A Galley Kitchen That Works
An often-overlooked layout transforms a small, awkward space into a functional, modern kitchen
Laura and Blake had lived for years with a dysfunctional kitchen, but when architect Cindy Black first shared with them her design for a new kitchen, they were taken by surprise. Black considered a galley kitchen to be the obvious fix for a kitchen that was cramped and that suffered from a poor layout. Although this was not the design Laura and Blake had had in mind, after studying the floor plan, they realized that it was the ideal layout for the space. As contributing editor Sean Groom explains, the first thing Black did was ensure that there was the right distance between the counters. She narrowed this distance by using deeper cabinets along the interior wall, which allowed for the counter to wrap around the back of the cooking surface and for extra-deep upper cabinets to be installed. By placing an open shelf and window ledge behind the cabinets along the exterior wall, she narrowed the span by an additional 12 in. There is now enough space for two people to work back to back and a third person to squeeze through. The deeper cabinets mean that the new refrigerator doesn’t stick out too far, and because it’s a double-door model in a different position, opening it no longer blocks an entrance into the kitchen.