In small living areas, every inch counts, and a well-planned tiny home kitchen can enhance both convenience and efficiency. Multi-functional components, such as foldable countertops, pull-out storage, and floating shelves, help maintain a clutter-free environment while offering flexibility for meal prep and dining. Floating shelves are particularly useful, providing accessible storage without the bulk and additional cost of traditional cabinets, saving on average $2800 by replacing just your upper cabinetry with shelves. They keep your space open and airy, but offer versatile use for storing everything from dishes, ceramic pots, mix bowls and plants.
Floating shelves in the kitchen are commonplace nowadays, but making a decision to add them to the kitchen isn’t always straightforward. The main questions are always “what size”, “what location”, “what purpose”, and “what finish”.
Well, we’re here to help navigate these questions…
Find Inspiration for Your Tiny Home Kitchen
You’ve probably already spent time doing this, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this, but taking the time to look for styles that you like is a good place to begin. We have a gallery just for this purpose, and it’s updated often, as customers submit their review photos.
Choosing a finish is a big decision. While light shelves are the most common, dark shelves are a beautiful option. You may be looking for shelves that are made with a specific wood, like oak, walnut, or maple. Thickness is also a consideration. The average floating shelf is about 2 1/2” thick (height), but maybe you’re looking for a thinner, more modern profile. Once you’ve chosen the style and finish you’ll be able to narrow down where you’ll be able to make your purchase.
Designate Your Purpose
Knowing what your shelves are going to “do” for your kitchen is important. Some choose shelves to be merely decorative, where items will not move often. Others purchase shelves to hold the everyday dishes; items will move on and off the shelves daily. Considering your cabinetry and flow of your kitchen will help you in this decision.
A Few Practical Considerations:
- If you want your shelves to be functional and not decorative, can you easily reach the items?
- Do you want your children to be able to reach items?
- Are you okay with your shelves not looking perfectly styled when your dishes are being washed?
- How much vertical and horizontal space is available? How many shelves can you place to optimize storage without over crowing?
Choose a Location
Now that you’ve answered a few questions, it should be easier to choose a location. You may not even have many options for location, but if you did, now you should know for certain where you’d want to hang your shelves. For functional shelving in your tiny home kitchen, placement will likely be closer to the sink/stove areas. Decorative shelving might be above a bar areas, or in small nooks near a window.
Measure
Now it’s time to take measurements. We build shelving as small as 18” in length or as long as 60”. The depth can be as narrow as 6” deep or up to 10” deep (which we recommend for dinner plates). The average length is between 36” and 54” for functional kitchen shelves. For decorative shelving, smaller lengths are often purchased.
Installation
You Will Need: stud finder, pencil, level, power drill, screws provided, you may also need drywall anchors if studs aren’t available in two locations and a tile bit if you are installing over tile (consult with your contractor)
1. Chose a space on your wall that has two studs available (or more if you are installing a shelf that is 60” in length). Use a stud finder.
2. Mark and Pre-Drill the wooden bracket to match the stud spacing (a custom bracket is located inside of each shelf).
3. Attach the bracket to the wall (into the studs) using the long screws provided – the bracket must be level and should have very little wiggle.
4. Slide the shelf over the bracket (the pre-drilled holes on the shelf = the top surface).
5. Secure the shelf to the bracket with the short black screws provided.
Check out Hurd and Honey for additional customization options!
