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new small galley kitchen

last year

I am buying a new house and this is the kitchen. I plan to gut it. I will bring the hardwood floors into the kitchen so first floor flooring is all the same.
Dimensions are 10x12. The wall with the wall ovens will be partially removed leaving a peninsula counter opening up kitchen into small den. I’m thinking light wood cabinets. I’m a casual type. I should mention this is our empty nest house. Any design features for seniors? Since the kitchen is small I plan on using cabinet depth refrigerator. I should also mention I am on a tight budget.

Featured Answer

herbflavor

last year

best to show the overhead of the rooms around the kitchen and the kitchen so the orientation can be better appreciated for the best comments. I'm not certain this plan is the best. Its a nicely coordinated, cohesive kitchen...maybe a little older but showing its age nicely. the standard recommendation is to reside in the property 6-12 mo before major changes. I would say especially so before undertaking anything here.

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Comments (36)

Karen Breen
Original Author
last year
I would normally agree with that however I have an opportunity to sand all floors before moving in so kitchen must at least be gutted.
Here is floor plan
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It seems to me you ideally should get - Refrigerator close to the breakfast room (less pushing through the galley to get milk). Consider storing breakfast things (cereal, bowls, etc) in the breakfast room. You also have the option of beverage refrigerator (milk, juice) in the breakfast room. - Sink and cooktop on one side of the kitchen, with as much counter as possible on that side. You're not one to spin around and use the counter behind you, so you need as much counter as possible on the main ''working side'' of the kitchen. Having sink and cooktop on the same counter is convenient. - Refrigerator not directly across the galley aisle from the sink or the cooktop or the counter between those two. The aisle around the refrigerator is going to be about 33'' if you use 24'' deep cabinets on both sides with minimal countertop overhangs. (You can get a wider aisle in most of the kitchen, but let's focus on the refrigerator here.) A counterdepth refrigerator will be around 27'' deep, so it will reduce that aisle width further. If you can recess it into the wall you can reclaim 3'' or so (feasible even with a load-bearing wall, it is basically like building a doorway). Even with a recessed counterdepth refrigerator, the door swing will interfere with someone standing in the aisle. So you want to avoid locating prep, washing, and cooking in that door swing. - Cooktop and wall oven. Ranges are around 28'' deep and often need some additional clearance behind them. Rangetops are also usually about 28'' deep. Since aisle width is tight, a cooktop which is typically 22-23'' deep seems the best choice, to fit in 24'' deep cabinets. This forces you to use a wall oven, and I'd put it on the non-working side of the kitchen. - Prep zone close to the fridge and the pantry. To minimize squeezing back and forth in the narrow aisle every time you need to fetch a lemon, some cream, an onion, etc. All this suggests, I think, a layout like: - on the interior wall, which becomes the ''storage side'' of the kitchen, put the refrigerator nearest the breakfast room, then pantry, with wall oven(s) at the other end. - on the exterior wall, which becomes the ''working side'', a run of counter across from the refrigerator (with dishwasher under), then the sink, then a long stretch of counter (the main prep space, under the window), then the cooktop, then some landing zone. - counterdepth refrigerator, recessed, probably French door or side-by-side (for the narrower doors). Cooktop with hood venting to the outdoors, can be induction or gas. Dish-drawer type dishwasher (a conventional type with bottom-hinged door will hopelessly clog up the aisle, no matter where placed, a dishdrawer can be slid in and out as easily as closing a drawer). A wall oven, or two. One oven could be a speed oven, but they are expensive, and it seems more convenient for the microwave to be at the refrigerator end of the kitchen. The pantry cabinet could be shallower, as depth isn't that useful in a pantry (depends on if you'll use pullout pantry organizers or simply fixed shelves) and you get something like 38'' aisle width in the kitchen center (depends on the options in the cabinet line you use). - change the position and width of the doorway from breakfast room to kitchen, to accommodate the 24'' counter on the exterior wall and avoid interfering with the refrigerator door swing. That means shifting the doorway to the right a few inches. Shouldn't cost much. Remember, there is no point to a 36'' wide door leading to a 33'' aisle. - moving cooktop and sink to the exterior wall will cost some ($2-3K?) but I think it will make for a much better layout. The exterior wall can provide a significantly longer counter than the short interior wall. The exterior wall has a window, which works when it is over a counter but not when it is boxed in by fridge, oven, and pantry cabinets. You can recess into an interior wall, but an exterior wall is harder or not possible depending on climate and construction. Layout is the most important thing. If budget requires, I would live with the crappiest Craigslist appliances, builder-grade fixtures, the cheapest laminate counters, skip the backsplash, learn some DIY skills, etc - to get a good layout. A $100 Home Depot faucet will work 90% as well as a $1000 faucet porn star, and can be changed out in an hour someday. A $100 no-name stainless steel sink will work 120% as well as a $2000 Shaws fireclay apron front sink of indeterminate dimensions, unknown drain placement, and - oh, drat, its cracked. A laminate or butcher block or granite tile counter will work - well, at least 100% as well, and maybe better than a pricey Carrera marble counter that has you popping Valium whenever lemons or wineglasses are set on it. But a lousy layout will be a lousy layout, forever, no matter how much lipstick is applied.
