream I aspire to achieve one day. I also elect NOT to hang out in my kitchen if I am not making a meal... out of sight out of mind!

For really tiny kitchens, I've seen stove covers that can be used as chopping centers (obviously before the cooking starts), has anyone tried those?

I have the world's smallest kitchen. My solution is to order in.

I am losing my love of cooking due to my lack of counter space. My room itself isn't TINY per say- its large enough to have a drop leaf table, two chairs, and my (tiny) sewing machine table in it, but the kitchen part is gally style all along one wall, with one drawer, two eighteen inch wide areas of counter on either side of the sink, four narrow base cabinets and four very HIGH shallow old fashioned (circa 1918) upper cabinets. I've had to cut down on my cooking supplies significantly.

Washing dishes as I go is really a challenge for me- I always have a sinkful. I regret buying a dish drainer (mine is suspended across the sink so it doesn't use counter space), I think what I really need is an across-the-sink chopping board. Ikea don't seem to carry one anymore- does anyone have any suggestions for one (preferrably wood or bamboo) that is not super expensive?

Storing some items outside the kitchen solved my tiny-kitchen problem. I used to keep my microwave and garbage bin a few steps away in the adjoining laundry room, and stashed infrequently-used appliances in an entryway credenza.

@And-scene: Ha ha, I can sympathise. Recent mistakes when I've been distracted include icing sugar instead of corn flour in a savoury dish, a flourless cake (which was actually quite nice), and forgetting to serve a dish that I had slaved over at a dinner party!

My kitchen isn't actually that small, I have plenty of counterspace, I just don't have any usable storage. My kitchen is perfectly set up for a single person who doesn't cook much and I love to cook. The kitchen is actually basically a galley, just not a walkthrough, and one of the "walls" is the breakfast bar area with the sink and dishwasher (and entrance). As a result, there is hardly any cabinet space. My solution is to utilize the space behind my laundry room door (which is off of the kitchen) to have a shelf acting as a pantry space for me.

My two favorite tricks for dealing with my tiny kitchen are to set up my mise en place and put away each ingredient as soon as I've used it. That way, when all the ingredients are in the dish, there is nothing left on the counter. This is particularly helpful when I'm baking--I never have to worry that I forgot a critical ingredient like baking soda. The second trick is to wash everything the second I'm done with it. I even wash my pots and pans before I sit down to eat. Nothing sits in the pans and gets hard and stuck, so it literally takes seconds to wash them, and I'm forced to move quickly so my food doesn't get cold. I enjoy my meal, stick the plate in the dishwasher, and I'm done, no more cleanup.

I once had a kitchen like the one in the photograph. It had four overhead cabinets and a small four burner range, and under counter refrigerator. It had doors that closed when you weren't cooking. I put small metal bins and racks on the back side of the doors for storage. I had a coat closet the same size to the left of the kitchen area and I put an apartment sized refrigerator/ freezer and a floor to ceiling rack I used as a pantry and to store my Kitchen Aide mixer. When baking I covered my table with a plastic table cloth and spread out my ingredients there. It worked great.

LadyKatey @ Ikea has a large cutting board that fits over half a standard size sink. I bought one about two months ago. It is 17.5 inches by 12 inches. I like it because I can sweep scraps into the disposal.

My small kitchen tips-
Make the home for all of the things that you use very often directly next to where you use them. That way when you need to pull out the sugar, you reach your arm out, grab the sugar, measure it, then put it away.

Store other things that aren't for every day (cream of tartar, fenugreek, buckwheat flour, etc.) somewhere else if there's no room in your kitchen. The same goes for appliances like slow-cookers, stand mixers and blenders that you may not use very often, or even pots and pans like woks, stew pots and shaped baking pans. There's nothing that says these things HAVE to be stored in your kitchen.

We all tend to accumulate a hodgepoge of different plastic containers, bowls, pans, etc. Throw them out and buy a matching set. That way everything will nest perfectly and you won't have a lot of extra junk (like 50 little plastic lids that go to nothing) taking up precious space. It also helps things nest easier in the drying rack and looks much more polished if your storage shelves are exposed.

Clean as you cook works much better if you have two people- one to be the chef and one to be the.... bee with an itch, if you catch my drift. Switch roles every now and again.

And lastly, I know that this is going to sound anal, but label and date things that go into the fridge/freezer. It helps you use things before they've gone bad and lets you know when it's safe to throw something away without bothering to gross yourself out by opening it up. You'll end up saving a lot of fridge space in the long run- fridge spance that can be used to hold your mis en place when you're running low on room on the counter. I keep a roll of masking tape and a Sharpie on top of the fridge so it can be as painless a process as possible.

When I had a very small kitchen with no dishwasher, to hide things in, like the odd cup, dish, or glass, until I did dishes, did this: I put a dishpan under the sink - rinsed everything and stored it there until time to do dishes. Then, I just pulled it out, added dish soap and hot water and did them all at once. It kept my sink and counters clean at all times. I've mentioned this to several people who now employ this method!

My good Mother allowed me to play in her kitchen if only I cleaned it. I learned at a very early age that cleaning as you go was the way to fly. Now, lucky me (or not so lucky me, depending on the day) has three kitchens... one uber-teensy two-burner/no oven/bar sink; one pretty small no disposal/very little counter and cabinet space; and one huge in which I can spread out and never ever knock anything down, complete with a circa-1978 professional Wolf range. No matter where I happen to be living, I always cook tons, and that cleaning up as I go practice serves me well.

I put all my herbs and spices in magnetic metal tins and hung them on a metal sheet secured to the wall behind the counter and on the side of the refrigerator. It really clears up cupboard space. I also emptied a linen closet and now use it as a pantry. It's only 6 feet from the kitchen and it enables me to store staples and cookware that won't fit in my limited cabinet space. The linens went into pastic bins, stored in a bedroom closet.

MISE EN PLACE. That is all.

I've been a blogger for years, and recently started blogging recipes. The process of documenting the progress of a recipe has made me so much more mindful of the process. Mise en place may take an extra minute (or it may not) but it VASTLY improves the actual experience of cooking, making it much more enjoyable. And since I'm taking photos and paying attention to HOW and WHY I'm doing something, and looking for the beautiful or the interesting moments to provide a nice photo, it's made me aware of parts of the process I didn't think of. Sure we use our nose. But taking a moment to appreciate the pretty texture of a bowl of breadcrumbs... just makes it all soooo much better.

I do dishes once a day to save on propane, most of the year.

Especially during the winter. I take a shower at night, and then do my dishes — all hot water-consuming activities in one go! Saves kicking on the water heater all the time.

Lynnms — I love your idea! Totally going to do that.