Project review: a chronicle of life in small kitchens

Unfortunately, many Americans have very small kitchens, but that doesn’t mean their owners can’t enjoy cozy and stylish furnishings. On the contrary, the smaller the kitchen, the more clearly everything in it should be thought out, because every inch of space is taken into account. We bring to your attention two options for arrangement of a small-sized kitchen. We hasten to notice that these are real kitchens in two apartments, which owners in practice were able to estimate all advantages and disadvantages of their projects.

The illusion of volume

The owners

A young couple who bought their apartment three years ago and started, as usual, with the repair.

The size of the kitchen

: 5,5 sq. m.

How we chose

: Andrei and Natasha decided to do a little “marketing” to choose the kitchen that best suits their price range. After a long search, a small furniture factory showroom near the house caught their attention. Andrey himself was engaged in arranging the furniture. He is a designer by profession and had a good idea how to do it… Natasha really wanted her kitchen to be bright and cheerful. But Andrew insisted that the furniture should be a neutral color, so we opted for white, but the tiles we chose were cheerful.

Design

The furniture: we decided to put it “at an angle”. The front wall has been tiled. The Italian tiles were chosen for this purpose, and Andrei approached the question creatively. It took three basic colors: ivory, yellow, ochre, and a few tiles in bright orange and burgundy brown. The latter have been assigned the role of creating bright contrasting spots. The burgundy brown color was matched with the color of the old stove the couple inherited from the apartment. It turned out that the basic light, bright palette is diluted with juicy, saturated strokes. The wall was built to the ceiling. There are no cabinets on it, because there is a gas water heater. The rest of the kitchen walls are two colors and are painted and wallpapered. We decided to remove the door when we renovated. The resulting opening visually united the kitchen and room. The concept of painting the room logically flowed into the kitchen, so it turned out that the two walls are light yellow, one – the color of cocoa.

Furniture

The kitchen has only two wall cabinets. They are narrow, the doors open upward. The fronts are plastic, as already mentioned, in white, in an aluminum frame. Metal handles mortise. Countertop and apron are laminated, color is gray metallic. The furniture frames, including the sides, are gray then all the furniture in the house was custom made from the same materials . To the left of the stove there is a drawer with open shelves. On it pots and pans are kept. On the right is a cabinet with three drawers, then a corner cabinet, cabinet under the sink and a niche for the washing machine. The side niche is closed with a sidewall. The sink was supposed to be in the corner, so they moved it a little to the right. When the kitchen was installed, the walls hung three rails – against the stove and sink for utensils, another bar mounted hooks for mugs. To store kitchen rags and detergents, a special container was attached to the apron. In addition, bought a narrow shelf for glasses, hung shelves for spices.

Next to the refrigerator, a whole series of shelves were made. On the right side up to the wall was a small alcove, in which installed three rows of shelves, which housed a tin with flour, cereals. On the left, two shelves with rows of glass jars for bulk products.

Under the hinged cabinet mounted daylight lamp, it included a button and lit up part of the countertop and sink. The apron has two outlets.

The kitchen comes out a mezzanine, for which we ordered the same door as the sets the same in the hallway .

Appliances:

The kitchen has a solo stove, it was decided to put it against the furniture. The refrigerator stands in the corner. For the microwave oven, there was no other place but on the refrigerator. To use it for heating and cooking is convenient, but to wash it was difficult – a little high. The washing machine is right here in the kitchen, to the right of the sink, and hand washing is almost never done in the house, so powders have not taken root in the bathroom. But there was a place for them under the sink.

In the kitchen she uses only a few small appliances – a mixer, a blender, a coffee grinder, a juicer. Just for them were arranged sockets on the apron. The mixer and blender “live” in the drawer, the coffee grinder – in “tea”, where the hostess keeps jars of coffee, some varieties of tea, candy and cookies. Part of a shelf in a spacious corner cabinet was allotted for the juicer.

Project features: when assembling the set it was necessary to move only the sink, the gas stove has remained in its place. The kitchen has no dining table, it is in the room.

The curtains for the kitchen Natasha designed and sewed by herself. She bought sheer fabric and a piece of cotton with a pretty pattern of exaggerated cells. The color of the drawing goes well with the shades in which the room is executed. A wide border was made of cotton for the main transparent fabric. It turned out interesting, the fabric does not let in the bright sun, but does not hold the light.

Price

: The furniture cost about $1,000, the cost of the set does not include appliances.