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herbflavor
last year
last modified: last year
you are gutting the kitchen to sand/refinish the floors in the home? so you plan to get a new kitchen and how soon do you think that will be done?
Karen Breen
Original Author
last year
Yes floors will be sanded. We haven’t even gone to closing yet but I want to be prepared. Kitchen will take a while as the appliances will take a few months to get!
Karen Breen
Original Author
last year
I can live without a kitchen for a few months but I can’t live in the house during sanding!
Linda Dornan
last year
Since you have a living room also, I would extend the kitchen into the family room space and create a nice big kitchen.
Karen Breen
Original Author
last year
That was a thought however I’m trying to keep the budget down. And I like the idea of a den off the kitchen!
littlebug zone 5 Missouri
last year
If it were my house, the first thing I would plan is to use the family room/den as the dining room.
dan1888
last year
You say 10' but the layout says 9'. What dimension do you have wall to wall?
Karen Breen
Original Author
last year
Littlebug we also thought about that and may still consider that. However then the dining room would become the den. In that scenario walking into the house you would have a living room attached to a den? I’ll post that picture.
And dan1888 I couldn’t figure out how to edit!! I’m new to houzz. Today being my first post!
Suz H
last year
One way to open it up some is to only remove the wall above the drawers (by removing the wall cabinet next to the stove), and widen the opening that looks into the den. You could keep the lower cabinet drawers and make a half-wall behind there with a place to set buffet style items on those lower cabinets. I would check to be sure it isn't a load-bearing wall, also. Then, you can see more into the room without moving the stove or demo too much. You can have the cabinets refaced without having to replace everything.
Karen Breen
Original Author
last year
This is the entry
Karen Breen
Original Author
last year
Suz that was my thought behind the peninsula. I still need cabinet/drawer space.
Little Bug
last year
Or you could convert the den to a breakfast room. It just looks like a PITA to walk all the way across the house from the kitchen to the existing dining room. There’s no place else to sit and eat, as-is.
Suz H
last year
If there is room in the garage, a cabinet depth frig would work (you can move the larger one for use into garage). I agree with waiting until you are in the home a while, because you may find yourself only wanting to change the counter tops and kitchen sink/faucet and you can 'try out' where the dining room works for you vs. den. Maybe make the den an eat-in den with comfy seating with a small table?
Karen Breen
Original Author
last year
I agree. I think when floors done and wall removed it could be just a matter of moving furniture to make current den dining room. Would it look odd to see formal living room then den? There are pocket doors between the rooms but then natural light is minimal.
Karen Breen
Original Author
last year
Good advice Suz
wsea
last year
Kitchen into family room and turn kitchen into dining. however you can have your existing floors redone now and then when its time have the new floors added and finished to match existing. any skilled flooring person would be able to match without having to redo the whole first floor. its done all the time. It seems foolish to remodel quickly for floors. you may end spending a lot of money for no real benefit.
Suz H
last year
Hi Karen. You could keep the dining room if you want. People are moving away from formal dining rooms, in general, toward comfortable dining. I don't think looking into an eat-in den/breakfast area+ is odd or unusual! What works for you is more important.
Karen Breen
Original Author
last year
Is there a “rule” to pulls vs knobs? In the drawings there are handles but designer just did that to complete the drawing. I’ve heard knobs on upper cabinets and pulls on drawers and lower cabinets? Cabinets are maple color and I was thinking oil rubbed bronze or black. Help!!!
einportlandor
last year
Karen, I know you're asking about knobs and pulls, but I have to ask about that first pic. Is that area intended for eating or a desk? I just can't envision anyone wanting to sit there crammed between the wall and the overhead cabinetry. I love an eat-in kitchen -- loved your old set-up. Regardless whether this is for eating or working, I'd consider a better use of that space. Maybe some pros will have good suggestions. Good luck with your project.
Karen Breen
Original Author
last year
I know it is tight. There is no wall behind the chairs. It’s really a space for the grandkids to sit. They are 1 and 7 years old. You can’t see it but there is a cabinet under eating area as well.
darbuka
last year
Addressing the ”designing for seniors” aspect of your post, pulls (handles), are much more ergonomic for aging hands/fingers. Being seniors ourselves, and having lived with knobs in our previous home, I can attest to this. ADA designers recommend pulls over knobs.

