SMALL Kitchen

[mudbug]

I have a big kitchen. And a big island. And lots of cabinet space. And room for a table.

But somehow I doubt I'm cooking any better than my grandma did in her kitchen that was the size of my current master bedroom closet.

To quote an old t-shirt I once had that seems apropos: It's not the size of the ship, but the motion of the ocean.

I believe we are only limited by our imagination. More stuff and space isn't truly necessary.

 

[SizzlininIN]

Thanks Sizz, knew you would understand and know how I feel. Only if you have been there can one really feel the way they do. I don't understand about the newer homes. I have been looking but like you said no kitchen big enough. I know the older homes seem to still be right size. I know for fact people would rather have someone do the cooking but when it doesn't tast e as good, what do you do then? So thankful you got your new home and are figuring ways of making it work for you. Sounds like you got if figured out what your plans are. Your hubby knows in order to have good meals he better keep you happy. Cause you are worth it.

Having this different piece of furniture will keep me satisfied for while. I know you were always experiencing some kind of difficulty in selling or buying your home. I wish you and your family the best and as I said when you wait long enough it happens. Don't know what the reason but I leave it to the One who knows.

Good to hear from you and keep on keepin on. We'll get there, Sizz. Oh, one more thing. We have to set the clocks again. Spring forward. don't know the reason for that eith er.

Thanks Itk! Yes and unfort., about the time change is we deal with more things (work, activities, etc....) in IL, as we live on the boarder of the Indiana and Illinois stateline. So now we'll always be an hours ahead of them and now always an hour behind my brothers up in MI.....all so very confusing and a pain but nothing I can do about it except move again and I have no intention of doing that so I'll manage.

 

[masteraznchefjr]

i use to have an big island in my old house but we rarely used it, instead we built a smaller kitchen in the basement that sort of ran like an assembly line. a 2 1/2 foot cutting prep area --> small sink --> 3 foot space area to put the prep and already used stuff --> stove, the width of the kitchen was probably 2 people wide. I found the smaller kitchen to be less messy (cause i had little space to make a mess and no messy floors) and quicker clean up and faster getting meals out than when i was in the kitchen with the island, but then agagin its all culture, cause in Taiwan most kitchens are designed small so i'm used to working efficently in a small kitchen.

but if it makes you feel nervous cooking in a small area i would get the island that could also accomadate a place to eat. I think home depot > lowes

 

[mudbug]

Jr! where have you been, darlin? off studying? nice to have you back

 

[masteraznchefjr]

Jr! where have you been, darlin? off studying? nice to have you back

yup studying lol AP exams are in 2 weeks but o well i think im well prepared

 

[In the Kitchen]

i use to have an big island in my old house but we rarely used it, instead we built a smaller kitchen in the basement that sort of ran like an assembly line. a 2 1/2 foot cutting prep area --> small sink --> 3 foot space area to put the prep and already used stuff --> stove, the width of the kitchen was probably 2 people wide. I found the smaller kitchen to be less messy (cause i had little space to make a mess and no messy floors) and quicker clean up and faster getting meals out than when i was in the kitchen with the island, but then agagin its all culture, cause in Taiwan most kitchens are designed small so i'm used to working efficently in a small kitchen.

but if it makes you feel nervous cooking in a small area i would get the island that could also accomadate a place to eat. I think home depot > lowes

You justed answered a curiousity I had about my aunt. She is from Taiwan and when she was here I told her I didn't care for the small kitchen. Now you just told me they only have small kitchens in Taiwan. She never mentioned that. I thought I was just the only one with the problem. Thanks Live and learn, if you can wait long enough.

The island in the kichen does make difference. I am happy I have it. You sound like you have your kitchen and more to help you with your cooking. I am happy for you. Do you have a pantry too?

 

[Claire]

Originally, Daylight Savings Time was for farming, to take advantage of the longer days of summer. Some states don't observe it. Hawaii is one -- being closer to the equator, days are pretty much the same length year 'round. Arizona doesn't, and that has a lot to do with Zonies liking to cultivate an independent spirit reputation. When we travelled through when we were full-timing, Indiana had a hit-or-miss attitude towards it. Local communities decided whether to honor DST or not. It was weird. We'd pull into a campground and have to ask what time it was, and it changed in various places all over the state, even in supposedly the same time zone! In recent years we've stretched DST on both sides (started it earlier, ended it later), I think the reason given was light later in the day actually makes for less crime. I think people just like the light later in the evenings.