Project highlights

: In general, the kitchen is spacious and bright, it is not crowded, all things are in easy reach. The layout of the kitchen the newlyweds are satisfied to this day. One of the most used cabinets was a cassetteette. There was room in it for the cutlery, kitchen trinkets and packages. Cassette, in fact, takes a central place in the set, and therefore is accessible from the sink and stove. Very convenient were the shelves for pans, they are right at hand, while cooking you do not need to make unnecessary movements. To store the lids bought unpretentious stand, mounted on the wall. The lids are neatly arranged and one can always reach out and grab the items needed. Hinged cabinets with opening upward are still a bit wary of their owners – the fact that the open door is quite dangerous. You can bump into it when you raise your head. But all items are in the palm of your hand, no need to rummage around for a jar of tea or coffee grinder, and the door locks in any position. The left hinged cabinet is equipped with a dryer, it has no bottom, the dishes in it are always in perfect order. The right-hand cabinet is considered the tea cabinet.

Work on the countertop is divided into a manual, it is performed on the left wing near the stove, and, so to speak, mechanized, ie with the help of electrical devices mixer, blender, juicer . For such work the right side of the table, next to the outlets is more suitable.

The disadvantages of the project

: On the very first day the countertop swelled up at the joint. The same thing gradually happened to the ends of the shelves, on which wet dishes were often placed, and to the bottom of the apron. In a corner floor cabinet was installed carousel – two baskets that move forward when you open the door. Natasha did not appreciate this innovation. She did not like the fact that the huge volume of the cabinet was not used rationally, in addition, the baskets were too heavy to carry the young housewife’s supplies. In general, we removed the upper basket and put a shelf in its place. The lower one was left behind, since it was possible to use the space in the corners not occupied by it, and the bottom of the bench was used for jars of jam and honey.

Additional changes

: Over time, a small stepladder was purchased for the kitchen. The question of its necessity arose with the appearance of the microwave in the kitchen. The stepladder is also used for cleaning on top of the cabinets and to get or remove something from the mezzanine. Since the step-ladder is not used that often, the plastic bread-basket was placed on it.

The hostess found a use for the empty basement spaces as well. The plinth is easily removable, and in its recess are jars and empty flower pots.

The cabinet under the sink has become a “household cleaning supply. The trash can is reinforced on the door. Crumbs can be scraped off the worktop when it’s open – very convenient. The cabinet turned out to be voluminous, it contains large bags of powder for white, colored linen, wool, laundry conditioner, bags of earth for flowers, clean kitchen rags and sponges, scoop and broom.

Bottom line

The kitchen looks very fresh and cheerful, even though it has a definite bachelor’s note in it since the family doesn’t have kids yet. Natasha loves cooking and the house is often full of noisy gatherings. Despite the kitchen’s small size, it had room for all the “cooking stuff” and some supplies. Unfortunately the small area of the kitchen does not allow to equip it with new large appliances – for example, the dishwasher, there is simply no place to put it. But the room layout made an illusion of a big volume and even a studio where you can “turn around” really well.

Cozy nest

The owners

The kitchen was not possible to move it any closer to the gas pipe: the young couple Natalia and Vyacheslav, both 27. Their new kitchen was a present for each other for their five-year wedding anniversary.

Kitchen Metrage

Width of kitchen from wall to wall – 2,16 m total area – 4,5 sq.m. . m .

How did we choose

The family lives in the New York region, so we went to a company in our own city to avoid the expense of delivery. When choosing the kitchen, the main criterion was the price, as well as the possibility of a large number of options. The color of the fronts was also important, t. k. Before that we renovated the kitchen and the walls were very bright color “summer” . The choice fell on a company that was recommended by an acquaintance. They have already used the services of this company, although they warned that the production time differs from the promised one by about a month. This was later confirmed, though after a month the kitchen has not been finished.

Design

The kitchen, washing machine and gas stove were measured by ourselves initially. k. they were left in the kitchen. With this in mind, the store manager created a project.

The kitchen had a 7 cm extra wall to mount the cabinets and a recess for the washing machine. It was necessary not to buy a new washing machine, but to cover the old one a big one, 7 kg with the front. The worktop was flush with the gas stove, and it was impossible to move it closer to the gas pipe. But after the wall has been built, the result surpassed all expectations: firstly, the gas pipe is hidden behind the wall panel provided a small niche for a crane , and secondly, behind the sink has more space.

Light in the kitchen side, adjustable through a rheostat. It was decided to make a cornice panel followed by the possibility of cutting in the light. Conducted electrical wiring: in the work area in the center between the stove and sink were made four built-in power outlets, plus one outlet near the hood, three down near the stove and three under the sink for the washing machine, etc. p. for example, in the future for the shredder .

Furniture

We chose “pink maple” fronts , the wall panel and the worktop – under the fine tiles brown, red, beige, gray in alternation .

There are five wall cabinets. One is above the stove and the hood is built into it. Originally the plan was to have a chimney-style hood, but since the kitchen is small, and there are a lot of things in five years of living together, we decided to install a built-in hood. The decision turned out to be right: firstly, two extra shelves are not a problem, and secondly, the built-in hood is practically not visible, because it slides in and out to work.

