well with severe damage like that, a plan has to ensue, certainly. Realistically , the best plan for long term can't be known, esp. since you haven't lived there. I would be looking at that 11 foot wall as a possible removal, and think about opening up this tiny space in the future. For now, I think the galley is the way to go.....no corners and use of two counter runs opposite each other, easy to install, play up drawers for storage ....maybe even some open shelves on one side or the other of wall space.

No walls can be removed - the living room on the other side of that wall is too small and is also the entryway and just trust me it won't work, even if we wanted to spend the time and money.

The galley would be very narrow, and sink opposite stove which I know my DH would hate... also moving the sink will involve hackhammering the slab to move drain. I think the L might be our only option.

"living room is too small and is also entryway"-- you certainly describe constraints. It might be worth it to post the whole floor of the home. In a good neighborhood and smallish type home.....you shouldn't rule out that in the future some reconfiguration and/or bump out somewhere will make this the perfect sized home. When every where you look a constraint presents itself, sometimes a reworking of goals and planning comes into play. A smart/modest renovation can pay off handsomely. I would think more like "wholehouse planning" from your descriptions and don't fail to look at every option.

That's not an option for us, as I mentioned. We won't be able to make this house "perfect" it will just have to be good enough floor-plan-wise.

Just be careful with dishwasher placement so you don't trap yourself in the kitchen when it's open. Also a French door or side-by-side fridge will take up less room in the aisle when opened. This kitchen might be a good candidate for a smaller sink/sink cabinet.

I know your DH doesn't like the sink-opposite-range, but it's the option that gives you the most accessible storage, and there is (kind of) room for two people at each end. I wonder if there is room for shallow, and I mean 12", counter with shelves or cabinets at the end under the window? Just enough for holding the coffeemaker or toaster on top, or attractive canisters to hide sippy cups.

The L gives you the most elbow room, but no place to keep your flatware. You could maybe add a small rolling cart though, but it also gives room for the high chair so you can have company while you cook.

Can you give the measurement of the total area for kitchen and dining room and pantry you posted previously?

Tmnca, what is your budget? I have a TINY Ikea kitchen and we love it!

Our budget is $10k including appliances and countertop. Some wiggle room there, but I know this is possible having done a larger kitchen with IKEA and custom granite for not much more last year :)

i dont have the dining area measurements unfortunately we forgot to measure that room and the sellers are occupying the house. However there is a large space on the left of the garage door that we could put a sideboard or even cabinets to hold serving items and so on. It would be too far from the DW for flatware and everyday dishes but seldom used appliances and so on could live there!

I prefer the L shape plan. It's less crowded and can load the dishwasher without being stuck between it and the sink. I would use 40" uppers and add one over the dishwasher. You could put 15" depth cabinets in the dinning room if there is space to add additional storage.

I was just about to post the new U design with voided corners... but then I read your comment Elizabeth and realized how loading the DW would be nearly impossible with this design! Back to the drawing board... and the L shape!

Here it is nevertheless.. glass uppers on left and the dreaded OTR microwave because there is no space...and I wanted counter space across from the fridge to set things on. Sigh.

New L, uppers look cluttered maybe... added a 15" base cab to have a landing space on that wall. voided corner wastes space but sink is centered at least...

For the last L you posted, how about something like this?

Here are a couple of ideas and a U kitchen.

If a small otc MW can be used you can have a real hood. I used a telescopic hood many years ago. It wasn't great but at least allowed room to keep a few items in the wall cab. If they improved overtime it can give the kitchen a less crowded look imo.

An 18" DW was suggested before, but just wanted to repeat it in case you missed.

This just seems like a galley kitchen to me.

Thanks, the sideways cabinets are an interesting idea but I'm afraid it will great too much restriction on access to the dishwasher there. I don't think we can do with an 18" DW as it is we run it every day, so having it fill up practically every meal would be very inconvenient, and in not sure if I could fit the sink cabinet and DW in under the window in a U because there is some spacing required at the corners to allow drawers and doors to operate, but I can play with that in the planner and see!

The kitchen is plumbed for gas so we are getting a gas range not induction.

i really hate the OTR microwave because it's too high and dangerous to use during stovetop cooking - we currently have a mini whirlpool 15x15" microwave that fits in a wall cabinets but it's pretty underpowered, though it does the job. Right now it's up too high for safety too but I may be able to set something up lower on the wall for it.

Do they even still sell the ones that mount under cabinets?

The kitchen is plumbed for gas so we are getting a gas range not induction.

