Small kitchen / need storage! Add more cabinets or leave it more open?
jazzyjane
6 years ago
Hi! We live in a small home and our kitchen is about 10x10. We have a gigantic fridge which we love but right now it's living on a wall all by itself and looks a little lonely! My question is... do we add cabinets surrounding the fridge? I have attached some mock-ups from Ikea. Or.. do we leave it?
My worry is that with high cabinets going up to the ceiling (10 ft ceiling), the kitchen will feel much, much smaller. Right now it feels OK since there's a warm orange wall, and it's open. However that space is really not being used, so part of me thinks why not enclose it in cabinets galore?
There is no room for the fridge anywhere else so that's not an option either.
Pros: more storage means I can hide my small appliances!
Cons: claustrophobic feeling walking into a giant wall of cabinets?
There is a pantry closet which we access to the right of the fridge so I would only be putting a 15" wide cabinet beside the fridge.
Option 1: 30" cabinet to the left, and 15" cabinet to the right
Option 2: 30" cabinet to the left and NO cabinet to the right -- does it feel unbalanced?
And here is our current space:
Thanks in advance for your advice!
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Jeff Neal
6 years agoRelated Discussions
Recommendations on flooring a whether to add more cabinets
Comments (2)To post a floor plan, you need to do it in HTML format. So, photobucket or from a website will work. Tile is definitely hard and cold. You can get heat strips underneath it. I think in today's world of design, mixed wood flooring is totally acceptable. In our first house we had white oak floor and installed Brazilian Koa in the kitchen. Our last house had bulders grade 3" oak boards and we installed rustic oak of random widths in the kitchen. You can install parquet in your new kitchen. Or you could do any other kind of wood. I think you should just get what you are attracted to. It will look fine. And if it is tile that you love, get tile....See MoreSmall kitchen: more windows or more upper cabinets?
Comments (30)Thanks for all the comments and ideas! We hadn't given much thought to how close the range was to the sink. Forgot to mention a couple considerations: First, this is an old brick house, so making any changes to the sizes and locations of windows is difficult. If we 'removed' the window we'd actually be keeping the window on the outside, preserving its look, but closing it over just on the inside, and having a window shade left drawn on the inside to conceal the deceit. The peninsula isn't intended for dining, but to create a separation between dining room and kitchen while still keeping it somewhat open, and more importantly, to provide us with more counter space. The peninsula cabinets would have doors on both kitchen and dining room sides. We'd probably store our dishes on the dining room side. The pantry I mentioned would be in the yellow shaded area in the passage to the left of the bathroom. cheri127, yes, that is a servant's staircase! We haven't lived here long so it is hard to say how much we'll use it yet. We've actually thought about turning it into closet like you suggest, but this project is already a bit much for us, so we might save that for later....See MoreCan I add more boho without adding more clutter? Living room re-do
Comments (34)I’m laughing at the thought of my squishy, comfy pillows being called forbidding or them fighting with anyone. I took a couple of more pictures, including the chairs without the pillows and I think you’ll agree that the cushions make them look more inviting, not less. Also rearranged so that people can see that the sofa facing the fireplace, chair at each side will not work in the space. I tried it as the most obvious answer and discarded it. It’s awkward to me, like the sofa is turning it’s back on everyone. Also, due to the placement of the fireplace, the sofa and chairs cannot be centered on the fireplace or the bedroom will be blocked completely. I can’t pull the sofa back much more without blocking the walkway. The fact is, space for the ‘living room” is much smaller than you think. I also pulled the rug away, to demonstrate that the rug and sofa not going together is kind of the least of this room’s problems. I wish I could get a good angle that shows just how off center the couch and chairs are....See MoreHow to add more natural light to my kitchen?
Comments (10)Paint colors don't add light. White doesn't add light. Windows and lighting fixtures do. Paint does react with the existing light, so if things are pulling blue/purple look to the other side of the color wheel for guidance as to the direction to go. Colors turning blue in an artificial light can mean two things - color temperature of the bulbs (go warmer, which is lower in degrees K) and CRI - color rendering index (look for bulbs rated 90+. Anything less is going to give you "off" colors and if the bulb doesn't proudly state 90+, you have to assume it's only CRI of 80 or so)....See Morecyc2001
6 years ago
Judy Mishkin
6 years ago
PROEnvision. Home at Last
6 years agojazzyjane
6 years agojazzyjane
6 years ago
PROCarolina Kitchen & Bath
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoUse a 12" deep pantry cabinet to the right of the fridge but 24" wide. Turn it so it faces the pantry door, panel the side of it next to the fridge.
auntthelma
6 years agojazzyjane
6 years ago- PRO
Carolina Kitchen & Bath
6 years ago jazzyjane
5 years agoUpdate: it's done! I love how it turned out. Ikea didn't carry the same cabinets that we used on the other side of the kitchen so we went with plain white and matched the handles. The kitchen somehow feels bigger now! We get our new marble quartz counters next week. Exciting. The next project is -- should I put a chalkboard or whiteboard or something on the white fridge panel? It feels like it could use some of my kids' artwork or something homey and creative
- PRO
Carolina Kitchen & Bath
5 years ago 
Denita
5 years ago
Jerry McAllister
5 years ago
K R
5 years ago
kim k
5 years agojazzyjane
5 years ago
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