This small kitchen essential is the secret to increasing your worktop space — plus, it's under £35

When you have a small kitchen, finding innovative gadgets to make cooking simple can feel like a bit of a double edged sword. On one hand, you want to invest in something that will make life easier, but with limited cupboard and surface space, where will it even go?

The solution isn't to not purchase or even to declutter - it's to find the very best products that are designed for small kitchen ideas. Our latest find? This over-sink chopping board, from Amazon that increases your worktop space without being bulky and cumbersome.

With approval from kitchen organisation pros, this is one of those must-have items if you're looking to make your small kitchen work in your favour. Whether it's for chopping food or simply for another spot to rest things, utilising your sink space for extra surface area is a hack we didn't know we needed.

Why we love the over-sink chopping board

Kitchen storage ideas come at a premium in an already small kitchen, so if like me you live in a rental with limited space, you won't want to buy kitchenware that requires a large cupboard to live in.

Instead, everything that comes into my kitchen has to have a very clear purpose and very clear home. This over-sink chopping board ticks each of those boxes. Particularly when hosting or meal prepping for the week ahead, it's easy to run out of worktop space very quickly. So, by popping this chopping board over a sink, it provides a handy spot for placing already-cut food ready for cooking, clearing room on your main worktop.

According to Hayley Harrison & Gemma Abraham, Founders of Organise-d, it's a complete game-changer for small spaces.

'Counter space is precious in small kitchens, so we love using an over-the-sink chopping board to instantly extend our clients' prep area. It’s a simple yet game-changing addition that makes small-space cooking much more efficient. Not only does it free up valuable counter space, but it also allows for easy waste disposal and is portable and easy to store. Plus, many designs come with built-in colanders and drying racks, adding even more functionality!'

Our Kitchen Appliances Editor, Molly Cleary, adds, 'I recently made the move to a 100% bamboo chopping board (this one from Deer and Oak for £14.99 from Amazon) and I love it. This board combines everything that's great about it but has lots of extra features too, which would be fab for meal prep. Maybe I need to add another chopping board to my collection...'

For my own small rented kitchen, this feels like a complete no-brainer purchase. There are similar designs out there, like this chopping board that slots over an induction hob, but none quite like this sleek over-sink style.

We can't get enough of it for really maximising space without taking up precious cupboard real estate - will you be trying it out too?