La cocina es pequeña, pero la encimera tiene espacio para la cafetera y el hervidor.

Because Spanish nouns have grammatical gender.

• la cocina → feminine
• la encimera → feminine
• la cafetera → feminine
• el hervidor → masculine

The article has to match the noun’s gender and number.

A useful reminder: the gender is grammatical, not logical. For example, la cafetera is feminine because the noun is feminine, not because the object is in any way “female.”

Spanish usually uses ser for a general or inherent characteristic, and estar for a temporary state or condition.

Here, pequeña describes the kitchen as being small in general, so es is the natural choice:

• La cocina es pequeña. = The kitchen is small.

Using está pequeña would sound odd in most contexts, because size is normally treated as a characteristic, not a temporary state.

Because adjectives usually agree with the noun they describe in gender and number.

• la cocina is feminine singular
• so the adjective must also be feminine singular: pequeña

Compare:

• El piso es pequeño.
• La cocina es pequeña.
• Las cocinas son pequeñas.

This agreement is one of the most important patterns in Spanish.

In Spain, encimera commonly means the kitchen counter / countertop / worktop.

So in this sentence, it refers to the surface where you put things like a coffee machine or kettle.

This is a good regional word to know because vocabulary for household items can vary across the Spanish-speaking world. In Spain, encimera is very common for countertop.

Both patterns are possible, but they focus on things slightly differently.

• La encimera tiene espacio...
  The countertop is the subject. It’s presented as “having” room.

• Hay espacio en la encimera...
  This simply states that there is space on the countertop.

The original sentence is very natural and sounds a bit like English the counter has space for...

Because para here means for in the sense of intended for / suitable for.

• espacio para X = space for X
• sitio para X = room for X

So:

• tiene espacio para la cafetera = it has space for the coffee maker

This is a very common structure in Spanish.

Spanish often uses articles more regularly than English, especially when talking about familiar, concrete objects in a situation.

Here, la cafetera and el hervidor sound natural because they refer to the kinds of appliances you would place there, almost as known household items.

English and Spanish do not always match exactly in article usage, so it’s better not to translate word-for-word.

Not always. Cafetera can mean different kinds of coffee-making equipment depending on context:

• a coffee machine
• a coffee maker
• sometimes a coffee pot / moka pot

In this sentence, since it is talking about countertop space in a kitchen, many learners will understand it as coffee maker / coffee machine, which fits very well.

No, they are not the same.

• hervidor = kettle, especially something used to boil water
• tetera = teapot

In Spain, hervidor or hervidor de agua is the normal word for a kettle, especially an electric kettle. So this is a useful Spain-specific household word.

Because pero introduces a contrast:

• La cocina es pequeña, pero...
• The kitchen is small, but...

In Spanish, it is normal to place a comma before pero when it joins two clauses like this. It works much like English punctuation in ..., but ...

Yes, absolutely. That is also correct and natural.

The difference is mainly stylistic:

• la encimera tiene espacio focuses on the countertop
• hay espacio en la encimera focuses on the existence of space

Both express the same basic idea.

In Spain Spanish, cocina is pronounced approximately ko-THEE-na in much of Spain, because c before i is often pronounced like the th in thin.

So:

• co → ko
• ci → thee
• na → na

This pronunciation is one of the characteristic features of many varieties of Spain Spanish.

It has two main parts joined by pero:

1. La cocina es pequeña

   • subject: La cocina
   • verb: es
   • adjective: pequeña

2. la encimera tiene espacio para la cafetera y el hervidor

   • subject: la encimera
   • verb: tiene
   • object/complement: espacio para la cafetera y el hervidor

So the overall structure is:

[statement] + pero + [contrasting statement]

This is a very common and useful pattern in Spanish.