I prefer a blender - so many blenders today have a number of different settings so that it can be used similiar to a food processor. Not sure it would work the other way around!

I'd suggest getting a food processor and an immersion blender. Still two devices, but the immersion blenders are significantly smaller than a full blender. I use mine for puréeing soups right in the pot, or smoothies right in their cup! Plus, you won't have to get out the bulky food processor every time you want a quick blend. I have all three (also with a teensy kitchen... I keep many kitchen devices elsewhere) and find the food processor/immersion blender duo covers most of my tasks.

If you're not planning on doing a lot of heavy duty stuff, the Cuisinart Smart Stick can help you make smoothies and chop small amounts of stuff, and takes up very little room.

Cuisinart offers a blender & food processor duo meaning that the same base powers both the blender attachment and the food processor attachment (so your space savings means not storing a second base). Otherwise, which you choose depends on how you cook. If you make a lot of smooth soups and smoothies and margaritas, you'll want a blender. If you just need something that'll speed your chopping & slicing & shredding, and mix pie dough or bread dough quickly, a food processor is the best option.

I have a very tiny kitchen and an immersion blender with a small chopper attachment. It can't do the volume of work that a food processor can do, but it takes up a lot less space than either a food processor or a standard blender.

We only have a small Cuisinart food processor to serve both purposes, and honestly it doesn't do anything very well. I mainly use it for smoothie and hummous making and it's hit and miss. It also starts to smell of hot metal if you run it for any length of time that isn't a short burst. But I've never had a blender that could also do food processing very well.
Point is, make sure whatever you buy is worth your money. Luckily mine was an unsolicited gift.

I have the Cuisinart Duet (small food processor and blender, both attach to one base), and the blender has never really worked well for me-- not only does it not blend very well, it also produces a hot motor smell... yuck. I do like the small food processor though!! I use it much more often than my larger food processor, which has been relegated to the back of a cabinet.
For blending, I now use the Cuisinart immersion blender many other people have recommended. It has a chopping attachment, so if you don't use a food processor for more than occasionally chopping onions or garlic, you may not even need a food processor in addition to the immersion blender. Plus, it takes up so little space, and is much easier to clean than a traditional blender!

As other said, a food processor AND an immersion blender would be a good compromise.

If you really really have no space, just remember you can do with a good knife and with your hands most of what you would do with a food processor, but a blender cannot be substituted :-/

I had a tiny apartment kitchen for 3 years, and cooked A LOT -- I bought a Magic Bullet, and a 20 dollar stick blender -- the two of them took up a tiny amount of space, the magic bullet was super easy to clean, powerful, and worked like a champ for all my chopping and blending needs.

I hate blenders -- they never seem to be able to handle tough/thick items, and they are a MESS to clean up.

I have a set up like the one Catherine suggested above. I have a very tiny kitchen and had to make appliance sacrifices when I moved in. I ended up settling on an immersion blender stick and a mini cuisinart. However, I just don't use the food processor enough to justify it, but I'll blend smoothies in those protein shaker glasses all the time, make soups or stir up sauces with the immersion blender. As for the things that food processors help out with, I usually just crush or chop manually, change the recipe to "chunky" or purchase pre-chopped items such as with nuts. It just isn't worth the hassle of cleaning it and its so tiny to begin with. With the food processor, I'd suggest go big or go home. Either way, I find the immersion blender invaluable -- mine is powerful enough to even crush up frozen berries.

I second the food processor + immersion blender suggestions! This is the combination I've been using for years.

While I agree with Rucy that it depends on how/what you cook, I would like to suggest an immersion blender and a mandoline as a very compact solution that covers many of the most common uses of both a blender and a food processor.

I have a 7 cup Cuisinart food processor and I love it. And although it can be used to make smoothies and puree liquids, there is but so much liquid that can hold before it spills out of the middle where the blade attaches to the base. Frustrating!

I would have to agree with @OSCARUZZO on just using a good ol' knife for most of your chopping and get an immersion blender instead. It is easy to clean, store, and it does a fine job. Mine has served me well. However, if you really like the idea of doing a quick pesto, or hummus, or a small batch of dough, a small 4-cup processor would be a good compromise. This one works well.

