Tiny Kitchen Design - Can tiny spaces be affordably well designed?
Trying to design low'ish budget tiny kitchen/dining/laundry that is functional, good quality and attractive enough long term.
TLDR: help w layout, compact appliances: aesthetic + good quality but low-med budget?
Struggling with #1. layout: tiny space, awkward window + plumbing location. #2 Maybe dm if building code thoughts? (CAN). More details but first pics:
Plumbing at arrow. Ends within ~15" from wall, waiting for plumber to tell me it's ok to extend there for sink, dishwasher, and possible washer/dryer on end
Under-counter fridge/freezer could add counter space (obviously), oven/microwave will look awkward there, also not supposed to have next to fridge? Could extend counter over window, add books or something in gap?
For space visual, not design
Depth between Wall B door trim and entry door wall is 19", or 23" to outer trim
Details:
Rather than extend plumbing to more open space ($ + hide plumbing), think better to find #3.COMPACT APPLIANCES (3.a. **mini-oven, b. under-sink dishwasher, c. under-counter fridge, d. under-counter freezer if not combo, e. under-counter washer/dryer combo, f. hot plates easy. Finding either low quality (ex. bar fridges, toaster overs, portable washing machines), or well designed and crazy $.
**Note: for code, can't use normal stove. Hope can squeak by code w hot plates + ideally combo oven/microwave (reg. voltage).
Not sure where ventless washer/dryer combo fits, imagine will extend beyond sink counter, cutting off room. Could become seating island, but might cut off room awkwardly?
#4. Depending on layout, is 45 angle countertop best option for window issue? (forgot measurement, regular counter would cut about 9-10" into glass view)
Don't want to go into sob story too much.. but.. concussion and any help cutting down research greatly appreciated! Tight timeline, tight(ish) budget, but HATE shitty designs + trying to create something decent.
THANKS!!
Comments (21)
jpreaf
4 years agowdccruise
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Need help! Designing a super tiny master bath
Comments (12)Maybe I can help. Our house was built in 1962 and, interestingly enough, we are just finishing a master bath with exactly the same dimensions as yours and pretty much the same layout. All that remains to be done is for the shower door to be hung; that's another story. As I said, our bath is 7 feet long and a smidge under 7 1/2 feet wide. We also have a window over the toilet, but our wall with the vanity is on an interior wall, so no window there. The layout for our bathroom is exactly what you have in your plans, with a couple of minor differences. Our shower is 48" long, but only about 32" wide. We put a half wall between the shower and the toilet with a clear shower enclosure on the front of the shower and above the half wall. That provides a little privacy for the toilet area and prevents it being seen from the bedroom while maintaining the open feeling of the clear shower enclosure. We put crown molding all around the bathroom since the shower enclosure doesn't go all the way to the ceiling and so we weren't concerned about the humidity and the wood. The shower enclosure is tiled to the bottom of the crown molding and there is a bullnose decorative tile with a black pencil accent tile right below it that runs through the shower and extends all the way around the bathroom at wainscot height. We used a white subway tile for the shower enclosure and below the bullnose tile around the remainder of the bathroom. The subway tile and decorative tile form the backsplash above the vanity. Our plumbing for the shower is also in the wall between the bathroom and the bedroom. We used a black and white porcelain basketweave tile for the floor, both in the shower and in the remainder of the bathroom. The black accent tile on the walls and the black "dot" in the floor relate well to each other. Since we don't have the issue of the window over the vanity, we put two sinks in ours and there is plenty of room for them. The countertop doesn't feel crowded at all. As far as the grout goes, we used white epoxy grout (I don't know the brand) on the walls, and a dark gray on the floor. I've been using the bathroom, other than the shower, for a couple of months now, and the floor is pristine. While white grout was also recommended for the floor, I was too skeptical for that. The dark gray actually adds some definition to the tile pattern and there is no worry about the grout discoloring. Our vanity is 21" deep which is one reason our shower is narrower. We used standard cabinetry and the cost was relatively reasonable. It was amazing how much this small room cost! Our bathroom door does swing into the bathroom and into the shower. The only place we could find for towel bars was on the back of the door so we had to be really careful that the height of the towel bars kept them from colliding with the handle to the shower door. We also put a stop on the door so that it doesn't swing into the shower. It isn't ideal but the only way it would work for us. I don't yet have pictures; I'll try to post some in the next couple of days. Before the renovation, we had a bathtub and a small linen closet on the wall which now contains the vanity and the vanity was where the shower now is. We, thankfully, didn't need to move the toilet. I hope this has been helpful. While the bathroom is cozy, my husband and I don't generally use it at the same time. But if we did, there really is room for both of us with the double vanity. Good luck!...See MoreNeed Help With Designing Tiny Old Kitchen & Laundry
