Close up window on long wall. Place cooking surface w hood or venting microwave and fridge here....possible Micrwave drawer. Back window gets enlargened if light/view are imp to you....sink and dishwasher on this wall.(7-7). Free wall space on stairwell now for shallow cabinetry : pantry or extra cab and counter....shallow cabinetry is nonetheless useful. Pay for tall narrow lieBherr fridge....sink of deep single bowl type. You want to get cooking surface away from doorway and on a wall w at least some venting capacity whether microwave or hood. Realistically: a few feet bumped out is a fair goal to get something more here....have you explored construction of that sort as part of a plan?

Thanks so much for the response. My only fear with putting the sink and dishwasher on the far wall is that it will not leave enough of a walkway to the doorway opening. If I did have the cook surface on the interior wall against the stairs, I could still vent to the outside through the ceiling. Never the less, I do like the idea of some shallow pantry space and/or shallow cabinets and more counter space. Do you think the placement of a cooktop on the stairwell wall is a bad idea in general? As much as I would love to bump out, it’s not in the budget this time. Thanks!

herb mentioned just about what i was going to suggest. If you don't want to completely get rid of the window on the long wall, make it non-functioning. Maybe a stained glass window for example.

but I would like to put cabinets down each long wall (~25" each with countertops), which will leave us with about a 40" walkway in between, which I think is something I can live with, but also something we wanted to get your input on

Nope you don't have enough space. 40" is not wide enough especially for more than one person in the kitchen. 4' would be the minimum I'd even attempt that.

Ok I see the problem with the entry to the stairwell and putting the cooktop there. Sigh. You have a tough nut. Can you take some photos showing the entries? Is there no way to steal some space from the dining room?

Can you draw out a plan showing how the kitchen relates to the rest of the space?

I’m not against getting rid of that window at all, was just outlining the cheapest option/idea as far as not moving plumbing, but again not married to anything. I would like to keep one window in there for some natural light, but if it has to be in a different location, I’m okay with that. I will get another drawing tomorrow with some surrounding areas in there. I very much can steal room for the dinning area as it has a good amount to potentially give, only issue, which you will see in the updated drawing is there is another window on the other side of that wall in the dining room. But again, I’m not tied to that window or it’s location either. Nothing other than bump out/other major construction of any exterior walls and the stairwell is off the table here.

Let's see if we can get you a bit more room for cabinets. Windows are not a problem because if you do drawers for lowers, you really don't need as many uppers if any.

You can put cans and stuff between the studs on the stairwell wall.

As far as appliance location, are you leaning more towards everything on a single wall?

We had similar constraints on our galley/corridor kitchen - couldn't open it up width wise, so we opened it up length-wise. For you that would mean extending the cabinetry into the dining room. We also gained aisle space by recessing the fridge into the mechanical/laundry area behind it and shrinking the depth of the base cabinets on the fridge side so that we have a 48" aisle. Ours is truly a corridor to our main living / dining space at the back of the house, so making room for movement was key.

I don't think it added all that much cost to remove part of the load-bearing wall that separated our kitchen from what was a breakfast room. The contractors had it done in 2 days (along with moving plumbing on the slab.) The end result was life changing.

I'd suggest something similar for you: the stairway wall shouldn't be full depth cabinets. You can do what we did, reduced depth lowers with a microwave built into the uppers. Toaster, blender, fruit bowl, bread basket live there. Fwiw I played around with layouts that had a separate cooktop and oven stack, but it's tough when you don't have a lot of space and when there are windows to contend with. You're probably better off with a range, especially if you keep the appliances on the outer side of the kitchen.

Thanks so much for the input, I do like that design and as long as I have enough room for a table I am fine with extending cabinets down the length into the dining room. Without the ability to gain any room like you did for the fridge, that wall against the stairs is a real burden. Is the consensus that 40” is way to small of a space to keep everything in the existing area? I know it’s on the small end, but is it doable?

Also, is there an option to put the sink with shallow depth cabinets (maybe 18”) on the stairwell wall. Take out the window where the sink is currently and use that space for the range? Just spit balling here

24" cabinets/counter on the exterior wall and 18" cabinets/counter on the stair wall will leave 4'-1" of space between. Leave the sink where it is and put the dishwasher to the left of the sink in the corner. Also leave the refrigerator where it is but replace with subzero or other counter depth fridge to maintain maximum clearance in front. On the stair wall, use 18" deep cabinets and counter with standard 12" wall cabinets above. In the middle of this run put a 30" range with microwave above, opposite the counter between sink and fridge. This will reduce the clearance at the range to 3'-6" or so, but nothing other than drawer cabinets will be on the exterior wall so nothing should be opening into each other. At the dining room, create a 4'-0" opening with a small wing wall at the end of each counter.

If budget permits and depending on views, I would also consider adding another window on the end wall opposite the dining room opening to visually enlarge the space and draw the eye outside.

