The kitchen tends to be one of the most important rooms in any home, but what happens when you don’t have enough space for a proper kitchen? These small-space designs are perfect for providing a functional kitchen even in homes that seem to have no room for one.

An elegant condo with a beautiful view seems to be no place for a traditional kitchen…but a home without a kitchen is like a person without a heart. This concealed wall system from Yestertec is an intelligent compromise between a traditional full kitchen an a teeny-tiny efficiency kitchen. When it’s closed up, it simply looks like any other wall. But when you move the panels aside, you find cabinet space, appliances, and a sink. The stealth kitchen system allows the condo to keep its minimalist identity while still allowing the residents to cook and eat at home.

This free-standing self-contained kitchen is from Italian manufacturer Dada. The kitchen looks rather like an armoire, featuring doors that simply shut the entire kitchen in when one is done with the cooking and cleaning up. This type of self-contained kitchen is not uncommon in European homes – renters often bring their own cabinets and kitchen appliances when they move into a new home. It makes sense, then, to group all of the kitchen objects together into one self-contained piece of furniture that can be used as a room divider or put up against a wall depending on the specific home it is being installed in.

In addition to the built-in system seen above, Yestertec makes free-standing kitchens as well. This armoire kitchen incorporates nearly everything you would find in a full-size kitchen, but in a tiny space. There is a cupboard-size refrigerator/freezer on the right side and a small drawer dishwasher on the left side. A stainless steel sink, two-burner cooking surface and microwave complete the minuscule kitchen unit. Although this type of kitchen would be a nightmare for a large family or anyone who can’t live without cooking gourmet meals, it is perfect for the occasional cook or the single person who can’t imagine living in an apartment without a kitchen.