Is this a NYC apartment?

It's measured countertop or whatever sticks out the furthest to countertop or whatever sticks out furthest. So if your oven handle sticks out further than your countertop, you'd measure from that to the opposite countertop.

Would bar stool height be 42"? Subtract the thickness of your counter material, e.g. 3cm granite, 2cm granite plus plywood base, wood boards, etc.

BTW, 42" counter height needs a minimum of 12" overhang: NKBA guidelines--#9

Thanks

what should the space be between counters?

36" absolute minimum and 42" much better, and if you/family are larger than average you might want to have more. We have 42 and when there is more than one person it feels tight. Depends upon how snuggly you like to work. And as above, if NYC I have no idea how tight they go, space is obvious constraint.

If you are going to have a fridge, depending on the size and type of fridge you may need more than 36". Why don't you post your layout?

What they are saying is spot on. Just also remember that every inch more you can get is golden. It is really hard to have too much, but VERY easy to have too little. One you can live with, the other not as well.

In the end, you deal the cards that are dealt you, but if you have more space than you had before, you are on the right track.

Is your galley a major traffic route? I have a wide galley, 5' that narrows to 4' at one end. But it is the main path from the back door to the living areas of the house, so it feels like it's still not wide enough. For a single person cooking however, ideally you don't want 5' across between sink and range, because that's a little far to pivot and cook and prep. 36" will be miserable if there's any traffic.

We've had 39", which was fine but not ideal, and we have 48" now, which is much much better, unless there will always be only one person in the kitchen at a time.

Our kitchen is very narrow (12' x 5'6") and we are currently renovating. There is not enough room to have appliances opposite each other, so we have an L shape with the refrigerator at right angles to everything else. One thing I'm doing to make it feel wider is to get a two-oven range. I don't really need both ovens, but the oven doors are shorter than with a single oven, and take up less space when opened. Also, I'm hoping that the pegboard going on the non-appliance wall will help make up for limited cabinets and drawers.

Sometimes when the kitchen is very narrow, such as yours jupidupi, your space is much more efficient if you just run everything on one wall only, as corners are expensive and horribly inefficient. You can be clever with the long wall opposite everything, and use it for hanging things, and have a shelf just above head height for things you don't use much. You can do something similar on the short wall, too, if necessary.

42'' corridor is much better then 36", unless there will always be only one person in the kitchen at a time.