Thanks so much Rapp, this is actually what I had in mind, but was not sure it would be possible. A couple questions: 1) for the range on the stair wall, with 18” cabs will I need to get an extra shallow range or do something more custom for the range in order for that not to stick out a solid 8”? Seems like it would be a bit of an obstacle. 2) are you suggesting to enlarge the window over the current stove opposite the dining room? Thanks again

The better option is to bank sink ,range ,and fridge on the two outside walls forming the L. Range or whatever on stairwell wall now has left you with traffic lane exiting and entering your small space crossing over and into work triangle. This can be dangerous but less than that just a headache. Better w shallow type storage or extra type cabinetry on stair wall.

Do you see an option for locating a range or sink on that rear exterior wall and having enough of a walkway to the door? I think the only way to maybe do that is to have the eliminate the cabinet between the current range sink, which would also eliminate the use of the corner space. Thoughts?

In certain kitchens a corner sink Can be a practical REALISTIC compromise. So you can have dishwasher to left of corner sink and fridge and range on long wall. You must sort thru: 18 or 24 dishwasher /range and vent or microwave above/ cost of narrow column type fridge/ construction yes or no to cantilever or bump wall or move into dining zone or close off one window maybe enlarge the other. This appears to be a one person working kitchen but a few things you choose can create some efficiency and at least a 2nd person using the space for short intervals alongside , but not as primary cook. Small kitchens are difficult but can be made efficient and user friendly. Just can not be everything ....you have to prioritize and edit what is feasible and what you are willing to do in the bigger context :budget /long term plans etc. if you do odd /illogical things and spend greatly be careful in expecting much return at time of sale as that need can arise when life events occurr. The two main things a small kitchen will benefit most from: storage and counter. Stair wall w reduced depth cabs and counter would benefit you hugely if you can get those 2 other walls figured out w your basics. You can adjust long term to 18 in dishwasher smaller single sink and narrower fridge w good organization inside. You can cook on many basic stoves.....a built in mwave w various features can add to your cooking methods , but not critical. And a vent is perhaps essential in small or any kitchen so searching out what type of vent /budget for it , would be high on list for this plan.

Herb, you are right on the money with many things here. I think the biggest hurdle I need to address is the appliance layout. I understand no matter what I do this is going to be a smaller kitchen, more geared towards one cook, but having the bit of extra space with using 18" cabs on the stairwell wall will allow for a second person to be there intermittently, which I think works out fine. Although we love to cook, one person is usually leading the efforts while the other is helping. I am fine with borrowing space from the dining room area if elongating that wall run will help. I will upload an updated drawing, but on the other side of the wall that will be removed (in part or in full) there is a window. Which again, if it has to go or be moved so be it, but if it can stay less money spent. I will upload some options with all the items we have talked about thus far for further discussion. Thanks again to everyone!

To answer your questions above: 1) Buy the shallowest range you can find which meets your cooking needs. And perhaps it would be possible to nestle the range into the stud space to gain a few more inches. You would have to discuss with the building inspector to insure fire safety. This would be fussy and cost $, but you would enjoy the extra clear space forever. 2) I was thinking more of adding another window beside the existing one, preferably matching height, width and style.

Here are some additional pictures of the space. As you can see, the door to the left of the current range leads to the opposing rear door and basement steps. The wall leading into the dinning room is where some space can be gained. There is probably about a 1’6” of space from the inside edge of the current kitchen/dining room wall till you hit that window, but I would be okay with loosing that as there is a lot of natural light in the front part of the house. Let me know if this helps. Thanks! (Ignore the mess and current terrible setup, all hand me downs because I knew I was redoing it)

My kitchen is the same length but 9'9" wide so had a few more options than you have. The original layout was just as shown in your photos. with the stove on the short wall next to the door. My space has a double window on the long wall and none on the stove wall.

My approach was to move the doorway from the corner to the center of the room and widen it. that allowed me to put the stove on the stairway wall with cabinets either side and the counter depth fridge, dw, sink and cabinets on the long wall. One idea which works quite well was taking a corner cabinet and cutting it down so it was only 12 inches deep on the short wall. This cabinet has double hinged doors so it opens to the full size opening making it easy to avoid losing things in the back corner. I also have a shallow floor to ceiling pantry cabinet on that wall.

Cabinets don't have to be full depth to be useful and neither do counters. My short section of 13 inch deep counter is perfect for the toaster. The shallow pantry makes it easy to find the contents.

As you said the house is a Cape cod, I presume your stairway goes up to a second floor as well as down to the basement. If this is one story, grab the extra space at the end of the stairwell for storage or wall oven

Ok do me a favor and do a plan with measurements of the kitchen and attached dining room. My thinking is you wouldn't have to lose the window in the dining room, just shorten it to counter height. :)

But we need exact measurements. Graph paper and a pencil work great.

As far as appliance location, are you leaning more towards everything on a single wall?

Sorry I missed this but the answer is yes. Except for between the studs storage something like these below:

And this one.(for some reason it wouldn't load in the post)

https://www.houzz.com/photos/100-square-foot-kitchen-remodel-craftsman-kitchen-minneapolis-phvw-vp~5402780

I’ll get some updated plans of the whole first floor space. The entire exterior wall is open for business from the kitchen through the dining room.