For others tuning into this thread to try to make decisions, one thing to consider when deciding whether to island or not to island, is your traffic pattern in the kitchen. I'd never put one in my kitchen, because I often need to be able to run from stove to sink (which is on the opposite side of my large country kitchen). When I had my table in the middle of the room, it was a major inconvenience. I moved the table to the side so I could make that "run" without interference. If your sink is on the same wall as your stove, or an adjoining wall, an island doesn't interfere. But having something between the stove and sink is a pain when you are handling something like pasta that you need to drain.

 

[luvs]

awwww, i have a minature kitchen & a bigger one would be great. i have little room for stuff like fresh pasta, etc. kinda rough cooking in such a small kitchen. i'm considering a bigger apt. cause i'm used to working in school's very large kitchens & it's too small in mine. i love my city- very upscale & minutes from actual city, so i'm looking to stay nearby.

 

[avalondeb]

Looks like this is an old thread, but wanted to put in my two cents.

We just moved into a new house and the kitchen is SMALL. Plus, it is a galley kitchen with no room to expand - two walls are outside walls, behind the 3rd wall is the bathroom, and behind the 4th wall is the staircase going upstairs.

Anyway, my husband and I manage fairly well. We both love to cook and you can find us at baking and cooking at the same time at a moments notice.

A good option is to go for a moveable type of island or a cart. Have you also thought of going vertical? Use every inch of wall space and even ceiling space (pot racks). IKEA has some really great moveable kitchen furniture and ideas on how to use wall space. Check them out online.

I bought a Varde butcher block cabinet from them years ago. It has been moved all over two apartments and now the house. Once I stop using it in the kitchen, it is going into the laundry room and then maybe even into the garage as a potting bench. If you get something like that, if the island idea doesn't work out, you can always switch back and then use the piece somewhere else.

Here is the one I currently have, INVALUABLE. Plus, the drawers hold TONS of stuff! Good luck!

IKEA | home | Kitchen | Free-standing kitchens | VÄRDE free-standing kitchen | VÄRDE Base cabinet

 

[Corey123]

I once rented a one-bedroom apartment where the kitchen was so small that i couldn't get the table in it. it has to be used in the living room.

That was in the early to mid '70s.

 

[Robo410]

I've lived in cramped quarters and had tiny kitchens. I found one those rolling Islands quite useful. THey are counter height so I could extend my counter as needed and then put it out of the way. Storeage area gave me an extra cabinet! Always useful.

 

[Katie H]

Interesting thread. I didn't know it existed. Whoa! Our kitchen is so "sorry." One step above a campfire. There is NO storage. When we moved into this house, we realized there was no storage space in the kitchen and we lived out of boxes and crates for months and months and... You get the idea.

There were NO drawers in the kitchen and only about 3 double-door cabinets...for everything from food to dishes to cookware, everything.

The first thing Buck and I did was to buy a three-drawer chifferobe designed for children. Thank God, at least we had some drawers. Then we purchased a small base cabinet and countertop from Lowes to supplement our other "cabinet" space.

Still not enough room for all our toys. No problem. I installed a series of eye hooks in the ceiling and ran 1/4-inch metal rods through them, train track-fashion, to create ceiling-style pot racks. We made "S" hooks out of heavy-duty metal rod material. Now the ceiling looks like we live in a stalactite-filled cave. But everything's at our fingertips and we love it. When we remodel the kitchen you can bet we'll have stuff hanging from the ceiling. Just nicer.

The ambience is wonderful and, besides, the ceiling is really wasted space.

 

[In the Kitchen]

Small

Katie E - Thanks for your thoughts. I am sorry to hear you share the same feeling about your kitchen. However, sharing the link you found is interesting. After I posted the thread, I found island at Lowes. But I must say yours looks much better. It does help with having no room. All my appliances are not built ins like they have today. I have gas stove that is 36" and reason being I like area in middle for having someplace to put food when preparing.

We have been looking for home w/bigger kitchen. Why do they make all kitchens so small. They having divider of kitchen bar w/dining room but the kitchen is still small. No pantries anymore I wind up putting lot of canned goods on the floor or else in order to make room I give to food pantry. I do not want to throw anything out and do not keep something for more than 6 months.

Thanks again for your comments and hope you won't lose your ambition to fix your meals in small kitchen.

 

[BreezyCooking]

I also live in a home (about 20 years old) that has a very small kitchen, due to the fact that the original owner/builder built the place as a 2nd home/vacation home (isn't it nice to have that kind of money - lol!!).