We chose two horizontal cabinets with cloudy glass for the beautiful dishes , the cabinets are equipped with gas elevators, the door of which can be fixed in any position – this is very convenient. Subsequently, the plan is to light the inside of the cabinets to nicely illuminate the dishes.

According to the project under the horizontal cabinets was a niche, which it was decided to turn into a shelf. It looked small in the diagram, but still roomy enough to hold medium-sized items. When we came to install the kitchen, it turned out to be a very, very small and deep shelf. It was a bit of a disappointment because it only had room for the remote control and a lot of wasted space. The problem was solved – on the shelf beautifully placed small coffee cups.

A narrow cabinet with four capacious shelves fit between the hood and horizontal cabinets. It is designed for candy, cookies, tea bags, cans of grits and coffee, as well as salt and sugar. And another important cabinet in any kitchen is a dryer. It was chosen without a bottom the dishes in it are stored on an aluminum structure. It’s convenient because the dishes dry out very quickly. But it was considered an additional option, for which I had to pay extra.

The bottom part of the kitchen set looks as follows: by the window – white four-burner solo stove 60×60 by the way, and the hood was chosen in color, white , then – cassetteette with three drawers. The two bottom drawers are deep and easily hold, for example, a toaster or a juicer or a food processor, while the shallow drawer is for knives, forks and spoons. Next was the washing machine, which took a lot of work to cover it with the fronts. The doors attach one to the cassette, the other to the drawer under the sink. This was done in order not to install an additional drawer and therefore save money. And a drawer on the left wall for a round sink. The handles on all the drawers are long aluminum tubes across the width of the fronts, so you can hang towels or something else.

One of the most difficult things was to choose a sink. I wanted a round sink with a drainer-bowl, but the space available was only 50 cm the standard drawer is 60 cm , so only the round sink fit inside those half-meters. And then I had to make a cut in the right wall of the drawer.

Home appliances

: In the kitchen there is a solo stove, built-in hood, washing machine it managed to build it, but in order to pour the powder and fragrance, you have to take out the tray completely, though now it can always be washed and cleaned . It was originally conceived to place on the work area: a juicer, a blender, an electric kettle, a toaster, a food processor, a steam cooker. But then it was decided to put it all in cabinets and drawers, and take it out as needed, so that the work area was large, not cramped. The kettle, on the other hand, is placed on the table.

Project features: the gas stove stood up against the window, good thing that when installing plastic windows window sill was made flush with the wall and did not protrude. The window has fabric blinds that look cozy but are practical at the same time: they can be washed in a washing machine. In the cabinet above the hood is located chimney and there is a socket, which is connected to the hood.

The price

The total price for the furniture set is 40,000 Dollars the price includes the hood plus installation costs of 10.5% of the price. The sink, which it was decided to buy separately, in a complete package cost 1400 Dollars. Faucet with a siphon – 950 Dollars, rails full set with angle, plugs – 600 Dollars.

Advantages of the project

: The bright color creates a warm atmosphere in the kitchen. Despite the minimal size, the kitchen looks comfortable and spacious and the work surface is larger. t. k. was extended the wall, as mentioned earlier, hid the gas pipe, as well as the exhaust port in the wall, which is behind a drawer with a hood. Very convenient dryer – it has no bottom, the frame is made of aluminum. The washing machine can be removed at a later date and a cupboard or dishwasher inserted without major alterations. The wall panel was chosen instead of tile, it is a very good alternative, especially since the pattern of the panel is the same as the countertop. It perfectly harmonizes with the countertop, as well as with the kitchen as a whole, the owners are very happy. In general, the wall panel to date – a convenient and cheap option, and if necessary, you can later replace them with other panels of different colors, or another material wallpaper, tile, paint .

Weaknesses of the project

The promised manufacturing time is extended, sixty-two days have already passed since the contract was signed. We are still installing the furniture without fronts and the wall panel above the stove is not finished. Managers of the store are “feeding the truth”, they say that MDF fronts with the color “pink maple” are only produced at the factory, and they are not ready yet. The lower baseboard was held in place by three plastic clamps, which quickly fell into disrepair, and were replaced by steel ones which the owners bought and installed by themselves.

Additional changes: after assembling the furniture without fronts were installed by himself outlets, plumbing, hanging rails, attached special containers, extra shelves and a huge number of double hooks, as well as a stand to store the lids. Ordered a cabinet in the color of the kitchen furniture under the window. Subsequently, we plan to cut in the upper baseboard light, as well as light in the horizontal drawers, under cabinets above the work surface and install the dishwasher in place of the washing machine.

Result

The kitchen has certainly become more cozy, comfortable, even as if more spacious. All the basic things fit, and the less necessary things are hidden in drawers. The inspiration to continue the repair of the remaining rooms. The kitchen was the perfect setting for the celebration of Vyacheslav and Natalia’s five-year wedding anniversary amongst their closest friends. And only the lack of fronts still grieves them to this day.