Would a counter top range on the 18” counter stair wall be possible with a wall oven somewhere?

You're not going to be able to fit any appliances or the sink on the stairway wall - you'd need full-depth and then some. (Unless you're talking a $$ built-in refrigerator, appliance handles are not perfectly flush cabinets/counters.)

Keeping all the appliances on the exterior wall and opening that up into the dining room is the best answer. Like @Lynda_Lee, we used 12" deep base cabinets on the interior side of our galley, with a microwave built-in to the upper cabinets - small appliances like the toaster on the shallow counter. Works really well (and we're a family of 4.)

Hey all, back with some hand drawn plans (forgive them as they are not the best) of the whole area we have to work with. From our talks thus far, appliances on the stairwell wall (other than a possible built-in microwave) are out of the question, which I am okay with. Having an L-shaped layout and using the space under the back window also seems to be out as there just isn't enough room with that doorway right there and I would rather have a full wall of 18" cabs on the stairwell wall, right up to that doorway, for more storage/counters and the area in front of the back window as a walkway. Taking this all into consideration, I think I am looking at a single wall kitchen layout. I believe the wall between the dining room and kitchen, will be fully removed and the header will be recessed into the ceiling, but if you think that isn't necessary, feedback is welcome.

With all that being said, what is the best layout for this single wall kitchen? Off the cuff, I am thinking of keeping the sink where it is, moving the dishwasher to the left side, range with hood to the right and the fridge to the right of that. Both windows in the dining room are below counter level and for the one on the exterior wall parallel to the kitchen, I think that either goes away completely or is made smaller for counters underneath. I now have this vision of making that whole wall cabs, kitchen setup on the left (with some elements now into the dining space and additional storage/built-in bar area on the right. As long as we can have a table in the dining room (not an island as we want an actual table for family/friend gatherings, anything goes layout wise.

Let me know your thoughts and as always, thanks for the help!

Wow, your dimensions are very similar to my house, although we have no basement and a prior owner did an addition off the back. The good news is that you can do a lot if you're prepared to utilize space from the dining room for the kitchen.

There are (at least) 3 factors you need to think through carefully. One, opening up the wall between the kitchen and dining will make your kitchen visible from the front door. Not everyone likes that; for us, it was a perfectly reasonable compromise and I don't have a single regret. Either way, you want to think about the design with that perspective in mind.

Even more important, you need to get the function right. Opening up the wall would give you 23 feet of length ... but it could mean a huge trek between the sink, range, fridge, trash if you don't plan carefully. Do you have a staircase to a second floor - does it run above your existing staircase?

Finally, your budget looms large here. Opening up the wall was less exorbitant than I initially presumed, but in a small old house there are lots of costs I didn't initially anticipate. Your windows may need to be moved/resized among other things. I joined Gardenweb thinking we could just replace our existing layout and estimated it would cost about $15k. The eventual cost (including a heavy up, opening up the wall, and moving the gas and plumbing on a slab) was at least double that, and we'll add a bit more storage and counters in an upcoming addition/remodel. For us this made sense; we're here for the long haul and we still have one of the least expensive homes in our zip code. But YMMV.

Finally, take a look at these two kitchen reveals that I remembered from wayyyy too much time on pre-Houzz Gardenweb. The first one looks larger than yours, but it's worth looking at since they did such a nice job of expanding without completely blowing out the wall separating the kitchen and dining: Cape house kitchen reno (So does this more recent one btw.)

This one has a different layout than your kitchen but it shows how you can maximize every inch of a tiny kitchen if you plan carefully: beautiful small kitchen reveal

I found this one when I was looking for the links to the others, another great example of what you can do with a very small space: tiny kitchen/dining reveal

Today is my stepsons wedding but i’ll try and come up with something tomorrow.

@cpartist - Congrats to him on the marriage (and you too)!! I truly appreciate all the input you and everyone else has given me, whenever you can get around to it works for me!

@smalloldhouse_gw - You bring up a lot of great points, here are some responses. One, we are very much okay with opening up the kitchen space to the living room area and do not mind if it is visible from the front door. With that being said, functionality is extremely important to us so even though we have a larger wall space to work with, we are not willing to give up working functionality for a larger kitchen space. So keeping the actual kitchen space only as large/long as it needs to be on that wall is the plan with hopes to have the far right or the current dining room wall to be more of a bar space.

As for the stairs, yes, the stairs are stacked in the house so there is literally no space high or low that has any voids.

As for budget we would like to be around $20k all in, but realize and can make more work if need be. I realize with an older house, unforeseen costs will inevitably arise and now that we are talking about removing a structural wall, relocating windows and moving appliances, those costs add up quickly. With that being said, if anything that is existing can be worked into the design, we would love to make that happen, but the final product is obviously the main goal so if costs are incurred to make the space better for us, so be it. We are not on a slab, so hoping relocating lines will be minimally invasive, I also will be doing a good amount of the work myself, minus gas and electrical, so hoping to save some money there as well.

Thanks again, you all are amazing!