Hi thank you. There is no space between the living and kitchen. This is a 1000 sq ft home. Looking at possibility of tear out and replace or keep what I have and add functionality. I miss a pantry, microwave takes up counter space and looks ugly.

What if I pulled the cabinets all the way to counter beside fridge just level with wall know out and out microwave in cabinets. It is 15” wide so small microwave?

Without floor plan and pictures of the rest of the space it is really difficult to be sure which way to deal with your challenges…

How many live in your house? How often do you sit at that four top table and eat?

For a full reno I'd consider removing both kitchen windows and making the door full glass to bring in light. Have a range with microwave over it and uppers on either side and on the short end where the fridge is now located. Relocate a counter depth fridge to where the dining table is now. Put pullout pantry on one side of the fridge.

The most obvious change may be to eliminate the most obvious option would be to remove the dining table and place the refrigerator there with cabinets above it and narrow storage

Down the right side of the fridge…….

Sheri, this is why I suggested you reference your 2 prior posts here. If she replaces the dining table with fridge, there is no place to eat. This is the only dining space.

lots of homes use the kitchen island for their dining space quite successfully …

When guests are over, everyone sits at the kitchen island?

The most obvious change would be , moving the cook top to where the fridge was will allow the entire island for dining as needed

it is not fair to make a judgement where guests are to be seated….especially with so little info on the lifestyle of the homeowner..

There are two of us in the house but my three grown children come and stay weekends or at least 2 do. That said like another space to sit and eat

bty, I certainly wasn't judging. Not sure where you got that from. But I also did read Sheri's prior threads.

Here is footprint of house

At this point …maybe adding pictures of the rest of the space would help🤷🏻‍♀️…it seems like a pretty big order to add another comfortable eating space without knowing how much furniture you have in the space now

Kcooz…sorry …

Sheri..is it possible to post a picture from the kitchen into the rest of the living room area? It is hard to imagine there is room for another dining area and a living room seating

Into living area

Living area

Living

Lots of good in this kitchen, but a few glaring problems:

- I don't love where the refrigerator is located, but -- without significant moving /remodeling -- I don't see a better option. I think it would look WAY better, if you removed the open shelves on each side of the fridge /replace them with traditional closed cabinetry. As presented now, the fridge appears to be floating in a weird way. You'd probably need to paint all the cabinets so they'll match.

- I do like the open shelving next to the door, but I'd lose the uppermost shelf. It seems "too high" for the space, and two shelves feels like the right number.

- I'd like to see a curtain over the two windows and the door. Something bright and patterned.

- I would absolutely not lose the dining room table. The island seating is fine, but having no table feels a bit like a college apartment.

- Pantry: Could you work a freestanding closed cabinet into the living room space? Or could you give up the island seating /add cabinets on that side of the kitchen? Two-level cabinets are unpopular right now, but -- if you lose the barstools -- you could add a 48" high 12" deep cabinet, which would partially shield the kitchen from view and would provide a good bit of shallow storage.

- The lighting could use some work. I'd like to see table light and the peninsula lights either match or coordinate. I like the round mirror, and I like the round table light, but together they don't work. I don't see a light over the sink; I'd add a pendant to match the peninsula lighting.

Is this your full time home or a vacation/second home? That would make a difference into how much time/money I would want to "invest" in the property.

How long have you been cooking on the gas stove…without a vent hood above??? Yikes!

I just moved in and it is a full time home, just downsized from 3200 square for home.

Good for you for being able to downsize. We couldn't do it and went larger with our retirement house!

Since this is your full time home, how much budget do you want to allocate? You can get a lot more from the space, but it probably means all new kitchen cabinets. For example, upper cabinets to the ceiling would provide a lot of storage. I would want drawers too.

Frameless, full overlay cabinets would also allow more storage space overall.

Do you have a basement or space in the garage for a second fridge? Then you could have a smaller counter depth fridge in the kitchen.

Thank you, really struggling with the downsize! We do have a garage for a second fridge so could do that. Agree with cabinets thanks. Not quite sure what I want to spend on it. Contemplating adding master squire over garage or bumping out back and this new kitchen but most likely work with what we have as far as space. The whole idea with downsizing was to save money and live simply. Just not sure if we went too far

Also no basement

Could I move the kitchen to the nook side and switch door around?

Like this? And have kitchen table on other side?

I would move the stove were the refrigerator is now and replace the open shelves with regular cabinets. Move the refrigerator where the dining table is. I would get rid of the window and add a panty there also.

Remove the bar with the bar chairs and place your dining table there.

I think if you move the couch along the window and float the chair it would open up the space some.

Put in wood cabinets that are distinctly different than your other cabinetry. I would make the depth of them at least 15" to help compensate for the depth of the fridge.

In all honesty…I think this home was well designed to get the most out of space as is…adding or moving anything is not really going to make more space…

If there is a studio unit in the building that you could buy “for guests”…that would be one way to accommodate them…

Going one step further …depending on your location…and if it is allowed..many people rent a space like this “short term” instead of a hotel…

A great way to enjoy a more “homey” space for tourists who want more than just a room…and for you to make friends from around the world…and a little added incime

