Having a cluttered or cramped kitchen is even more frustrating than a small living room or bedroom. It can interfere with your ability to have guests over for meals, or even prevent you from feeling like you can cook the food you want to cook. There are a few things you can do, both physical and mental, to beat back that feeling of being trapped and take the kitchen back. Let’s look at them.

The first thing you should do is look into replacing your table with a drop leaf dining table. For a kitchen table, you can’t ask for anything better, as this is an adjustable table, one that you can expand when you have people over for meals, and then break down and tuck away when they have all left, giving you some precious open floor space to work with. Don’t kid yourself, having this open space will make it much easier to deal with the kitchen, even though it’s more of a mental trick than anything else. And it gives you the extra table space too.

Take a look at the cabinets in your kitchen. Do they seem large to you? If a cabinet is much bigger than you need, what if you took it down, or replaced it with a smaller cabinet? This will give you some extra breathing space at eye level in your kitchen, another thing that will help you feel more comfortable in the room. If you have an apartment you may not be able to do this, but it’s worth considering otherwise.

Lastly, clear off your kitchen counter and keep it clear. Try this for a week or two and see how it makes you feel about your house. Even if you only have a few things on your counter, perhaps a sponge or a knife block, having that space open up will probably change your perception of how much room you have to work with. This is a useful mental trick that many people don’t think about, but it’s true – clutter has a cluttering feel.

A tiny kitchen can make your home unbearable, but just adding a round drop leaf table or clearing the counter off will help you realize that you have more space than you thought. Experiment, and get comfortable with your space until you’re ready to move.