I don't know much about these stuff but fridge is very close. Can't you get electric from there?

Stove needs a 220v outlet so can't use same outlet as a fridge. You could do the smaller sink option with 24" dishwasher? With the U Shape kitchen

Have we seriously thought through your pantry area? There is so much space in there, could it be repurposed?

We took out a horrid built in closet in our bathroom, put a small washer/dryer with shelves above it,.......... could something be done with your pantry?

I know that you can't move any walls, but can you recess the frig into LR wall even a couple inches? That not sticking out so far will help a lot.

Sink wall 30"DB, 27" SB, 26" DW

Range wall 2" filler, 15" DB, 30 Range, 18" Trash, 27"DB, 39 Frig Cab

Moving the sink to create a galley will involve jackhammering the concrete slab and running the drain through - and quite a bit of added expense and mess as well as permits. I'm trying to keep that as a last resort... if the L can not be made functional.

Yes I can use the 24" sink cabinet,

Recessing into the wall can't happen because the wall framing prevents that without reframing the wall and it is a supporting wall. We will use a counter depth fridge so it doesn't stick out too much.

If you do like the galley version - just a note - you won't need to jack hammer or do anything with the slab to connect to the existing drain. You can run a slight slope pipe through the wall and connect to the existing drain location or behind the cabinets until you hit the drain wall where you'd need to hide it into the wall.

That is a narrow kitchen!

If it were me I'd want more room between the sink and stove (that is a very cool looking old gas stove, btw!) What about moving the sink to the far left corner (when facing into kitchen) and putting a DW where the sink currently is, then get rid of the run of counter on the wall by the garage. It would increase the countertop between the sink and stove and widen the kitchen. I'll probably be reprimanded because the DW and oven doors would interfere with each other but I can't honestly see how there is anywhere in that kitchen where an open door, be it refrigerator, oven or dishwasher isn't going to block something when open. This is a solid one person kitchen. Right now when the portable dw is rolled into the kitchen to run you wouldn't be able to even get in there to do anything else, so in a way you'd have the same limit (could only use dw when not using oven) but you wouldn't have to move it around.

What about building a new kitchen in the dining room and turning the current kitchen into a small eating area. Is your living room large enough to hold a dining table?

It's so hard to plan when you haven't lived in it yet, I was doing the same thing just over a month ago. I had to make a plan because we needed to buy appliances before we could move in as there were none in there at all, but if I'd been able to live here a bit before I'd have chosen differently. If you can wait until you're in there to plan, do. The reality will change what you think you need/want.

Can you, would you, move the refrigerator where the pantry is now? That would give you soooo much counter and cabinet space. I didn't see how wide the pantry is, but perhaps there is room to add a pull-out pantry cabinet beside it.

Lyfia - no that's not allowed by California is building code, when we remodeled our current kitchen (just last January) we moved the sink and we did have to have a trench cut in the slab, drain line run through and resealed - and the permit inspectors made them change the pipe type and delayed everything a week as well, and filled the house with concrete dust that took several deep cleanings to remove. This time we are doing a lot to this house that needs TLC but with a young baby in tow my patience for doing such things is nonexistent, so I need this to be a simple change and not a complete remodel.

The pantry is across the dining room from the kitchen, it would be quite a trek to the fridge and I wouldn't like that.

No it is definitely not in our budget ($10k ish) to move the kitchen at all - that would cost a fortune with all the plumbing and exhaust (California hoods must vent outside) and electrical that we'd have to do. And no the living room which is also the front door entry is 20' x 13' and just adequate for its function no room for a dining table, or to contain any other kitchen functions. We are stuck with the footprint, we just need to make it work for us!

Taking some inspiration from suggestions above, voiding corners and using the smallest sink cabinet, I have a couple U shape plans using 15" base cabinets on the left.

One is obviously more open than the other, and I switched to an integrated hood to keep the uppers looking uniform for a more modern look. I don't think I can deal with the microwave over the range or in a base cabinet, we will either keep our mini microwave in an upper or find a decent countertop one.

The sink being off center is annoying, but the asymmetric shape should make it less messy looking.

U plan -more open (horizontal cabinets have glass fronts)

U plan 2 - stacked uppers to countertop in corner (microwave could live in there) and bar like area for small appliances...

