Living in a tiny house presents storage issues – especially when it comes to the stinky kitchen trash can. This is one of many challenges that come with drastically downsizing your home. One of the places you’ll feel the pinch the most is in your kitchen. You’ll need to figure out a new way of storing your kitchen recycling and trash cans, which are often overlooked in tiny home designs.
Try one of these four ideas for your tiny house kitchen trash can.
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1) Pull-out Cans
You can take advantage of the limited space by hiding your recycling and trash cans away in a drawer. You can pick any cabinet you want in your kitchen to hide your trash can in.
If you aren’t ready to give up one of your kitchen cabinets, you could create a separate cabinet for your trash can. Take an older piece of furniture and DIY so that it hides your trash can. Though custom built-ins are preferable in a tiny house on wheels due to the limiting dimensions.
2) Go Smaller
If you have a micro kitchen with a serious limit on space, then it’s time to consider changing the size of your trash can. Going smaller can mean you’ll need to empty it more often. However, it will take up less space. You can stick it in a cabinet or hang it on the back of the cabinet door.
3) Use the Dead Corner
No matter how large or small your kitchen is, there is one place that tends to get neglected. The corners become a dead space that you forget about. It’s a weird spot that isn’t convenient for storing items.
So why not turn this waste of space into your trash can’s home? You can create a corner cabinet and install a rack that will automatically bring out the trash can when you open the cabinet door.
4) Make It Mobile
When you’re limited on space, it can feel cramped quick when you can’t easily move the items in your way, somewhere else. You can fix this by getting a trash can that has wheels. Hide your trash can away in a place where you have room for it. Then wheel it out and bring it to where you’re working, like cleaning the composting toilet.
Another solution is to do the opposite of what we just described. You can put the trash can in a place that works well for multifunctional storage, like in front of your onboard water tank that you only need to infrequently access. Move the can(s) out of the way when you need to access that area of the kitchen. When you’re done, wheel the trash can back into place.
Get Creative with Your Tiny House Kitchen Trash Cans
When it comes to your tiny house kitchen trash and recycling cans, you can’t do without them. So try one of these four ideas to get creative with space-saving placement.
cover image: the San Juan by Rocky Mountain Tiny Houses
by Alexis Stephens, Tiny House Blog contributor
