DW across from the sink will drive you nuts. You're going to be dripping dirty water, clean water, soapy water, gooky water on your floor. I hear ya on the big sink. Mine is 36 inches and I wouldn't want to live without it, but I would if I couldn't have my dishwasher next to it. There has to be another way. Can't you move the fridge to an opposite wall? I had a galley kitchen in my old house and left wall was counter, stove, counter, fridge. Opposite wall was sink and dishwasher.

If you post a diagram of your layout, I'm sure the layout gurus here will have some goid ideas for you. My first thought would be to go with a smaller refrigerator. We put a 24 x 24 LG in our first house and it was great for us.

It looks like you will be shopping for an 18 inch sink. I think under mount would draw attention away from it's tiny size. I don't care for the smallish farmhouse sinks. They just bring attention to the smallness.

Or what about an 18 inch dishwasher? What does your kitchen designer suggest?

18" dishwasher!

How many people live in your home? If it is three or less, consider a 30" fridge. And if it is two or less, DEFINITELY get a 30" or less fridge. 36" is the standard with a family of four in mind.

If this a 1-3 person home, an 18" dishwasher is also worth consideration.

I would compromise on appliance size ANY day to keep a functional layout and a larger sink.

Diagram from meah's previous post

With the breakfast nook off to one side

I would also see if I could move the fridge or go with smaller appliances. Unless the dishwasher would be directly behind the sink to have less transfer distance. Good luck.

I think you need to forget the 15" wine fridge (that's the tradeoff for buying an oversized fridge for your kitchen) or put it in your living or dining room (would recommend, if you have a dining room room, doing this and doing like a bar setup in your dining room).

Here's my suggestion which gets you a 30" sink, some tiny amounts of storage, and a 24" DW along with your current fridge and range. Disadvantage is the "hot water" test, where you have to cross an aisle to drain a big pot from the range. But I don't see any way to get around it with the amount of walkways you have.

You could have a very functional U if it were possible to close the entrance to the left of your kitchen. I'm guessing that's completely impossible but just thought I'd throw it out there.

Or here's another idea putting the fridge on the sink wall. I'm assuming the sink got so cramped because you're trying to make the fridge clear the chimney stack. What if, instead, you just plopped it in front of the stack and pulled the whole run out instead? This would give you a lot more clearance room.

I'm assuming the fridge door handle will open into the doorway to the left of your kitchen, that's why I've placed the fridge only 2" from the wall.

I would make compromises on appliances in 2 seconds flat before I would go with such a small sink...even a few water drips while loading the dishwasher would be much easier to deal with than a tiny sink. If you could go with smaller appliances or ditch a wine fridge I think either of those would be acceptable compromises to me. I just know that my sink is the hardest working area in the kitchen and having it functional will save aggravation every single day in the kitchen.

My DW is on an adjacent leg fro the sink in my U kitchen. If I had crammed the DW next to the sink, I would have lost on on some of the most useful storage in the whole kitchen, and the open DW would have made it impossible to reach most of the upper cabinets where dishes would be stored.

Having the DW on the adjacent leg is not a problem at all for us. We do not pre-wash dishes; some do get rinsed before going on the DW, but I've never noticed (or been bothered by) an occasional drop of water on the floor. Our floor tiles are waterproof.

I have a 30" sink base, with a 60/40 double sink, and I love it. I would not want to go much smaller. If I had only the larger bowl (which might fit in an 18" base), I would find it to be much too small.

Good luck!

I lived with a galley kitchen almost the same size as this for almost 30 years, with doorways to the left (DR), and top (Entry), and the eating nook to the right. The kitchen part had 111" of wall space on each side, and was 8' across. I had a 33" double sink on one side, and would strongly recommend having no other major appliance on the sink side other than the DW, so that you have counter space for prepping and putting dishes.

Our 30" wide full depth fridge was against the side wall (when we remodeled it became a 36"), and the range was off center (with a larger cabinet between the fridge & range) when we bought the place, and centered when we remodeled the kitchen. I would definitely want the DW and sink on the same side.

