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How to make a shared kitchen feel like your own

Sharing a kitchen as a student isn’t always easy. But with a few clever hacks and handy items, you can keep track of your stuff and create extra space. That way, the shared kitchen starts to feel a bit more like your own—even if your housemates keep sneaking your peanut butter.

A clear glass VARDAGEN jar with lid in the kitchen
A clear glass VARDAGEN jar with lid in the kitchen

Room for everyone

A trolley like this not only gives you portable storage, it also gives you an extra worktop when and where you need it. And when there are a lot of cooks in the kitchen, you need all the workspace you can get.

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Green onions and a knife on a chopping board on a BEKVÄM birch kitchen trolley placed perpendicular to an EKBACKEN worktop.
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Keep the lines of communication open

One of the keys to successful sharing is good communication. A blackboard in the kitchen will let you and your roommates stay in touch around the clock. Who’s where, who’s turn is it to cook, shop or take out the rubbish? With a blackboard, you’ll never have to wonder again.

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A wall section with a black SVENSÅS memo board with writing and notes. Below it hang accessories on a wall-mounted rail.
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Yours, mine, ours

Most kitchens have multiple drawers and cupboards, which can make keeping track of your things a bit tricky. Labels like these help everyone create and maintain their own personal space. They’re clear enough to get the message through, but subtle enough not to ruin the look of your kitchen.

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A section of an EKBACKEN ash-effect laminate worktop and a combination of white METOD base cabinets beneath.
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Everyone gets a trolley

Individual trolleys create your own personal, portable storage and workstation. Just pull it out when you need it, put it back when you don’t. Choosing different colours will make sure you and your roommates don’t get your trolleys mixed up.

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White METOD base cabinets with MAXIMERA interiors, an EKBACKEN worktop and two NISSAFORS trolleys, one black one white below.
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Pick your personal pattern

Assigning a pattern or colour to each person means everyone will know whose tea towel is whose. It’s both more convenient and more hygienic. Self-assured roommates are happy roommates.

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Four patterned, white-and-dark-grey RINNIG tea towels hang side-by-side on individual knobs by the end of a kitchen worktop.
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