Small-Kitchen

An island or a peninsula is a work surface first. Any Christmas decor on it has to move when you start chopping, rolling cookies or setting out food. So my one rule for the island: everything lives in or next to a single container you can lift with one hand. The base: one long, low vessel A wooden dough bowl (on Amazon) is about 18 inches long and low, which is the right shape for an island. It doesn’t block the view across the counter, and it holds a surprising amount: pinecones, a few ornaments, clementines, a string of fairy lights. Put it to one side of the island, not dead center, so the middle stays free. ...

The window over the sink is the one spot in a small kitchen you look at every single day. It’s also the one place where decorations have to stay out of the way of water, steam and a dish rack. Here’s how I’d dress it. What’s in this post A wreath that doesn’t need a nail Candles that turn on by themselves Greenery across the top What to leave off the sill A wreath that doesn’t need a nail A small wreath centered in the glass is the classic look, and it’s the easiest to do in a rental. A suction wreath hanger (on Amazon) holds it from the inside of the window. Wipe the glass with rubbing alcohol first so the cup grips. ...

When the dining table only seats four and there are nine of you, a sit-down Thanksgiving with every dish passed around isn’t going to work. A buffet does. Everyone fills a plate, finds a seat wherever there’s one (sofa, floor cushion, the arm of a chair), and the table is free for the food. The tricky part in a small apartment isn’t the food, it’s the traffic. Here’s how to set it up so people aren’t queuing through the kitchen while you’re trying to carve. ...

Fall is when people start cooking more again, so the kitchen needs its counters. The trick is to put fall everywhere except where you chop: towels, the table, the tops of shelves and the windowsill. Towels The quickest change in any kitchen. Swap the dish towels and the hand towel by the sink for fall ones (on Amazon), or just plain rust, mustard or olive. You see them every time you wash a dish. Get a couple of extras; you’ll be using more. ...

A lot of Christmas happens in the kitchen: baking, cocoa, a table covered in cookie icing. But it’s also where you need every inch of counter. So everything here goes somewhere you don’t cook: the table, a wall, a shelf, the fridge door. On the table and above the stove A runner. A 72-inch runner (on Amazon) down the kitchen table or island is the quickest change you can make. Get washable cotton or linen, because December tables get gravy and glue on them. Lay it over your everyday runner rather than replacing it. ...