I like robotropolis' first plan--she has used the space well. However, I think for stability/installation purposes and to look right you might need a 24-27" sink and 3"-6" wide cabinet (or whatever the minimum is that would work) to the right of the DW. I would not want a pantry reducing the amount of counter space as she shows it in the second plan.

Anne

Thank you so much for all the advice! Part of the issue was that I was trying to center the sink under the window (which is what my KD recommended), but that may not be the best use of space. We are a family of 5, so we discussed a 30" fridge but ultimately went with 36" because we couldn't see how to make a smaller one work for us. (It's 24" D, though, so that helps.) Same thing for an 18" DW - we currently have a 24" DW and run it daily, so I don't think a smaller one will work, at least not until my kids are done with bottles and sippy cups. I love my small kitchen...but it's tricky for sure!

I think you're all right about the wine fridge- I was hopeful we could find some space to cram it in, but I would 100% choose the larger sink instead.

robotropolis - thanks for the layout pictures! How are you able to come up with these great ideas so quickly when I've been thinking about it non-stop for the past month?!!! We already have to cross the aisle to drain a pot of hot pasta water, and because it's such a small kitchen, it's never bothered me. And unfortunately, you're right, we can't close off the entrance to the left, since it enters into the dining room (otherwise you'd have to go through a bedroom and down the hall to enter the kitchen).

Anne- thanks for the ideas. It sounds like your kitchen was very similar to ours, and it sounds like you made it work. (That gives me hope!)

What do you guys think about having the fridge on the interior wall at the right-most end? i.e. robotropolis option 1 but range and fridge reversed? Would it close in the space too much? I ask because if we go with Option 1 (which I like) the fridge will overlap the molding of the door shown to the left, which may not be a big deal but may look weird? I'm not sure, if you can't tell!

Do NOT worry about centering the sink under the window. That's the least of your concerns in this size of kitchen.

As long as the sink is by-and-large mostly under the window, you'll be totally fine. Plus if your window has a center whatever ... mullion? stile? it won't be lined up right in your line of sight.

You can put a dishwasher at the end of a run - you just need an end panel there to support the countertop. Little blocks at the top and bottom of the panel and you're done.

I showed your fridge 36" deep. So if your fridge is only counter depth (28" or so), I don't think it should overlap the moulding of your doorway at all? Personally I would prefer my fridge in the left hand corner so it felt more open when I was at the stove.

Thanks for your kind words -- I like thinking about small kitchens. I think they're more interesting to work with. And I thought about my own medium sized kitchen for about three solid years!

This post was edited by robotropolis on Wed, Feb 4, 15 at 11:00

More realistic fridge depth. I gave you a 3" filler between fridge and wall so hopefully the fridge door will clear the doorway trim. And I discovered I shorted you on the stove run wall length, so I gave you another couple of inches on either side of the stove. Finally, I added some fillers on your window wall - you need a few inches between perpendicular wall cabinets for the doors to open. I picture that the hutch could be a blind corner cabinet, or you could just close off the space completely between the hutch and the glassfront cab.

Hope this helps and gives you something to think about anyway!

This post was edited by robotropolis on Wed, Feb 4, 15 at 11:37

Look at IKEA's sinks with integral drainboards. The drainboard can extend over the dishwasher.

We LOVE ours.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/search/?query=BOHOLMEN

Is that an interior or exterior door to the left? If it's an exterior door, can it be moved to the wall between kitchen and nook so that you can do a U lay-out?

If it's an interior door, never mind. = )

robotropolis' latest plan is good but I would vote for ditching the corner Susan in favor of a drawer base. You'd gain 54" (less 3" filler at end) of drawer storage in all, which IMO is much more usable storage than that from a corner cabinet.

Thanks everyone! I'm going to meet with the KD again on Friday and show him these great ideas. I know it's a small kitchen, but I think I set unrealistic expectations in what I could fit in there!

I'd consider the range on the sink counter and make that counter deeper, have a 12 or 15 cab b/w the wall and the range, then DW and then the biggest sink cab you can fit in the remaining space (if you have 107 on that wall, I think something close to 36 is possible). I'd get a big undercounter single bowl sink. With a positive reveal you can use cutting boards over the sink and create extra counter on either side of the sink or use one of the these
for handwashed things.