Anyway, we bought the house as our one & only residence because of it's lovely rural 21 acres - perfectly suited for horses - & the fact that the house was unusual for the area. It's fairly modern with lots of skylights, geometrically-shaped windows, & wall-to-wall floor-to-ceiling glass in the living/dining area & master bedroom suite.

The kitchen is part of a kitchen/living/dining room area with cathedral ceilings. Kitchen itself is divided from the rest by a curving wraparound dining counter. Unfortunately, there is very little pantry/storage space, & I really can't go "vertical", because the kitchen walls are done in hand-made little Italian tiles, that I would neither want to hide nor ruin by trying to mount stuff on them - even if that were possible.

So I just struggle along. But since it's just the 2 of us, it really isn't too bad.

 

[avalondeb]

Hey BreezyCooking, you mentioned cathedral ceilings, does that include the kitchen? If the kitchen was visually divided with a lower ceiling, you can hand all sorts of things from the ceiling!!

If not, I liked the suggestion of having a moving cart that you can store in other parts of the house or out of the way. That way you wheel it in while you need it and move it when you don't!

 

[avalondeb]

InTheKitchen - I wound up storing all my canned goods outside the kitchen. There is a linen closet in the hallway outside the kitchen, I store everything there, except my spices, vinegars, oils, and other small condiments.

I have a small canvas shopping basket that collapses. I load up my basket once a day from my new "pantry". If I forget anything, it is only a few steps away. I have had to organize my cooking a little bit since I've moved in, but with such a tiny kitchen, I only have room for my "toys", no food!

 

[BreezyCooking]

Ah Avalondeb - if only that were the case - lol!! The ceiling in the kitchen portion isn't cathedral, but unfortunately it goes the other way - too low. There's virtually nothing I could hang from that ceiling that wouldn't whack us in the head, & my husband & I are short folks (5'4" & 5'5").

I think I'm just doomed to be one of those folks who crams everything into the available cabinet space & then jumps back fast when she opens the cabinet door - lol!!!!

As for the rolling cart - I don't have anywhere to roll it - lol!!!!!!!

 

[In the Kitchen]

house

Everyone said there wasn't any 'dead space' in here. Truly grateful for the suggestion of this moving island. The fridge takes up the most space.

Having linen closet is great. Only the fact you have to use a shopping basket to move from one place to another. Just give yourself credit for improvising!

As I said, looking at different houses all have small kitchens. makes me wonder if they all are available because the kitchen is small. My sister has everything it seems. But would you believe she doesn't cook! They always go out to eat. Even has walk in pantry. Whenever I mention this to others about her house they all ask me if I am jealous? I do wonder why things work out this way in life! I only hope one day I will have a 'BIG' kitchen.

 

[Katie H]

When I posted about our "difficult" kitchen (post #32) I guess I didn't make it clear that, when our kitchen was built in this house, it was sometime in the late '30s. Before then, the kitchen was outside, the summer kitchen as it was called, because our house was built in 1880 and many kitchens were in a separate building away from the house to make the house safer from kitchen fires.

At any rate, the kitchen became an after thought and no one ever updated it except for the appliances. Those, too, were a joke when we bought the house. We have since taken the appliances into the 21st century.

We will renovate the kitchen...some time in the future but, now, we've gotten quite creative and can hold our own against any streamlined modern kitchen anywhere. Although, sometimes we have to go on a bit of a scavenger hunt when we need some of our less often used tools. Like dragging our big Nesco-like electric roaster out from under one of the beds upstairs. That's okay. It works for now.

I've also become the queen of unusual containers for storing dried beans, grains, etc. All our different vinegars are stored in old wine bottles in a wine rack. Actually looks kind of pretty and we can see at a glance when we need to refill them.

 

[Claire]

I think I've lived with every kitchen imaginable. My least favorite is "galley" kitchens, where if you open the oven or fridge door another person cannot get by you. My last two kitchens were my favorites. Right now I live in an 1865-vintage home (the kitchen was probably added on in the very early 1900s). It is strictly a country kitchen; I know the cabinetry was probably put in during the 60s, but it is actually older than that, so whoever installed it bought it used. I'm not fond of over-designed kitchens that have cabinetry that looks like it belongs in a formal living or dining room. Yes, I, too, have noted that many of the biggest, fanciest kitchens with the most expensive equipment seem to belong to people who seldom, if ever, cook. In my kitchen you can tell it has been cooked in ... for a century!