Having space in the kitchen to comfortably have breakfast, lunch and dinner is a great advantage and which can be achieved even if your kitchen is not too large. Irrespective of the shape of the room, all you need is 10 square metres to create a small office area, which can be used how you wish.

If the kitchen is long
A common arrangement, especially in small flats, is for the cupboards to occupy one side of the kitchen and for the other to be free. If your furniture takes up the entire length of one wall the solution is to use the opposite side to install a table area as if it were a bar, complete with high stools.

If the kitchen is not wide enough to have a permanent long bar top, it is best to use a foldable table, which take up just 20 centimetres.

If, on the other hand, the cupboards do not take up the entire length of wall, you can create a pleasant office/dining area at one end, perhaps next to a window or clothes line, using a round table some 70 centimetres in diameter and some fold up chairs.

A picture on the wall, a clock or small cupboard with a few decorative elements can frame the area and visually distinguish it from the rest.

In square kitchens
It is easier to create a small office in the latter case that in the previous example. To do this it is best to place the cupboards along two of the walls in an L shape, which will free up space to permanently place a table and four chairs.

A daring and fashionable decorative effect is to remove the tiling from these two walls, leaving just the tiles above the sink and cooking areas. You can then paint the area with paint of a subtle colour to contrast with the cupboards. If they are made of wood or come in brown colours, use a vanilla, peach or egg white colour; if they are white or very light, be daring and use an olive green, sea blue or stone grey colour.

It is also very important that this area have its own lighting, via a halogen light or a lamp emitting a subtle, warm light.