Comments (14)Bummer about the tree but perhaps it's a good thing in the long run. I'm a silver lining kinda gal. =) I'm not a huge fan of seeing so much of the kitchen from the front door. I'd rather see the dining room so I came up with this proposal for you: I moved the patio door closer to the front of the house. Is this where you come in from the car, carrying groceries to the kitchen? If so, I figured you'd want to keep it. But if you can eliminate it, using the front or slider you're proposing to install, let us know. Given your small kitchen, I think you should get front load, stacking washer and dryer and have them face into the kitchen. They would fit with a little room to spare against the closet wall. Machines are 27" wide and need an inch of clearance between machine and wall. I removed the door and bit of wall between kitchen and pantry closet, opting for either open pantry shelving or shallow cabs. One less door in the area is a good thing, IMO. Open shelving can be industrial or attractive like this (left side): If you opt for open shelving but don't want to see what's on the shelves, you can partition the space with drapes like this: You could even add a rod and drapes between machine side and pantry area. You'll want to keep the drapes open when you're doing laundry, especially when you're using the dryer to help dissipate any heat build-up. Adding a vent fan above the W/D would also help with that. I added a window where the door was to bring more light into the kitchen. You'll need to do some siding repair to the exterior. Hopefully that's doable. A good contractor should be able to remove siding, move the door and weave the siding back together so that the change isn't noticeable. Moving the door down gives a nice long stretch of wall for a 36" w, CD (counter depth) fridge, 30" range and plenty of storage. I added a MW drawer in this run but you could also do a MW on a shelf below the counter like this: Store cutting boards, cookies sheets, etc above the fridge like this: I eliminated the short wall where the fridge currently is to allow room for a long peninsula with enough room for sink, DW and drawer storage. I recommend a single bowl sink with an offset drain so that you have room below the sink for pull-out trash. Here's my trash pull-out under my sink (love it!): There is NO peninsula seating. You just don't have enough room for back to back seating (60" aisle recommended). Instead I added shallow storage to the backside, perfect depth for cans and many boxed food items. It also gives you a little deeper peninsula/splash zone behind the sink. To make the best use of the DR area, I created a banquette with additional storage at each end of the bench and under the bench like this: And this: If you need room for the DR light switch, you can add the switch to the cab side like this (left side of photo): Oops, one thing I meant to add but forgot to draw in was a drop zone for keys, mail, etc in the stud space in the LR wall by the patio door, something like this (but shallower): HTH!...See MorePlease improve my tiny kitchen design!
Comments (11)blondelle, That's a neat idea. We hate how dark and claustrophobic the bar area feels, so we had assumed that an open, L-shaped kitchenette design would feel more inviting and spacious for guests. But maybe we should be considering a U, and/or a small range. My mom wouldn't use a stove when she visits (her stove and oven days are over!), but my sister's family would use a stove. Also, I feel like the glass cabinets make the space feel less claustrophobic, given the low ceiling and how small it is. But you're right that we'd be able to store more stuff in normal cabinets. We won't need a lot of stuff in the kitchenette (mainly dishes/glasses), but our main-level kitchen is fairly small, so we'll also be using any extra storage space for things like our holiday platters/china. jmm1837, That's a great thought, but I believe we'd get use out of the full-size fridge. Our main-level fridge is often quite full, so we'd love to store extra drinks in a full-size fridge downstairs, which would be great for entertaining. And my sister's whole family is always on a special diet, due to the kids' food allergies, so they definitely would love to have a full-size fridge for their own use when they come to stay with us. (They just spent a week with us, and it was a nightmare juggling all their groceries, and our own, in our jam-packed main-level fridge.)...See MoreTeacher in need of design advice for TINY SCANDINAVIAN KITCHEN!
