Every space was maximized in this tiny Brooklyn kitchen

Rachel:

I know that Brooklyn kitchens are notoriously small, but the kitchen in our new house was really tiny. I love to cook and experiment in the kitchen, and I constantly host. After so many years of saving up to buy a house, I wanted to be able to enjoy a comfortable-sized kitchen.

Esti:

Small spaces are challenging, but they make designing a good layout even more satisfying. We actually got lucky with this kitchen because behind it, there was another small room that we were able to incorporate. A huge extra bonus of integrating that room was its east-facing window, which has the sun streaming in every morning.

Quality Counts

While Esti wasn’t involved in choosing the actual cabinets, she did highly recommend investing in quality cabinets. Between having kids and constantly cooking and baking, we needed my kitchen to hold up to our lifestyle. I’m glad we did! Five hectic years later, our cabinets are still in perfect condition.

Last-Minute Change

We were going to leave the original window in, but when we saw how small it ended up being, we made the upper corner cabinets on both sides a bit smaller and widened the window. It’s one of the best things we did.

What I’d Advise Someone Else

Don’t settle on the plans until you have most of your wish list met. We spend so much time in the kitchen, and we each know our own individual needs.

Exceeded Your Expectations

We have ten-foot ceilings and chose to do the upper cabinets all the way up to the ceiling. It’s great extra storage for things I use very infrequently and for extra stock of pantry items that I purchase in bulk or on sale.

Now I Know

We went through so many drafts of the plans. I wanted a dishwasher for fleishig, but it was challenging fitting it all in. We ended up putting it across from the fleishig sink, under the milchig counter. This is my kitchen and because doing it this way worked for me; I didn’t mind that it’s unconventional!

Most Enjoyed Aspect

My huge counter! It gives me space to spread out when lots of things are going on in the kitchen at once, like Erev Shabbos.

Hidden Secrets

Right when you come into the kitchen, there was “wasted space,” as the chimney was there. But a space planned well wastes no space, so we put in a cabinet that’s only two inches deep, but it’s the perfect broom closet!

Biggest Regret

We have a small area that we could have extended to give the dinette more space. It was a big additional expense, but I think we should have done it — we would have been much more comfortable during mealtimes.

Overall Sentiment

The kitchen is a dream. I have loads of cabinets, a smart layout, and everything I need for my family’s needs.

Personal Preferences

When designing a kitchen layout, it’s much less about what’s right versus wrong and more about personal preference. Here are some things to consider:

• Corners cabinets are a big dark hole. The best options are to either put your sinks there, or to invest in one of the many options of pullouts and lazy Susans that kitchen vendors offer to make things easier to reach.
• The rule of thumb with a dishwasher is to have it close enough to the sink that you can just pivot to put the dishes in and not drip anything on the floor. (Even though for Rachel, the best spot for the fleishig dishwasher was actually on the milchig side.) If you do have a corner sink, put a small cabinet in between it and the dishwasher so when the dishwasher door is open, you’re not trapped in the tight corner.
• Double wall ovens are a look that’s been trending, for good reason. They look very neat if you have the wall space for it. Some points to consider are that they’re generally electric instead of gas and are usually more expensive. Baking and cooking in an electric oven is a bit of an adjustment if you’re used to using a gas oven, but more importantly, you need to make sure that you have enough electricity coming into the house to support it.

(Originally featured in Family First, Issue 969)