We had a narrow small galley kitchen circa 70s and began the process of turning it to a 2010 kitchen. The process (looking for cabinets, tiles, etc.) took 4 months. The work started on May 3 but was halted after 3 weeks as the contractor was a scammer (took our money and went AWOL!). We found another wonderful contractor and on July 3 our kitchen was finished (still some very minor work to be done)!!!!!! The old kitchen had two rows: cabinets, stove and fridge on one side, and sink, dishwasher and more cabinets on the other side. The sink blocked a floor-to-ceiling window which could not be opened. The stove and dishwasher were opposite each other and the fridge and sink were opposite each other, meaning you couldn't open one appliance without closing another! The space in the middle was so narrow that only one person could stand. We came up with a U shaped kitchen--the new refrigerator (a 24"x78" Liebherr) opening to the left with two narrow cabinets flanking a 24" Fischer Paykel stove, curving to a corner cabinet. The countertop goes around with the dishwasher and at the sink at the end of the wall, adjacent to the window which is now ublocked! On the other side of the window we have a double cabinet and a tall pantry. The old kitchen had swing doors which was a pain; we have replaced it with a sliding opaque glass door which hides in the wall when not used. Now we have more space and all the appliances can be opened without bumping into each other. We chose Elmwood framless oak cabinets in black, narrow but tall fridge, 24" stove, 18" dishwasher all in matte stainless steel to maximize space, Blanco stianless sink and faucet, Aquasana water filter, White Fantasy granite (looks like an abstract painting so so much movement), white ceramic subway backsplashes and large light grey ceramic tiles for the floor. We love our kitchen. To see the pictures please go to Flickr and search "Old and new kitchen" by Nilgris. Our advice to anyone considering a remodel is DO NOT HIRE A CONTRACTOR FROM THE ITERNET, AND CHECK OUT REFERENCES, BBB, ETC. Good Luck!

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I guess it just reinforces for me that the problem I have is how to configure the "breakfast room." I'm half tempted just to forget it, and focus my efforts and limited money on getting the most out of the galley. I hate this option, though, if only because it's probably not possible for me to squeeze sufficient food storage into the galley. Plus I really want to get better use out of the breakfast room space - with a small house it's particularly problematic to have wasted space. My last effort to make the room more user friendly involved putting in banquette style seating (a Home Decorators marked down version of the Ballard Designs corner benches)... it seems like it was never as convenient as it looked. Because of the proliferation of doors (entry door, closet door, staircase opening, opening to the playroom on the other side of the entry), it's hard to float a table in the center of the room without it basically feeling like you're sitting in the entryway or at the foot of the stairs. So after that long defense I've given a shot at a slightly different layout which satisfies my hopes for future Costco runs. Because of the stub wall on the fridge side, the high cabinets would be the slimmer depth models that Ikea has - only about 13 inches deep. I've stuck with what seems like an unpopular idea of a peninsula, which looks very strange because the Ikea software is quirky. I'd love any more critiques, feedback, ideas, whatever! I've tried to make it more symmetrical A couple of suggestions centered on eliminating the wall between the galley and the breakfast room - unfortunately it's just not an option. It would cost me about $5k to widen the opening so that the two rooms were better connected, and that's just not worth it to me - in part because it would create new problems (like the fact that you'd see all the appliances from the front door, which just seems wrong to everyone I ask.) @momtofour: is your kitchen on the FKB? If you have any pictures online, I'd love to see them. I think the idea of a super long run of base cabinets sounds great; in practice I'd worry that the countertops would just become a dumping ground for clutter. I currently have a 9 foot stretch of counterspace on the opposite side from the range, and I don't use it all that much, perhaps because I'm not a great cook. The other issue is simply that the wall stub is 19 inches (23 with molding) so I'd need to have reduced depth cabinets on either side of it. @doraville: Unfortunately I can't really move the stove without running a new gas line, which I ruled out at the start to keep costs and drama as low as possible. But maybe I'm overestimating what a big deal that would be? BTW I've almost settled on going with the lighter wood doors. What I like best about the darker wood model from Ikea is the glass door version, which has divided lites. But I don't need display space - I need storage space.

Have you read the "Read Me" thread? Scroll down to the "Posting Pictures" post for directions. BTW...you probably are not getting responses to your thread emailed to you even though you checked the box that says "Check here if you would like copies of follow-ups to your message emailed to you." This is b/c you do not have the email option turned on in your profile. See the "Read Me" thread for more information on this as well. Scroll down to the post w/the subject "Getting Emails Sent To You...3-step Process" Here is a link that might be useful: Read Me If You're New To GW Kitchens!

This is about all I have. The layout that I provided originally was done by my architect cousin at no charge and I don't want to take advantage of her services. Please note that most of the dimensions shown are not accurate. You can refer to my original layout for the correct dimensions. The gray area is the carport. Starting at the far right that shows 10' is currently the laundry room. The space immediately to the left of that is the current galley kitchen. The current kitchen ends in line with the left edge of the carport. There is actually an entrance door at the top left of the carport. The orange space at the bottom is a front porch. The front entry is on the far left of the porch. As soon as you enter, there is a hall on the left about halfway up. That side of the house holds 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The guest bedrooms are on the entrance side of the house and the master is directly opposite. My husband will not extend the master bedroom into the dining area because of the window and fireplace. Same with the kids bedrooms. I wish I could because everything on the left side of the house is pretty small! Forgive my crude drawings!!