The only downside is as lot of expense with no added space

We just downsized for 3200 sq ft to 1200 sq ft. with a huge crawl space thank god. I suggest you live there for a bit to really get a feel fot the space and what you really need. It takes time to really make it your own so if you can store some stuff in the garage for now until you start living in there . We were lucky we got the perfect kitchen but the LR is small but I got new furniture that works well and I am loving it now. IMO that fridge wouyd make me nuts it is the eyesore in the space I would rip out that wall cabinet and get a counter depth fridge Not sure how big that fridge is but at least counter depth will be better . I do hoever advise nothing else right now. Is that the only dining space ? A to scale floor plan of the whole living space could really help us help yu. Do it on graph paer show every window, doorway and where those lead and every measurement you might be surprised how many ideas pop up/ NOt sure abbout the tourist thing but I do like Kendrah's idea if this is just another eating space but in truth you need to live there for a bit before spending money . BTW counter depth fridges only lose about 10% of storage so I would not worry about that. A good purge is alos a good idea before decidin how much storage you really need

Get cabinets for the walls where you have shelving and reface the entire kitchen to a light color. When you reface, all lower door cabinets can be converted to deep pull out drawers. Moving appliances is expensive. Yes, the fridge is a bit clunky in size, but it’s built in and not terrible.

These are just ideas and if any are feasible, you’ll improve storage and functionality and the visuals. Getting quotes may help you decide what items are practical to tackle.

1. Better usage of wall with fridge (counter depth recommended) with (white) upper cabinets right across the top and shelves below.

2. Remove the shelves by window and replace with a practical cupboard that sits on counter for storage/get things off the counter.

3. If…..LR dimensions allowed and you are ok with narrowing the peninsula‘s counter/losing stools, and the shelving/cabinet/chair near fireplace , add a banquette and a table perpendicular to window and you‘ll gain a practical seating area.

4. With dining table gone in the alcove you could add your pantry.

When I downsized from a five bedroom three story home to a Manhattan apartment, I did a lot to make the space appear bigger, less confining. It did wonders for downsizing without feeling like I was living in a box.

There is a lot of psychology to small space living and making a space seem bigger than it. It helps the sacrifice of a small home feel less like a punishment and more like a smart lifestyle.

Aside from your kitchen, I wonder if you have thought of ways to make the space feel more open? There are so many confining elements here: Tons of wood rectangles from the windows and doors chopping up the space. Ceiling fixtures making the space feel chopped up and boxed in. Furniture that feels tight and cramped. A dark TV box above your fireplace.

Were it my space, I'd:

- Paint all the windows, baseboards and the closet (or is it a powder room door?) the same color as the walls. If you like the natural wood, the front and back doors are enough.

- Install all recessed lighting on the whole first floor - no chandeliers at all. If you don't want to invest in electric work, then get two pendents that are completely glass for the island, and a flushmount for the living room that blends in with the ceiling.

- Paint all open, floating shelving the same color as the walls. Again, you will see your objects on them but reduce the visual lines chopping up your space. And, remove the top shelves in the kitchen that you are not using.

- Paint the wood fireplace wall, remove the mantle, and get a Frame TV with light colored artwork thereby getting rid of the black hole.

- Get living room chairs with open arms.

- Your mirror placement 90-degrees from a window in your kitchen is very smart. If you keep this as dining space, get a much larger mirror for this area. It does a great job of reflecting light and making it feel like there is another window there.

- Also, if you keep the dining table as is, I'd replace the two chairs crammed against the wall with a bench that disappears when the table is pushed against the wall. When you can see chairs being held hostage by a table it just makes a space seems too crowded.

- How often do you use four stools? Keep two out and store the other two - hang from the wall in your garage?

All of this was posted about one month ago and several suggestions were given, mockups posted, etc. The only thing that is better this time around are the pictures of your space.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6509358/small-house-help

If you move the fridge to the table area and the stove to the wall where the fridge is you would have and open peninsula for seating. There are a couple of things that work for adding seating to the inside for when you have guests.

You can get a pull out table, or replace 2 cabinets with stools on the inside of the island or an extending counter

https://foter.com/pin/13775258

https://www.atimspa.com/en/product-category/transformable-furniture-systems/sliding-tops/

https://eggersmannusa.com/motion-sliding-countertops/

Your kitchen sounds lovely already! Adding upper cabinets and a sleek pantry could really enhance storage and create a more polished, upscale look especially with lighter tones to keep it airy.

What if I put my fridge where the shelves are in between door and window and move range where fridge is?

What are you talking about? Between the fridge and window? This lacks all spatial awareness. A fridge is not going to fit there. And then what happens to the sink? Am I misunderstanding something?

Yes, put the range where the fridge is. And then as many have suggested, put the fridge where the table is. Do without a table or get rid of the island and have a table there instead.

There are only so many ways to do this.

I would not have two seating areas in such a small space and I would not have the only seating area be at the counter. Consider removing the counter seating and the pony wall behind the peninsula cabinets and adding cabinets there. Replace the fridge with a shallower fridge, ideally fully built in, and add cabinets on the fridge wall. Add banquette seating for the back wall of the dining area and get chairs that do not protrude as much for the kitchen side. You will still have the current imperfect layout but you do not have many options that allow the dining table to stay and your kitchen is wide enough that it is not impossible to have multiple people in the area.

The approach that would make a better layout would be to remove the dining area window (is that even possible), move the fridge to that wall and add pantry cabinets, move the range to the fridge wall, remove the peninsula and have a dining table in that space but it looks like there may not be enough room to have a table there.

Counter height seating is not just impersonal since no one can face each other, it also impacts your body differently than sitting with your feet on the ground. It is fine for short amounts of time but long meals and conversations are better at a table.

Also, what is this in your floor?

If you are seriously considering extending your master over the garage, the better option may be to extend the entire back of your house to enlarge the kitchen area and the second bedroom, possibly making it the main bedroom.

What are you willing to give up to put your fridge between door and window. A window perhaps?

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