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Hold out for the stand mixer!
I don't have the pasta attachment, but the ice cream maker is fantastic. You keep the bowl frozen, so I keep frozen veggie bags inside it in the freezer.
It comes with the bread mixer, so you're set there. It looks great on a counter top, especially if you get a fabulous color. Though if that is all of your counter space (I empathize), you may see if you can fit a small cart to keep it on.

Ahem, I want to call bull**** on the ice cream maker attachment. I wanted it. I really really did. But it was $100ish. And it's HUGE. For $40, I bought a cuisinart one that takes up about the same amount of space as that enormous bowl would. I would say that particular attatchment isn't worth it.

The rest of the time, I adore my kitchenaide. It lives on a shelf in the dining area (the only place I have outlets) and gets moved onto the built in ironing board when in use. The ultimate goal is to get a rolly cart to hold my appliances like the Kitchenaide, the ice cream maker, the rice cooker and the microwave so they can be moved easily for use. Something similar might work well for you and spare your counterspace.

On the other hand, I bake a lot. I love doing it. And the Kitchenaide makes it a lot easier. For the rest of the stuff I do, it never gets used so if you don't think you'll use it for anything other than making pasta and ice cream, I'd say save your money and buy a small pasta machine and an ice cream machine. Added perk? They won't be anywhere near as heavy as a Kitchenaide when it comes time to move.

I live in a tiny, TINY bachelor suite, and I know what you mean about feeling the sqeeze when it comes to appliances. I have a mini rice cooker, a mini crockpot, and a magic bullet... I get by alright with just these. But yeah, if I were you, I'd hold out for the stand mixer. If it can do so much, why get more than one machine for it? SO not green ;)

Hold out for the kitchenaid....you will not be disappointed!

I'd hold out for the Kitchenaid, including the ice cream maker. Most people I know keep their ice cream maker's bowl frozen, meaning you only have to find space for the paddle and adapter otherwise, as opposed to finding space for the motor and such on a standalone maker.

Also go for the pasta rollers for the Kitchenaid, the pasta plates for the food mill are pretty useless.

Please don't stone me about the kitchenaid but...

My sister lent me her kitchenaid for about a year when she moved back in with the 'rents (who already have one) and honestly I used it maybe 4 times in the year (for making bread). I do bake alot but I would think about the things you're cooking before buying one. If it's just cakes and cookies, there's no reason to spend the money when you can just as easily get a good arm workout by mixing by hand. Instead, I opted for a 6 cup food processor for making breads and salsa and whatnot.

I am guilty of asking the boyfriend to mix the chocolate chips into the super thick double chocolate cookie dough on atleast 2 occasions.

Also, have you ever made pasta at home. We have the $40 pasta roller and only used it once, the day we bought it. I would keep an eye out at thrift stores like Savers and Salvation Army if you're set on getting one.

PS - the kitchenaid handmixer has a dough hook attachment option....something to think about.

I love my Kitchenaid. Love it. And I hate extra appliances.

For a small kitchen, I'd say that the space issue might be solved with a rollaway island cart. You could keep the mixer on it (on top or on a bottom shelf) and roll it away into a corner when not in use.

Mine was on sale at Amazon for $189, and it's been worth twice as much (at least) already.

I love my kitchen aid, too, and use it constantly. The pasta rolling attachment is terrific, but I don't love the ice cream making attachment -- the bowl is huge and takes two full days in the freezer to get cold enough to use (and takes up a huge amount of space), and if it's a really hot day, the ice cream doesn't aerate all that well (since the top is open). That said, I still use the ice cream maker frequently, I just curse it often.

I have a KitchenAid Pro 6 qt. and both the ice cream maker and the pasta attachments. All of those items I bought at huge discounts either on Amazon or at Bed, Bath and Beyond (using their coupons). Amazon often has great offers on most KA items and KA itself offers rebates at least twice a year. For example, the pasta roller set was on sale on Amazon and KA had a rebate offer at the same time, so it cost me $90 instead of $145 or more.

