Cozy Ideas For Little Kitchens
Tight Quarters Inspire Recipes for Stylish Utility

By Eliza R.L. McGraw
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, March 16, 2006

We live in the age of the ever-expanding kitchen, with towering refrigerators, massive ranges, counter space to spare. According to Dean Crist of the National Association of Home Builders, the average size of a new American home is now about 2,400 square feet. Typically, the kitchen takes up about 9 percent of that square footage, or 216 square feet.

Visualize that space: a room 20 feet long, almost 11 feet wide. Big.

But as many cooks well know, bigger is not necessarily better. Little kitchens can be more efficient: fewer steps between counter and stove, quicker trips between dishwasher and cupboard, spices within arm's reach.

To illustrate this truth, we went in search of kitchens that have to make every square inch count -- and found lots of style, ingenuity and happy owners.

Consider Jaime Palmera. His entire apartment in a 1940s Columbia Heights townhouse totals 750 square feet -- a long space that includes kitchen, seating area, bedroom and office. When he gutted the space for a remodeling four years ago, Palmera deliberately made the kitchen small -- about 8 feet by 14 feet. But he also took pains to avoid a closed-in feeling, deciding on a large island to separate the kitchen from the rest of the space. "I played a lot with the layout. I wanted to maximize the space, and then I went with a simple, free-standing island."

In truth, the 6 1/2 -by-4 1/2 -foot island is not all that simple. Palmera, an architect, custom-designed it using stainless steel framing from Chesapeake Rigging, an Annapolis company that constructs masts for boats. The exposed construction gives the island an industrial look; a marble top adds luxury. It houses a dishwasher and shelving on one long side. On the other, four stools slide underneath, saving space when the counter is not being used for dining.

Palmera says he wanted a kitchen that looked like a kitchen but was space-efficient. When he is not cooking, he uses rectangular metal lids that fit neatly over the burners on his cooktop, giving the island a more finished look. He says he hates having to remove the lids for cooking, "but it's worth it."

One wall is dominated by nearly ceiling-height black lacquer cabinets from Ikea. Palmera had outlets installed inside the cupboards so appliances such as the coffee maker and microwave can be used right where they are stored. "The only thing I have to take out is the blender, so I don't make a mess in there," he says.

Palmera estimates that he spent about $15,000 to $20,000 on just the kitchen renovation, and says that if he had it to do over, he might have allowed just a few more inches to accommodate a shelf for more storage space. Because his kitchen is just steps away from his sleeping area, Palmera has had a problem with cooking odors. He uses an extractor, a device that removes air from the kitchen, as well as cross-ventilation. A GE Advantium oven, which uses light rays to cook food extra-fast, also cuts down on lingering smells. And Palmera confesses he sometimes resorts to "a lot of incense."

Otherwise, he says, "it's really perfect for me."

The kitchen in Loren and Scott Kantor's upper Georgetown townhouse is much smaller than the one in their former home, so it required plenty of thought during its renovation. "I knew every single deficiency of our old kitchen, and everything I wanted in the new kitchen," Loren Kantor says.

The space, immediately off the front entry hall, runs toward the back of the house. It is 16 feet long and just 8 feet 4 inches wide at the cooking area and 9 feet 9 inches in the adjacent dining space.

Smart design alleviates any crowded feel, and Loren says she and Scott do not miss having more space because they've so carefully used what they have. "I ended up not having to get rid of anything because of all the storage. Now I even have an empty shelf," she says.

The Kantors' pantry disappears into the surrounding cabinetry until it is pulled out, providing access from both sides. It includes lighting so a cook can see what's inside, and each wire shelf is tall enough for cereal boxes and vinegar bottles, which makes it easier to stock and keep organized.

On the window wall, a counter-height built-in with stools replaces a cafe table with four chairs that Loren says "was so wasteful of space." The ingenious built-in, designed by Springfield, W.Va., cabinetmaker Carl Sanford, has a rounded end that slides out to reveal extended counter space and a deep storage drawer. Another, shallower drawer offers yet more storage. The unit, fitted with electrical outlets, can be used for dining or as counter space for the food processor or mixer.

Like the Kantors, Jeffrey Willis relies on clever design in the kitchen he redid in his century-old U Street townhouse.

The narrow galley space begins under the stairs in the front hall and runs along a wall toward the back of the house. A counter separates the kitchen from an adjoining dining room, so the cook can be with his guests without a crowd gathering in his work space. The kitchen, 8 feet 4 inches by 9 feet 4 inches, also is open to a living area at the rear of the house, overlooking a patio.

At first, Willis was daunted by the space. "I almost really blew it," he says, by trying to leave plenty of space for the dining area and placing the counters too close to each other. "I realized then it would be a hallway," he says, and decided on narrower counters, sacrificing a few inches of counter space. "These four inches made all the difference."

Pots and pans hang on a rack underneath the staircase. "I sort of hemmed and hawed about what to do with them, but I wanted a cook's kitchen. I like to see the pots," he says. Hanging cookware also leaves more room in the cabinets for pantry supplies and plates.

Willis also attributes his kitchen's open feel to design details such as the brick wall on each side of the house. "The other thing is unity with the spaces around it. If I'd made [the kitchen] too separate, it would shrink. The exposed brick echoes exposed brick, and the hardwood extends [from the kitchen outward]."

"The architects had to talk me into the galley," Willis says, "but it's the right thing."

Visual connection also benefits the compact, 8-by-10-foot kitchen in the rear of Connie Caldwell's Capitol Hill townhouse. The galley space, behind a narrow living room, includes a lineup of conventional and Advantium ovens, a range, counters, cabinets, and a refrigerator along one wall. Across from them are more cabinets and a sink beneath a window.

When she renovated the space about six years ago, Caldwell chose weathered-looking green wooden cabinet fronts for almost everything in the space, including pocket doors that enclose a side-by-side washer and dryer.

"It's such a small kitchen," says Caldwell. "I wanted as much continuity as possible, so I had the front put on the dishwasher and refrigerator."

She has made use of every cranny: A skinny cabinet adjoining one under the sink reveals a dish towel hanger that slides back into place when not in use, an idea contributed by designer Kirk Johnson of Creative Kitchens in Bethesda. "That was a stroke of genius, as far as I'm concerned," Caldwell says.

"You can do anything in this kitchen you can do in a larger kitchen," says Caldwell. "You just don't wear yourself out doing it."