I want to start this out with saying I not only sympathize with you, but I empathize with you as well. We had a very large remodel - adding a two-story addition when my son was five weeks old, compounded by the fact that he had just had open heart surgery and we'd been at a children's hospital for four weeks. Its terrible to add disruption because a new baby is disruptive too (in a good way!) but I just don't want you to cut off your nose to spite your face just because it's easier in the short term, if you know what I mean. I would suggest a pro-con list for the different options. A galley is good in a small space, esp when the frig has to be in that space, but of course it has to work for YOU. Good luck and have fun with all your new adventures!

Thanks clueless - I'm sorry to hear about your son's medical issues I hope he is well recovered now! This house desperately needs a lot of work and most of it the less fun and more expensive type like new roof and windows etc. my husband is working 2 jobs right now and I'm staying home with our daughter, and it's so difficult to get anything like this done right now.... but it's just got to be liveable within a month because we are renting back our condo from the buyer for a month. This was our only opportunity to afford a SFH in a good neighborhood so it's the price we pay in investing our cash and our time.

What do you think of my latest designs? I'm pretty excited about them

Oh here's an inspiration pic I found of an even smaller kitchen similar layout with IKEA cabinets similar to what we are looking at! I think this is super cute.

and here's the IKEA display kitchen in the style we thought would suit our house

I like your latest layouts! Are you voiding the lower corners next to DW and sink? I'd probably skip the stacked cabinet on the countertop in the corner. Ikea has very cool tall, narrow pull out pantries. I wonder if you could incorporate one in your kitchen next to the fridge?

Yes I have voided both corners because the IKEA corner cabinets are either the massive double width ones or the corner lazy Susan which we have in our current kitchen but won't fit in a U here.

i had considered a 15" pantry cabinet beside the fridge, I thought it might close things in more than the counter level one above the DW at the back, and I liked the idea of the microwave being hidden in the counter level cabinet and being able to take out hot liquids onto the countertop rather than over the open floor... but I will play with that layout too!

That inspiration photo? You will hate that layout, and I don't use the word "hate" easily. My DMIL had that, and it is awful. She changed to an L from the Tight U the width of a sink and is sooooo much happier. That tight U is a "one-butt-kitchen" and no doubt about it. If you can't do a galley (and I totally get why not) I like your L plan the best, there's nothing like elbow-room.

The cabinets, though, are super-cute.

You can't move the stove over to get the small cabinet next to the fridge and the wider one between the sink and stove. Gas can run in the attic and down. And no need to move the hood roof vent, just connect to the same one from a different location.

Is it a U? Is it an L? No, it's U-ell! Included: Lazy Susan, dishwasher next to the sink and it opens too. A nice cooking grotto that is visible to the room, panel surrounds for the fridge. 36" sink base for a nice large sink with plenty of elbow room. Two people could work together. Might be a little butt bumping but that's the fun part.

Caninetix that's certainly a plan I would never have thought of! It definitely wouldn't work with a side by side fridge though, we'd have to go with a single direction door, and even then the fridge access looks pretty tight in that layout I think - but certainly good to have new ideas!

boathhome, oh the inspiration photo is even smaller than our kitchen I was just happy to see how things might look less dark and cluttered than they do now, anid liked the appearance of the style. I would not use that layout - I don't even know where they have an oven!

Tmnca I like your latest L's but strongly advice a wider cab b/w the sink and the range. You'd be too close to the range when you're at the sink and when bending to load/unload the dw.

Glad you at least think it's interesting. I really don't think it matters which refrigerator opening you choose as long as it isn't a single door that opens to the right. :) Side-by-side, French doors, I think they would all work. the design gets the hulking refrigerator out of view and allows you to make a design statement with the cooking wall. I'm not real happy with the cabinet to the right of the sink, if it were me, I would go with open shelves instead of the cabinet, but I thought I'd break the mold a little bit at a time. I should also add a note that you could not build this layout using Ikea because they do not offer the full range of standard cabinet sizes. I use a 9" wall cabinet to the right of the fridge to bridge to the corner wall cabinet.

tmnca: I also noticed that you were pulling the kitchen out into the room. With the 24" end panel on the refrigerator, we can create a small buffet/bar at the end that properly faces the room. Some glass doors, maybe a stem rack underneath or a strip of remote-controlled LED lighting to set the mood. If you were my customer, I would also offer to create a hinged butcher block drop down counter that connects the cooking area to the dishwasher.

Small kitchens can be cool kitchens. This one is not as small as it looks right now. The bottom image shows one open shelf option. Three 10" shelves running long, which will make the room look much larger than it is. First I focus on function, the aesthetics need to focus on the most common sight line. This is how you will be seeing your kitchen most of the time when you are not in it.