My kitchen is also tiny, but separate appliances would take up a lot more space than a stand mixer with attachments. Yes, you can hypothetically roll your pasta, whip up your cream and eggs, and knead dough by hand, but it sure is nice to have some time left after cooking to actually enjoy whatever you made.

stand mixer has my vote! for its versatility and you can get sausage casing attachment for making your sausages too!

I agree that the pasta rollers are awesome, but the pasta extruders suck.

I don't own the KA ice-cream attachment (I already owned a Cuisinart ice-cream maker when it debuted) but if I had a space issue, that's totally how I would go. The Cuisinart motor and housing take up a LOT of space.

Once you have your KitchenAid mixer, you will find lots of other uses for it. It may even inspire you to take up baking. (And the stand mixer comes with a dough hook, too.. I don't know if HelloChloe's loaner unit was missing its accessories or something.)

Oh, and you didn't say whether you rent of own, but if it's the latter: Consider ditching that ginormous (48-inch? 60-inch?!) range for an apartment-sized one, or even a 30-inch standard unit. You'd have room for another whole cabinet if you did that.

I love your little kitchen! It's a nice setup. That oven/stove is ginormous, though!

As for the KA, I love mine, but I bake several times a week and have plenty of counter space for it. Before that, I used a Braun hand mixer that came with little dough hooks (not very effective, though) and attachments for a submersion blender (score!) and a mini food processor. It still comes in handy! From what I've learned, KA mixers can burn out fairly quickly, sometimes frighteningly quickly, if you use them to knead firm doughs, so keep that in mind. One of my baking instructors told us that if we had a model with one of the less powerful motors, we might as well throw the dough hooks away. I'm sure plenty of people brave it and make it work, though.

as a fellow single girl who cooks a lot in a small kitchen, i have to say, while i do covet other people's kitchenaid mixers and would probably get one if i ever have a bigger kitchen, i've done just fine with a good, sturdy hand mixer for the past few years. you could definitely upgrade from the one-speed - a new good hand mixer (mine is a 5-speed kitchenaid) would still only be a quarter of the cost of the stand mixers.

i have a hand-crank pasta machine and i love it, and it is also super easy to store - i kept its box and just put it in a closet when it's not in use.

for baking bread, i've had such success with the original no-knead bread recipe that i haven't really tried much else. you don't need a mixer for that.

To make a small kitchen live larger, you can:

1) Choose appliances that multi-task;
2) Add storage organizers that increase your usable space;
3) Use currently untapped spaces.

Here's a posting I did with specific suggestions on these areas:

http://jgkitchens.blogspot.com/2008/07/multi-taskers-that-add-function-and_22.html

Re: HelloChloe's mention about the KitchenAid hand mixer.

I have said hand mixer with the dough attachments. I have no idea what they are supposed to be for, but it's not for bread dough. (The manual gives no instructions.) The only thing I know of that they're good for is mixing meatballs without using your hands.

I also have a KitchenAid Pro 6, and it nothing like the old KitchenAids that all of our parents have owned for 30 years. They are not of the same quality. The more experience I have in cooking, the less I use it.

You don't even need to knead bread. For those of you who still haven't tried it, all you need is a bowl and a spoon.

That all said, re: OneWallKitchen's mention that the motors in the KA's burn out quickly when making bread. That is most likely because people do not adhere to the instructions accompanying their KA. Do not knead bread on anything higher than a "2."

Is the photo with the post your kitchen? If so, what about adding a shelf above the stove?

Braun's hand mixers come with a lot of small attachments that add flexibility without many more devices - a small bowl food processor, an ice crusher, and a blender.

I think that you may want to organize the shelves under your sink to accommodate whatever appliances you need rather than cramp your cooking style to avoid having so many appliances. I have a kitchen which is as small as yours (and with no built-in shelving) and just keep the appliances hidden away when not in use with the exception of the coffee maker and grinder (which are used every day, sometimes more than once).

Tiamat_the_Red: I would keep the ice cream maker in the freezer, which is pretty empty. Fortunately I mostly have broth, some misc liquor and lots of corn and berries from my CSA in there.

OneWallKitchen: Thanks :) I love it too. It helps to keep my counters empty! Or close to it. And its a snap to clean which is awesome.

