Yay! I did it, and I’m really pleased with the results. :-) Doing our Ikea kitchen ourselves, has been harder than I thought it would be, but this little project was not too much trouble and the results are very satisfying. I’ll share my process in case someone else wants to try this themselves. I made a 5.5" cabinet from a 12" base cabinet. Step 1. Cut the bottom piece to size. The bottom piece is 10.5” for a 12” cabinet, since it is connected to the sides, which take up 1.5” total. So I needed to cut the bottom piece to 4” (5.5 - 1.5). A table saw is probably the best tool for this. I had read that taping the cut might help keep the cut clean so I made my measurement marks on some painters tape I put on the bottom piece. It did a decent job. Not perfect, but acceptable. Step 2. Create a way to connect the tops of the sides together to replace the metal strips. I cut two 4” pieces from a 1x6. Other sizes of wood will work, but we had leftover 1x6. The nice thing about a 1x6 is that it is 3/4“ thick like the other parts of the cabinet. Step 3. Cut down the back. The original back is 11 5/16” wide (or 11/16” less than 12”). So for my 5.5” cabinet I wanted 5.5” - 11/16” = 4 13/16”. I used a utility knife to cut the back. It took many passes, but using a straight edge I was able to get a clean cut. If you get close, but haven’t cut through the back, you can bend it and then use your knife on the back by cutting in the crease. (Similar to how you would cut drywall.) I decided to also cut out the corner square on the right side for the bracket. That left a skinny little part in the middle. This was a mistake. Unless you are doing a cabinet larger than 6” you should definitely skip this step. The brackets that hang on the rail left exactly 0" of space in between for the back, and it broke off before I even realized this. Step 4. Assemble the cabinet. Assembly the cabinet is mostly the same. The exception is that you cut off the holes on one side of the bottom for the wood dowels and cam locks. I assembled the one side that had the holes the normal way, but I used screws to connect the other side to the bottom. I predrilled the holes for the screws the depth of the screw. Then I did a shallow hole with a wider drill bit, so I could counter-sink the screws and they would not stick out. The final step is to connect the wooden pieces that replace the metal strips. I screwed those in using the same process that I screwed the bottom to the side. And now I have a 5.5” cabinet. Total cost: $34. This does not include a door. If the cabinet was 5” you could use a 30” wide low drawer front. I will be using part of a cover panel to create a door. I have to wait until we get to the using the panels to try that part. I’ll try to report back how that goes.

Stringweaver, thanks so much for the info on the streamlined refrigerators! When I save up enough to remodel the kitchen in a few years, I definitely want to consider smaller appliances, both to gain counter space and to save energy. I'm afraid my picture was a bit misleading, though. Joy and I had actually pulled the refrigerator out a few feet when the circuit blew and we had to access the plug so we could plug it into an extension cord in a working outlet. Then we left it out so we could paint. It's now back in its designated space. Kathy, I hear you about being strategic with small cabinet space. I have ONE lower cabinet that has to hold my steamer, electric skillet, mixing and serving bowls, baking dishes, cutting boards, and colanders/strainer. Right now everything's in there and juuuuust barely fits, but I know I've got a set of Pyrex mixing/storage bowls I haven't yet unpacked. And I've missed them because I can't microwave or bake or freeze anything in the Chefmate melamine bowls...so even though I love them, I'm probably going to toss them. I like your idea of keeping seldom used appliances out of the kitchen. I think Shades does that too. Speaking of Shades, thanks Chris, for the pic of the built-in around a low window. I love that! It really frames the window beautifully! Also, THANK YOU for measuring your suitcases!! That is so kind of you! I'm guessing your hunch is right, and those were standard sizes. Missouribound, no, the minisplit will go on the main (only) living room wall. Smaller units in the bedrooms. What is above the ceiling in the pop out? The sky, lol. :-) A pop out in an old manufactured home is like ones you may have seen in RVs or travel trailers. The RV is driven to its camping spot and then, like an accordion, the owner pulls out (pops out) another little section from its side. If I ever moved this MH, they would literally fold it back into the house in order to be able to drive it without wind sheer. I'll try to remember to take some pics of the outside and post them. It's an inexpensive way of giving people a little more square footage, in my case 35 more sq ft makes a big difference. By the way, I really love your basket idea! I'm going to try that! Time for bed. Goodnight everyone! :-)

