Updated design of a small kitchen of 10sq. meters Homeowner Allison McDonald, who designed her home herself, had been working toward this decision for over 10 years. All these years, she put up with numerous inconveniences that marred her everyday life. For example, she couldn’t open the dishwasher and the cabinet where the trash bin was at the same time. That meant there was no way to clean the plates of food scraps and immediately load them into the dishwasher. Such things seem insignificant, but they are the ones that can cause the greatest irritation. When Allison’s children grew up, she realized that it was time to change everything. The woman spent almost a year rebuilding the kitchen interior herself: dismantling, updating and more rationally placing the cabinets, as well as laying new cherry wood flooring. She finally moved the dishwasher and installed a pull-out trash bin next to the sink.
Object parameters
Dimensions:8.8 square meters (3 x 2.9 meters) Layout: U-shaped Location: British Columbia, Canada Budget: $4,500 (including equipment, cabinetry, and materials) Features: Solid cherry flooring, solid wood countertops, built-in tall cabinet with a lift-up door, and a modest budget Before: In addition to the fact that the kitchen interior was hopelessly outdated, its functionality left much to be desired.
McDonald drew inspiration from reviews onpages of specialized Internet sites. With their help, she learned how to carry out various repairs, assemble and install furniture. It was not possible to do without online consultations and calls to friends who are builders. “At some point, they just stopped answering the phone because I had too many questions,” Allison recalls with a smile. The implementation of the projects took a little longer than usual, and there were also a few failures, albeit minor ones. In particular, the first time Allison cut the laminate for the countertop so poorly that she had to buy a new panel, after which she acted more carefully. The linoleum was dismantled, and its place was taken by a modern flooring made of untreated cherry wood, which McDonald bought very inexpensively from a builder friend of hers: he had some material left over from the completion of another project. Changes were not made to the tile backsplash, because the owner really liked its cobalt shade and the quality of the installation. To solve the space problem, Allison moved the dishwasher, cleaning cabinet, and pantry to other locations, clearing up the space around the peninsula. The decrease in storage needed to be compensated for, and open shelving and a sideboard underneath did the trick.
Wanting to save money, Allison purchasedShe bought most of her kitchen appliances from a classified ad site, but she did splash out on a sink and a refrigerator. “It was barbecue season,” Allison laughs. “Even in January, with snow all around, I was baking a pie on the grill.” She did the renovation in stages, installing no more than one cabinet at a time. She and the rest of the household had to go without a stove for a while. A built-in cabinet, mounted above the peninsula, holds a mixer, slow cooker, blender, and other appliances.
The kitchen got a new sink and stove, andThe ventilation system was upgraded. Alison MacDonald admits: "I enjoyed doing it all myself. I admit there were some strong words thrown around here and there, but I was determined not to rush it, and the result was exactly as I had imagined."
Is your kitchen area also less than 10 square meters? Tell us how you solved the problem of organizing its space. We are waiting for your "before" and "after" photos!