Married ...with Dinner: I rent, and the oven has a heater on the left, which is my only heat source for my apartment.

alison22201: It is my kitchen. The wall behind the stove is hollow and houses the chimney from the stove. Not sure if a shelf there would work, its something that I have thought about for food storage. But nothing too heavy (like a stand mixer) would be safe there.

This was an awesome surprise today, checking my favorite blog and seeing my kitchen. Hehehehe, I thought "whoa thats my kitchen" :) I am amazed at the number of responses. Thanks for all your insight.

Shayna

Orchid64: Under the sink unfortunately is pretty full — pantry items, baking sheets, food chopper, grill pan, reusable bags spice grinder, purex nesting bowls, hand blender, plumbing, well its pretty full and well organized ;)

Thanks again everyone,
Shayna

your kitchen is very cool!

buy the kitchenaid mixer. its well worth the investment because you can do so many things with it. not to mention its freakin pretty as heck and itll last you forever if you take care of it. my moms had one since the beginning of time, it seems, and hers is still going strong. the worst thing i have to say about the mixer is that it is sooo heavy. because of my lack of counter space i have to keep mine under my sink and have to drag it out everytime i use it. although, the smell of creamed butter and sugar makes me quick to forget all that.

I think there's no universal advice because what works for one person is disastrous for another. Obviously, avoiding uni-tasking items is a good rule of thumb when storage space is so limited. However, I think you need to allow the uni-taskers that you will love and will make your life better. If you have to store your pasta machine in a box behind the sofa, but every time you pull it out and make pasta you grin like a maniac ... go for it! Even if you use the pasta maker and ice cream maker regularly, it's unlikely you'll be using them every day, so they don't necessarily need to be right at hand in the kitchen.

I personally have a blender, pasta maker (the standard Atlas/Imperia style), and an ice cream maker (a small, 1 pint Donvier), but no stand mixer. Instead I have a set of nested mixing bowls and a couple large wooden spoons. This is more than enough to allow me to regularly bake bread, muffins, pizza dough, etc. For me, the effort to make pasta or ice cream without the associated "appliance" is so much that I'd never do it without them, but I don't feel that way about a stand mixer and bread.

I have had a Kitchen Aid offered to me as a present, but I discovered when I thought about it carefully that I *really* didn't want one. They're big and heavy and have annoying bits to wash. But that isn't even the main part for me ... it's that I'm perfectly happy without one. I can make everything I want and I'm just fine with how long and how much effort it takes me. I *like* kneading dough with my hands, being truly involved in the process. Convenience doesn't necessarily translate into more happiness... for me, it does with ice cream and pasta (since it's still a hand-cranked process), but for bread, it would actually add annoyance for me to pull out a stand mixer. And that's my goal in the kitchen. Happy me, and yummy food.

Don't bother getting the Kitchenaid. I wanted one for years and finally got it (in lucious lime green) when i won a gift certificate on amazon. But I almost never use it! My handmixer is just so much easier to use and I like have the mixing bowl sit in my sink while I mix something--clean-up is a breeze that way. The Kitchenaid does look fabulous, but OMG is it heavy if you ever want to move it.

You know, I got a VitaMix, and it's not that thrilling. Honestly, it's not. I got tired of cleaning out the giant pitcher when I just made myself a protein shake. And later on I bought myself a "personal" blender (in my case, a TriBest) and I use that all the time - to grind flour out of oats (it came with a "milling blade"), to make shakes and smoothies, etc. There are cheaper ones, but you can order replacement parts for the TriBest.

I have a KitchenAid and I do like it, but you only really need that kind of horsepower for some applications, like making meringues or marshmallows, bread dough as people said, etc. For a batter or whipping cream it's kind of overkill. So it depends on what you really like to cook.

Do the KitchenAid mixers have a paddle with blades to be used like a food processor? I have burned my food processor out grinding nuts & seeds (using the coffee grinder is a huge pain because it's so small). If the KA mixer could double as a food processor, we'd have a deal, but otherwise, no thanks. I also make no-knead bread.