The Kitchen: Before

So, here it is in all of its glory: my galley kitchen. (And yes, that is some high-tech taping of two photos together to show the whole room.) As you can see, it’s not exactly a huge space and there are some awful cabinets to reckon with. However, it’s a lot bigger than the kitchen space I have now, and secretly, I love galley kitchens. I spent some time working in a massive catering kitchen, and each cook set up his or her workstation in a space no larger than the six by eight feet I’ll sooncall my own. It’s sometimes just more efficient to be able to reach everything you need without moving too far.

The long-term plan for this space is to completely rip out all the cabinets and start fresh. When this happens I will likely go the Ikea route. (Ikea’s kitchen cabinet prices can’t be beat; and frankly, I think they’re as good-looking and sturdy as any other off-the-shelf cabinetry.) When I do that, I’ll build the cabinets into an L-shape to maximize my available space.

The short-term plan is to get this place looking a little nicer and make the most of what’s already there. I plan to rip out that cabinet above the stove. Clearly that hood isn’t doing any real work, and the cabinet there seems awkward to me. (Yes, I know I am a New Yorker getting rid of storage space.) Then I’m going to take off all the cabinet doors and all that god-awful hardware, which by the way, is affixed in the strangest of places. A little sanding, a coat of good primer and some high gloss white paint (I tend to like Martha Stewart’s Ironstone White), and this space should be a-okay. For hardware, I’ll opt for a something silver-colored to coordinate with the sink. I’m also going to attempt to paint that off-white laminate counter. A little research has uncovered a few sets of directions for painting laminate counters, so I’m going to give it a shot. To make the most of the space, I may end up mounting pot racks on the wall that the stove is on. (I have a lot of pots and pans, actually a shocking quantity of cookware, considering my age and how little space I have.) I’ll also probably get a small baker’s rack with a butcher-block top on wheels to push into that space between the stove and the counter. The fridge and the stove both seem to be fine, and are totally neutral, which is a blessing for this kind of quick fix.