[Suncatcher]

Hi!

We’re ½ way through a DIY remodel of my mom’s small kitchen and would love your thoughts on how to make the ikea boxes go a long way! Her kitchen in a 1968 ranch was a tiny 8’X9’ wide galley, open to a 9’x9’ dining room on one side, and a narrow doorway to a laundry area on the other side. The laundry area doubles as a busy hallway because it connects the bedroom hallway to the former garage, which was long ago converted to living space to raise us 5 kids in 1460sf and 1-1/2” baths!

While Mom & Dad were attending a wedding in Hawaii J, we demolished the dropped ceiling over the kitchen which housed 2 fluorescent tubes above acrylic panels, and removed the wall between the kitchen & laundry. So now we have a galley kitchen with laundry at the end wall, consistent ceiling height of 7’-7-1/2” with recessed lights, and hopefully better flow between the two parts of the house.

With low ceilings, our preferred 39” uppers for maximum storage & undercabinet xenon strips will bring the height between countertop & upper cab light rail down to about 15 ½”, almost 3” below standard. Huge problem? The folks are 5’4” & 5’-2” tall.

Kitchen will feature Adel medium brown cabinets, blanco maple (whitish) or sierra ridge (brown black mix) silestone countertops, charcoal porcelain floor tile, and stainless steel appliances (33” wide bottom-mount fridge , slide-in electric range, single bowl ticor sink with ¾hp disposal, and dishwasher). The sink counter will be extended into the dining room to make way for the dishwasher which did not previously exist. The range side is same layout as before because of the openings to the living room & hallway. For various reasons, my folks don’t want to stack the front loading washer and dryer, which also serve as overflow countertop space during parties. Their microwave and toaster oven are currently in another room so bringing them back into the kitchen is at least a step in the right direction.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this fairly straightforward layout. I think it’s the uppers that could be tweaked more readily. Thanks for your knowledge & creativity! We're picking up cabs this weekend if all goes well .

[Gloria]

Hi Suncatcher, welcome!

If the space between counters and upper cabinets will be that tight, I would like to see at least some counterspace with higher clearance or maybe no uppers. Then there will be a place for the occasional blender use, etc. Either on the range side or the sink side, I would go with the 30" uppers pushed all the way to the ceiling and then smaller open shelving or hanging rails below.

The open corner shelving unit doesn't provide much storage. I would swap that and the 24" cab for a 36" W cabinet.

If you can possibly squeeze in a 24" cabinet instead of the 21" base, the new three-drawer 24"W stack would be so much more useful there.

The horizontal cabinet next to the microwave above the w/d may be awkward to use at that height. It may be helpful to mock one up at the proposed height and imagine opening it. Do you need to bend down to look in? Another option would be to have two of the microwave cabinets and use the second for the toaster oven or other open storage items. You are aware that the birch colored interior shows with that cabinet, right?

The entryways on the w/d side are pretty tight. Can the w/d be pushed back against the wall? Think about where you come through with armloads of groceries. Or think about where the appliance people will be moving stove, refrigerator in and out.

The feet on the cabinets are all different, you have some with plinth, some with 4" Capita legs and some with 8" Capita legs. To cover the exposed sides of the cabinets, you'll want cover panels on each side of the fan cabinet.

Those are just some thoughts I had. I hope others will join in with their thoughts too.

HTH
Gloria

	HTH definition HTH means Hope that helps!

	W definition W is a wall cabinet designation, as in W18, can be a stand-in for Wide, or when followed by a / stands for With.

[Suncatcher]

Gloria,

Thanks for your input! I will look into leaving more countertop clearance somewhere. I now realize that their 10-cup rice cooker with pop-up lid is always in use and probably did not open all the way even when they had the standard 18” clearance, so I will try to accommodate it in particular.

I originally did the end shelf so that the dining room would feel less crowded since I am encroaching into its original 9’x9’ footprint.

Unfortunately, I am not thrilled by the 21” cab either but that is the biggest it can go. Are there any fittings or accessories for these? The 21” base - 24”dishwasher-30” sink cab- 36” drawers happens to center the sink under the window and maximizes the wall length. I’d have to think about the pros & cons of increasing this to 24”, decreasing the 36” to 30” and sliding everything to the right.

Great observation about the horizontal above the washer/dryer. It would be eye-level <5’6” for my petite parents (and myself), but a bit low for taller guests. Could I stack a 24” tall door over a 15” tall door on a 39” cabinet to possibly align horizontally with the microwave cabinet? This would distinguish the laundry supplies from the kitchen supplies. I suspected that the birch interior will show with the microwave cabinet and was hoping to find darker self-adhesive contact paper or something fun to disguise it!

All the appliances are coming in the front door, through the living room and dining room.

Your thoughts are much appreciated!

[Gloria]

For interior fittings the 21" cabinet has shelves or wire baskets (shallow and some find that things fall off the sides when pulling out, not great). There are drawers available (for the shallow drawer on top) so if you wanted to do some modifying, you could use the 153 degree hinges on the door, and make your own interior drawerfronts to make them be pull-out shelves. It may even be better to use the 18" W drawers if you feel it's a little crowded in the dining area. I'd keep the 36"W drawers and centered sink.

The catalog says the 15" H doors are 15 3/4" and the 24"H doors are 24" so that adds up to 39 3/4". The 39"H cabinets are 39 1/8" so there's a little bit of a difference.

HTH
Gloria

	HTH definition HTH means Hope that helps!

	W definition W is a wall cabinet designation, as in W18, can be a stand-in for Wide, or when followed by a / stands for With.

	H definition H can be a stand-in for Height or when followed by *** can have an entirely different meaning.