It's been several days since I have posted, but that is because I have been giving these ideas much thought and have been talking to many professionals. What is your style? Do you have pics saved in an idea book of the look you are going for? This is an excellent question. I have looked at thousands of pictures of kitchens, and I haven't seen one that I can say, "That's exactly what I'm going for." So, to best answer your question, I'll show you the materials I'd like to use: ginger maple shaker fronts, white solid surface counter, "oak" LVP flooring, "painted" backsplash tile, and, if I keep some wall on both sides dividing the kitchen and dining room, I'd put the blue paint in the kitchen, yellow above the chair rail and the blue below in the dining room, and yellow on the walls of the rest of the main floor. So I'm not sure what you'd call it - transitional? Although I am very excited about being able to see and chat with people at the dining table while I am cleaning up in the kitchen, I think I do prefer having the more traditional mental division between kitchen and dining room with even just stub walls, and I do like the chair rail, if I am able to keep a bit of wall on the sides. Maybe that is the very definition of transitional? But practical matters of the small house and large family and a limited budget must be considered above my personal preferences. Although the contractor said "it doesn't cost that much to reduce the bulkhead," "it doesn't cost that much to move the sliding glass door," and "it doesn't cost that much to move pipes for the clean-up sink," all of it together - with the cabinet vendor that he uses - did cost much. He just came out this afternoon to do some measurements and discuss ways to reduce cost. This plan below is what I discussed with him: (1) Instead of messing with the bulkhead at all, keeping the wall only as far as the depth of the bulkhead (about 23"), but then have little to no wall on the other side. I can't have 23" on the other side for symmetry, because that wouldn't leave enough room to walk around people seated at the table, but I'm hoping that would look fine if we put cabinets up to the ceiling in the corner where the bulkhead is. He liked this idea a lot, because you just don't know what's in there. (BTW, I offered to pay him to open it up and see, but he won't open it up to have a look, or do any work at all, until a full contract is signed, first payment given, and cabinets ordered.) He did warn, however, that the cost of the cabinets and counter there will probably cost about the same as what he was including for reducing the bulkhead - so this solution does give more storage, it doesn't actually save any money. (2) Instead of a sliding glass door, put in a 30" standard door using the opening for the existing window in the dining room. A sliding door would be much better than a swinging door that hits those seated at the table, but it will be rare that we have people seated while others are going in and out, so I'll do it if it saves a lot of $$. He loved this idea, and said it would save me about $1000, but when I asked about what he'd recommend about the HVAC register that is currently on he floor in front of the window, he said it would be too costly to move it, and I should just leave it. It seems the register plate would get kicked up and rusted with traffic in and out, so I am not sure how good of a solution this is, after all. (3) I thought having a pantry closet with shelves and doors would save money over the cost of cabinets and countertop in that alcove, but he said the labor to put the shelves, doors and drywall would be more, so I'll go back to the cabinets. (4) Lose the second dishwasher. If I have a prep sink, it won't be so bad having one dishwasher with dishes piling up in the clean-up sink. As you can see below, I'm concerned about clearances and flow; losing the dishwasher will cut the cost some but also will give better clearances if I have to keep the 23" of wall below the bulkhead. I played with a few designs with two dishwashers and only one sink, but none of them seemed to work nearly as well as this one. Bbtrix - the range is centered in this design :-) and I'd love to know if you think if the stub wall that would stick out about 6" would still create a strange divide between the dishwasher and door, now that the dishwasher and door are much further away from each other. He liked this idea, but it still requires moving pipes, so let's hope that "doesn't cost that much." (5) I've fallen in love with the white solid surface countertops and the painted backsplash I pictured above, but I may just have to go to laminate countertops with the 4" backsplash if that saves thousands of dollars. He recommended granite over laminate or solid surface. Many granites are beautiful, but my countertops are primarily a work surface that functions better if it is light-colored and simple, and I find granite dark and very busy, and the few granites that are lighter in color seem to stain easily. I've heard laminates have come a long way, I just liked solid surface more because it's more reparable, doesn't have seams, the integrated sink, and I like the soft feel of it - maybe that's not worth the extra $$. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me and has been liking my comments - I warned in my subject line that this would be a challenge, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into!

HU, I pulled the cabinets out on my range wall, but only 3" (the depth of two, sistered, 2x4's, used to support the counter). The range is free-standing, with a high back, so my solution was to make a 3" deep wooden shelf to go behind it, mounted at the same height as the top of the back guard. I used separate pieces of wood, attached vertically, to fill in the gap, to below the surface of the counter. I was afraid that if there was a gap, items would fall behind the range. The shelf is just the right depth for salt and pepper shakers, or a small bottle of oil. My cabinets are painted the same color as the walls and beadboard backsplash, therefore I painted the shelf the same color. I don't think anyone who has been in my kitchen has ever noticed the shelf (or the extra-deep counter) until I pointed it out. There are extra-deep hoods available, but as I had to use specially cut pieces of wood to attach my hood to the back wall, I just added another piece of wood to fill in the gap at the bottom, then painted it to match. I could have covered it with a piece of sheet metal, but it blends by being matched to the wall color--and paint was a less expensive option. My kitchen remodel was mostly a budget DIY, with help from a few family members, so I had to get creative. I don't have access to my OneDrive albums and can't download new pics (using a borrowed computer), but I think I've posted pics in the GW era; I'll try to find one of the threads.