With a big sink and a continous counter on the fridge side, 2 can prep at the same time or you can use that counter for anything you take out of the oven to cool, for serving plates, etc.

{{gwi:2139787}}

{{gwi:2139788}}

{{gwi:2139789}}

You can consider a drop-leaf counter next to the sink.

Toekick drawers may also be useful.

We prolly have all set unrealistic expectations initially of what would fit in our kitchens. I know I did! I believe in the 'ask for everything and then pare down when reality sets in' approach. ;)

I agree with robotropolis about not worrying about centering the sink on the window. We ended up aligning the right edge of the sink with the right edge of the window. This allowed a 25" stack of drawers/counter between the sink and the fridge instead of a practically unusable 12" or so. And it's really nice not to have the center stile of our slider window directly in my line of sight.

Here's a pic of the sink/window relationship during construction. You can see the counter/drawers between the sink and fridge would have been tiny if we had centered the window. Sometimes it's the right decision.

robotropolis - I really like the last plan you posted, but I think that I might like to have the counter to the left of the sink all the same depth. Just feels like that 24" jutting out might be a hip banger.
sena01 - toe kick drawers a great idea!

Where does the door I circled in green below go? Can it be either closed up or moved to another room? Because that would allow for a VASTLY roomier kitchen.

{{gwi:2139790}}

Another option if you can widen the doorway to the dining room:

{{gwi:2139791}}

Jillius, the pantry wall in your last post has me drooling! I actually have a "wall of tall", but not that wide. Half of mine is 20" deep, which is so nice for roasting pans and extra large mixing bowls on upper shelves, cases of beer and pop on lower shelves, and my command center (including two file drawers) in the middle. The other half is 12" deep, and I wish it was even an inch or two deeper (custom cabinets, so I could have done anything).

@dmeah, I also have a tiny galley kitchen and I highly recommend getting the biggest sink possible. You can always have a cutting board over it to use as extra counterspace. The dishwasher across the aisle will drive you nuts. My sink is a 30" single bowl in a 33" cabinet and I've never regretted it (my kitchen is only 7.5x12+breakfast room.)

I think @robo has suggested a great prospective layout, given the constraints you laid out. I wanted to pass along a link to a really lovely galley reveal here a while back that reminds me very much of robo's layout.

Here is a link that might be useful: GWer @erhm's white & gray galley kitchen

Thanks for all the wonderful help and support! I naively thought that a small kitchen would be easy because there isn't much space to work with...but now I see how wrong I was!

sena01: Thanks for the additional layout options. I especially love the toekick drawers! Gonna add them for sure if we can!

dcward: Thanks for the pic! It helps to see a "real-life" version of a non-centered window sink, and it does make great sense not to have the winder center stile in your line of sight. And what type of wood are your cabinets? They're absolutely gorgeous!

Jillius, that door is an exterior door (and the only other one in the house besides the front door), so we can't close it off. But I would absolutely love all that space for the kitchen! As it is now, we don't use the nook at all, but we're hoping that will change if we add built-in dining benches with a custom table in between.

And smalloldhouse, love your user name! It's very fitting for my situation as well! It's so helpful to have insight from someone else with a tiny galley kitchen!

Could you put an exterior door in the dining room instead? Can you post a floor plan of this whole floor? I would bet there are options other than this particular, kitchen-limiting location for the back door. A dining room hypothetically would be a great choice because a dining room table is in the middle of the room, leaving the walls free. This is as opposed to a kitchen, where your cabinets go all around the perimeter, making doors a real hindrance when it comes to layout.

The front door actually enters into the dining room, so putting the 2nd door there wouldn't be much help. The living room and 2 bedrooms are adjacent to the dining room, stairwell, and bathroom, and the property line is only a couple feet from that side of the house, so we can't move the door to that side.

I really do like my small house, and it has lots of windows to allow for natural light, but it definitely poses its challenges. Just one reason I'm so thankful to have all the GW advice!