Beware of removing walls, which is what most folks here always suggest (oh, the open floor plan!). When you remove walls, you loose a wall of cabinetry…a premium in a small space.
Karen Breen
Original Author
last year
Wow never thought about that!! I think you are right! I’m going to do pulls!
We did take a wall down that opens to a small den. We lost a wall oven but replaced the cooktop with a conventional stove/oven. We actually gained cabinets by taking an unused wall and making a wall pantry.
lharpie
last year
But if you are moving the dining room to be open to the kitchen why can’t the grandkids sit a few feet away? it seems silly to use valuable space in a small kitchen to seat grandkids who will outgrow the space in a few years. i’d use that space for microwave and small appliances and pantry
darbuka
last year
Karen, just to give you a visual of all pulls, here are a few pics of my kitchen:
littlebug zone 5 Missouri
last year
Love that kitchen ⬆️. Such a warm and uncluttered space! We had a galley kitchen at a former house and I loved it too. Though it was narrower than the one pictured.
Karen Breen
Original Author
last year
Darbuka what a beautiful kitchen! Definitely decided on pulls!
Karen Breen
Original Author
last year
Here is how the kitchen came out! We love it!
Karen Breen
Original Author
last year
Now I need help with fireplace. Sconces? Picture moulding? New screen? Can’t replace the stone.
Karen Breen
Original Author
last year
Ignore the last of my Christmas decorations in red pot!! Something always left behind! Lol!
Martha Edwards
last year
If you are in a cold, snowy, or often rainy climate, a door from the garage into the living area -if possible — would be a good addition especially as we age.
darbuka
last year
last modified: last year
Nicely done…the kitchen came out great!

Just beware of the rug. It’s a real tripping hazard…expecially for those aging in place. The ADA pros do not recommend area rugs, especially in a high traffic area like a kitchen, where you’ll constantly be tranversing the area. Save the floor decorating for the den and living room…where furniture will be covering much of it.

For the kitchen, a simple, washable mat directly in front of the sink will be safer, and protect the floor. Ours just kind of blends in to the surroundings. Got it at Costco.
Karen Breen
Original Author
last year
Darbuka is that your kitchen? It’s beautiful!! Love the light fixture!!
The carpet is a washable and very thin but I certainly understand what you are saying!
Karen Breen
Original Author
last year
Martha I wish I could have an entry to my house from garage! Our 1 car garage is so narrow we can’t use it for cars. I would love to open it up into the house and make a larger den. We need to save$ for that project!!
darbuka
last year
Yes, all the pics I posted in this thread, are of my kitchen…and, thank you for the compliments!

Enjoy your new space!

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