Comments (97)Congrats on your new home. Not a pro. Just some thoughts: In a small or relatively small place, a free standing stove rather than separate cook top and oven(s) would be -- would have been -- worth considering -- and not just because that would be a space saver and because that way you might have been able to open a space in that half wall to create "an island" and have two points of entry/exit from your kitchen (versus entertaining dead end) but because you could take a free standing stove with you if/when ever you move, making it practical to invest more in it.. Stainless steel is a good look for appliances -- or white would work in a small space. Do hope you choose a deep double stainless steel sink and are able to put it against that half wall so you're not looking at the wall while you're prepping or cleaning at the sink. Do choose a faucet with a high arc and levers rather than knobs. Even if you choose dark colors for below the countertop level, seriously consider white or at least light colors above that -- dark colors will visually shrink any already small space. Don't buy stuff you don't actually need -- clutter visually shrinks a space. Unless dusting is your favorite pastime, be "frugal" (as to numbers of items if not budget) with regard to decorative items. Such things really can wait until you living in the space a while, giving you plenty of time to do a lot of browsing and window shopping so you don't need to settle for something just to fill a space. Do invest in tall storage -- get the most storage possible for the footprint/floorspace any cabinet takes up: choose a storage ottoman rather than a coffee table; choose a chest of drawers rather than a dresser; and, choose cabinets for beside the bed and beside living room seating rather than tables: you might even consider short lockable wood or wood look (perhaps even fire/water resistant filing cabinets (2-3 drawers) so you will have a secure space to put any personal and financial documents and/or expensive camera equipment and/or your more valuable jewelry away from the prying eyes of the kinds of visitors that search people's medicine cabinets while using the facilities -- there seems to be on in every crowd. Consider choosing a tall glass front cabinet with shelves that could even double as a chi9na cabinet and curio cabinet -- perhaps with a bottom drawer or cabinet door. Best of luck. Do keep us updated and post pics....See Morejpreaf
4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
live_wire_oak
4 years agowdccruise
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agochiflipper
4 years ago- PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoI have done these type of ideas in old houses with low windows it works quite well. As for dining I would suggest you get a coffee table that converts to a dining table and some folding chairs in a storage room or closet.
wdccruise
4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
katinparadise
4 years agoLyndee Lee
4 years agowdccruise
4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
Jill Krol
4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
simplechoices
4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
Rebecca Averill
4 years agoMiss Heidelberg
4 years agoJacque Behrens
4 years agoIn my experience sourcing a stove, refrigerator drawer and smaller than traditional sink for this tiny kitchen in the US you will have to look to European/more expensive sources for a larger array of appliance sizes, unless there are Canadian brands available that don't export to the US.
The angled counter top/open shelves seems like a good solution, in my opinion. Gives you a bit more counter space near the sink which is incredibly valuable in a small space.
Your concern about placing your oven/microwave next to the fridge would really only come into play if you have a traditional oven that will give off heat while on for long periods. If you end up with a microwave convection oven or something similar that placement wouldn't be a concern.
There could be value in hiring a designer. For my kitchen I measured everything to the smallest fraction and drew it out with explicit instruction and still had the electrician place the plug for the fridge in the wrong place. Your designer could be your general contractor as well.
If you are comfortable GCing the work yourself you might be able to find an online designer that could help with the layout at a more affordable cost.
Good luck!
Lyn Agre
4 years ago
PROBeverlyFLADeziner
4 years agoNew Yorkers have turned small kitchens into an 'artform'. Look for inspiration from that subject.
decoenthusiaste
4 years ago
Patricia Colwell Consulting