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Tools & Resources
: Ask The Editor : November
2007
Remodeling a Small Kitchen
To submit your own kitchen question, send
an e-mail to editor@kitchens.com.
Question: I just bought my house and the kitchen really needs
to be remodeled. The problem is, every wall in this cube has a door,
doorway or a window. And the window is too low to put a counter in front
of. I do have a table right now in front of the window, but I can’t open
the refrigerator or my baker’s rack all the way. This was a cottage
built near the beginning of the 20th century, and I don’t think the
kitchen was made to entertain.
Answer: Like any remodeling project, you’ll first have to ask
yourself what you’re willing to spend. The doors, hallways and long
window all pose problems, and the best ways to make this kitchen more
functional and entertaining-friendly involve structural changes, which
can become expensive in a hurry.
If cost isn’t a big concern, consider eliminating the bathroom entrance
into the kitchen.
“One of the first things I would look at is the possibility of closing
the door off for the bathroom and moving that entrance someplace else,
perhaps off the front hall,” says Therese Kenney, a designer at Drury
Designs in Glen Ellyn, Ill. “That gives the homeowner another wall for
cabinetry and countertops.”
“Moving the hallway entrance to the kitchen down to the opposite end,”
she adds, would give you the
“L” kitchen shape, and you could put a table in the corner.
If the hallway entrance cannot be shifted, Kenney suggests moving the
living room entrance to the stove’s current location to create another
common kitchen layout.
“[Moving the living room entrance] would give you the opportunity to
create a
“U”-shaped kitchen opposite the bathroom, and keep the traffic
flow out of the working area of the kitchen,” she says.
If your goal is to make the space feel less boxed in, consider creating
an open floor plan by knocking down the wall separating the kitchen and
the living room. In this scenario, you could also add an island with a
range in front of the sink, eliminating the need for a stove near the
living room. Just remember that
NKBA planning guidelines call for the island to be at least 42
inches from the front of the sink..
Even if structural changes are out of your budget (or if they will
compromise the integrity of the home), an island behind the sink could
still increase the functionality of your kitchen. It could either serve
as a space for your range, or it could be used as a work station and a
table. A
two-tiered island can help you create separation between the
cook’s space and the guest’s space. While this plan eliminates a
traditional table from the room, the island seating area still allows
you to entertain.
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