When we first moved to LA, the best place that we could find within our price range had a very small kitchen. The counter space we had was just large enough to fit a drying rack – nothing else! As someone who likes to meal prep to both stay healthy and save money, this posed a real challenge. In the end, my boyfriend and I were able to make the kitchen more functional by adding some items from IKEA.

Small Table.

To add counter space for prep-work, we needed to added a table. We started out with just a small IKEA “play” table that was $20, and then ended up graduating to a sturdier tables that included some shelves.

Metal Shelving Unit.

When we first did our kitchen, we were too nervous to hammer any nails into the wall, so we bought a large metal utility shelving unit to hold all our items. To add additional storage, we purchased hooks so we could hang pots and kitchen spoons off the side:

Floating Shelves.

Eventually, we became confident enough to start hanging things from the wall so added in some shelves above our new prep-table. The hooks were repurposed and hung on a separate rod:

Metal Knife Strip.

Another fun IKEA item we bought was a metal knife strip. This replaced the knife box we had just sitting on the floor. We hung our vertically, but you can also hang it horizontally.

Although small, these items helped make our kitchen work for us.