Vitamix. Boom. You're welcome.

Like, DRAGNFL108 I've happily lived for years with my 7-cup cuisinart. I would suggest the basic (not pro) models, which have fewer bits to clean and many needless accessories. Mine has the basic bowl-lid-blade/grater/slicer combo. One button. One speed. Two parts to clean. You can accomplish pretty much anything in a food processor (with the possible exception of margaritas and other ice intensive drinks), and you'll learn not to make a mess. My pie crusts are excellent and I goodwilled my box graters years ago. One food processor more than makes up for many kitchen tools. The same may not be said for a blender. Unless you're a daily smoothie drinker, I'd heartily recommend a processor. http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-7-Cup-Capacity-Processor-White/dp/B00004YNX8/ref=sr_1_64?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1342108863&sr=1-64&keywords=cuisinart+processor

L'Equip makes a wonderful stick blender that also has a chopper attachment. The 550watt motor is a workhorse. http://www.distinctive-decor.com/lequip-stick-blender.html

I have a blender, full-sized food processor and a mini-food processor (3 cups, from Cuisinart). If I was very limited for space, I would keep my blender and my mini; I find I use them the most (by far) and for different tasks. You can do just about anything in the mini, from mince onions in a hurry to cut butter into pastry dough---those are things you can't do with a blender.

I will say that my blender is not cheap and it's fairly high-powered, but it's not a Vitamix or Blendtec. I guess having a really high powered blender might make a difference as to what you can use it for. That might make my mini obsolete.

On another note, though, I have had my Cuisinart mini for five years now and it gets used A LOT. I even used it to mix batches of nut butters and mayonnaise on numerous occasions and it's still working like a champ. I can see people balking at spending $40 for such a small appliance, but it's totally worth it. The quality has definitely been there for me.

I had a blender and a Cuisinart food processor and then my blender broke. My Cuisinart has 2 bowls, one big, one little, so I've been forced to make smoothies in the small food processor. It works pretty good for smoothies, but I have been concerned that the ice and frozen fruit might wear down the blades faster because that's more than what it was meant to do?

However, I tried to make margaritas in my food processor and that was a BIG DISASTER. Liquid kept leaking out of the seams. I use my fp almost daily and that's the only time that has ever happened. (I did not overfill with liquid).

Another vote for a food processor and a stick blender. My food processor has a blender jug attachment which works perfectly well, but I really do prefer the convenience of a stick blender. I would really miss the food processor, as I use it for making pastry (including Danish pastry), scones, hummus and lots of other stuff, but I also make a lot of soup in big batches and it would be a nightmare pouring that into the blender a bit at a time, not to mention the extra washing up it would create.

My first thought was food processor for sure, but it depends on what kind of cooking you do. If you find yourself making lots of sauces, slicing and grading, a food processor would be great. If you aren't much of a cook but make a lot of drinks, obviously a blender would be best. A food processor is certainly capable of a lot more tasks, especially if you use the various attachment discs. Definitely read up on all the different brands and models. I also wouldn't go for anything smaller than 7-cups. I have one that size and often find myself having to process in batches.

A lot of people have suggested an immersion blender, and I really want one, but it's yet another gadget for my kitchen and I've made do without it.

Food processor over a blender. The slicing and grating attachments make it so much more versatile than a blender. Second the suggestions of adding an immersion blender.
I recently bought a thermomix and got rid of my blender. I'm still planning on keeping the food processor because the slicing and grating feature is a labour saver when you're making big quantities.

I never had a food processor, but I found that I'm doing very well in my small kitchen with a cheap immersion blender, a mini-chopper and a hand-held mixer (the latter you won't need if you never bake). I cook and bake a lot, as in I cook 95% of all my meals, and I bake at least once a week. So there's this solution, too.

we got a vitamix earlier this year and the food processor has not seen the light of day since. it does everything my food processor used to except grate cheese (though its said to be able to do that too). soups, smoothies, ice cream, salsa, bread crumbs. freakin' amazing.

I suggest a Ninja, you can get both a blender and a food processor base for it and it doesn't take up much space. I want one for my tiny dorm kitchen because it takes up so little space and works for everything, plus they are great quality.