Well then:

{{gwi:2144759}}

I know drawers are nicer than susans -- however, the reason I put a super susan in the corner instead of a straight drawer run is so that meah could have a ceiling-to-counter appliance hutch/pantry on the left hand wall without interfering too much with the countertop on the top wall. Trying to shoehorn in storage wherever possible while leaving a bit of prep space.

Functionally it would look a little like this, but without the peninsula of course.

{{gwi:2144760}}

Thank you dmeah...our cabinets are cherry, clear finish, no stain...Barker Cabinets...LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them!!

Like Jillius, I also wondered about moving the door farther along that wall, either to the end, as she has drawn, or to the farthest right window along the top wall, like this:

{{gwi:2144761}}

This allows you to keep a small eat-in area, sufficient for 2 people for snacking, coffee, visiting, etc. It's not large enough to seat your family. That means you use the DR for all meals but that's not a bad thing. ;-)

To gain more storage, put shelves in front of the windows, like this:

[Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Seattle Architects & Building Designers Bosworth Hoedemaker

{{gwi:2144762}}

[Beach Style Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/beach-style-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2110) by Los Angeles Architects & Building Designers Evens Architects

{{gwi:2144763}}

[Craftsman Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/craftsman-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2116) by Seattle Architects & Building Designers Bosworth Hoedemaker

Which route you go will depend on whether you want to keep your 2nd door on the same side of your house as it is now or move it around the corner and whether you want to keep a small eat-in area in your kitchen or give that up in order to gain a much larger kitchen.

Fwiw, @lisa_a helped me figure out my kitchen plan! I have a slightly larger L-shaped banquette+round table set up in our breakfast room (which is about 12x12 total but also contains our front door and stairs to the 2nd floor.) It's a great spot for quick meals, homework and surfing GW from my laptop!

I also wanted to second all the suggestions not to worry about centering the sink under the window. I didn't really have a dedicated KD but the cabinet shop pro was horrified when I insisted on offsetting our sink. I don't regret it for a second. In fact I probably would have been better off situating the sink even further from the window to maximize the space between my range and sink. (I kind of split the difference to get the uppers right.)

Fwiw, our small galley works really well for our family of 4. It's worth it to think through all the options, including moving doorways or other things that seem complicated. I came here intending just to replicate my existing layout. It took awhile, but I eventually wound up moving gas and water across a slab, recessing the fridge into a utility room, and opening up a load-bearing wall. It's not technically a ton bigger than it was originally, but it feels like night and day in terms of daily life.

Thanks so much for all of the help and inspiration! It's funny, because, like many others, this project has snowballed from a simple fix to a complete gut/remodel. It all started with a poorly installed sink that has constantly needed bandaid repairs, and then the oven broke, and then...why not just address the terrible layout if we have to spend money to fix these things anyway. I'm inspired by GW to know it will all be worth it in the end!

"...this project has snowballed from a simple fix to a complete gut/remodel."

dmeah, this is why it has taken 7 yrs for me to finally remodel my kitchen (starting later this month, yahoo!). My initial plan was to reface my cabs, install wood floor, stone counters and a new backsplash. You know, the window dressing part of kitchen design.

After getting quotes for those updates and doing a deeper assessment of my kitchen's function, I came to the same conclusion you did: "why not just address the terrible layout if we have to spend money to fix these things anyway."

It hasn't been easy to wait - I've had a dead oven for 1 1/2 yrs now, making do with a toaster oven - but it will be so worth it in the end.

Lisa_a, congrats on being able to start your remodel this month! I bet you'll enjoy your finished kitchen so much more since you've been waiting 7 years and living without an oven for so long!

This is such a great forum for advice, commiserating, ideas, etc. How did I not know about it sooner?!!!

I know this is a bit late to the opera and it's good that you got to wiggle around a bit until things worked out, but in retrospect, in reference to your OP, there's one point that stuck out, and it happens to lots of people trying to get their layout to jell. It's very common for someone to think they have to put a sink entirely within the vertical side walls of one cabinet. There's almost never a need to knuckle under to that sort of restriction, especially with sinks that have a taper and with adjacent drawers that of course don't go all the way up to the underside of the counter. Individual cabinets waste a LOT of space when screwed together.