Do the L shape but on the opposite wall do built in storage instead of cabinets. I agree it will feel very closed in and an L shape is probably one of the best layouts. It's what I had in my first kitchen and it's still my favorite. In fact in my new build, I'm finally getting an L shape again.

All these examples are more traditional, but there's no reason you can't do the same with contemporary doors.

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The built in (recessed into the frame) shelves are a really cool idea - buuuttt that shorter wall is garage on he other side so I think that would compromise fire barrier and insulation?

Hi, tmnca! I remember your beautiful condo renovation. I haven't been on gw for a while. It's amazing how time flies--and you have a baby and a new house!

I jumped in to play around with your space before my kiddos wake up. My approach was to reconsider this L shaped area as two separate spaces: a 8'3"x8'3" dining area (orange) + a 7'10"x10'9" kitchen (pink.) Also, it looks like you have a lot of doorways in that dining area, so I think using a round table centered and closer to the slider would help with traffic flow. You might need to move the dining light fixture.

Note: to make an L shaped room, click on "YOUR ROOM LAYOUT" and at the very top select "Room Shape and Size." Room shapes are below the floor plan.

I guessed on a few things and a few dimensions, but the gist is a 30" sink and an induction cooktop on an L plus a fridge and oven/microwave cabinet on the living room wall. I put an 18" trash/recycle bin at the entrance to the kitchen; with our family of four this has spared us a lot of frustration in our small house. I think most of your food is going to end up in your pantry. You might plan to get an Elfa system from Container Store during on of their sales.

Our house is 1200 sq ft, 3 bedroom/2 bath. I know this is not perfect, but when you have a small home you have to make some compromises

The built in (recessed into the frame) shelves are a really cool idea - buuuttt that shorter wall is garage on he other side so I think that would compromise fire barrier and insulation?

A lot would depend on how thick the garage wall is and also if you could spare some room in the garage.

I must say, I do like benje's idea. BTW: Welcome back benje. Was wondering where you were.

Thanks, CP. The older these kiddos get, the busier I get! I sure miss kitchening with you all <3

P.S. Between the studs storage might fit on that wall next to the pantry. Unless there's bathroom plumbing there or duct work or something.

tmnca -- One of these knobs goes to the pantry, but where does the second knob go?

When your child is toddling, you'll probably find great frustration in not being able to see her in the living room from the kitchen. If you plan to be in this house when she's 4+, you'll be happy for the separation and sound lessening quality of that wall :-)

Benjesbride, it leads to another closet currently occupied by an old upright freezer! We hope to have room in the garage for a chest freezer and eventually that freezer closet will be used to expand the half bath which is he "master" bathroom into a full bath, as it backs on to the bathroom. The full bath is off the main hall but the master has a little half bath with toilet across from the door, wall mount sink and yet another closet - the builder loved closets!!

For those curious, we are basically finished and have been using the kitchen a few weeks. We are very pleased with the layout - it is perfectly spacious for our needs and functional (and finally a gas range - wow!). We went in a more transitional direction rather than modern... we just fell in love with the Bodbyn cabinets.

here it is unstaged, light fixture to be changed and undercabinet lights are tested but need to be fished through cabinets when we have time.

I'm so glad we did not put the fridge on the other side on the dining area, and I'm glad we have uppers on both sides and the shallow drawers on the left are perfect for cutlery and measuring cups, containers etc. I wish we'd had the budget to do something clever with the voided corners, but oh well.

This was a $10k budget kitchen and ended up being slightly over butmot much, especially with our sale refund coming soon! Avoiding moving anything helped keep the costs down.

cabinets IKEA bodbyn off white

counters ceasarstone symphony gray (IKEA)

backplash daltile white subway with delorean gray grout

paint color Sea Salt (turned out very minty in our house but I still like it)

floor Mannington Adura Max dockside driftwood

fridge whirlpool, range Samsung, dw Bosch ascenta.

We font have curtains up yet so the strong late afternoon sun made it tricky to photograph.

I started up at the top just now, and beginning to wonder how it turned out. Imagine my surprise in getting to the bottom to find a reveal! You've done a wonderful job of maximizing the space you have, and it looks beautiful!

Will you be posting a separate reveal when it's been staged? I think you should!

Tmnca,

So tickled for you, we love our little Ikea kitchen too, it looks great!!! Good job!

Yes once we decide on a light fixture and get the undercabinet wires tucked away, I'll post a separate reveal thread... I know I always love seeing how others' projects came out! It's might be a while though, we have project fatigue now.