The Kitchen

I do believe with the tireless help of you and so many others we have created the best possible kitchen design for the Momplex.

Sure, it helps that we can build whatever we want (and you can too - easy plans are on their way very soon!) but boy, did we have some challenges!

For starters the space is small. And every inch we add to the kitchen is an inch less for dining and living space. But despite the tiny layout, we demanded the kitchen do and store more, flow better, have a backsplash and a pantry. Of course the fridge must be boxed in, the cabinets symmetrical and balanced, the dishwasher next to the sink. A pretty tall order for less than 100 square feet!

Let's start in the corner with the fridge. We'll be boxing in the fridge to give it that custom cabinetry look, and adding storage to the top. No biggie here! This will be easy to do and certainly not cost $2000!

Moving along to the pantry. In this particular kitchen, we have decided on the straight pantry. It just seemed like the best option for saving counterspace and creating easily accessible storage.

But that wall between the pantry and the fridge kept me up at night. There is exactly 96 square feet to this kitchen, and I wasn't about to give one up to a 2x4 wall.

Ah ... now I can sleep at night again!

We decided to swap out the 2x4 wall for some open shelving, using the side of the fridge framing as the back. Now we don't loose a square foot. We gain two square feet of very useful and accessible storage!

One of the things both Moms have asked for is lots of drawers on the lower cabinets. What do you think of drawers on either side of the range? I thought this would be the perfect spot for storing pots and pans, tupperware, and lids.

With the pantry large and storage friendly right there, the drawers will be a nice alternative to the open shelving behind the pocket door.

Up top ... nothing set yet - it'll be up to the Mom's on what type of shelving or cabinetry they want. But for now, storage behind doors seems to be the favorite.

We'll get to that corner in a bit! I promise!

We did end up adding a backsplash per Mom's request.

Lots or room for dirty dishes! And with the backsplash, we add a little bar height counterspace for serving food or moving dirty dishes. Good spot for a fresh baked pie to cool!

We won't be using it for an eating bar because it's quite small and who would want to sit with their back to this view?

<div><br></div><div><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--V0vttZbmc0/TicVjOs3wPI/AAAAAAAAIxY/…; alt="" align="none"></div><div><br></div><div>Can you believe that<a href="http://ana-white.com/2011/07/momplex/building-forms&quot; title="" target="_blank"> we started on these footer just over six months ago? &nbsp;</a>Wonder where we'll be in six more months!</div>

Of course the Mom's get dishwashers. And to end the cabinets, we'll either do a tray cabinet or more drawers. I personally like drawers for flatware here. Easy to put away, and diners can access the flatware without intruding on the cooks.

The backsplash bar does take a little bit or room up, but we still have enough room for a full size table. And it's not all wasted space.

Normally, you would just frame up a pony wall behind the sink cabinets and slap a bar on top. Wouldn't doors be prettier?

From the last cabinet, the corner can be accessed. Great spot for the pressure cooker or the printer in you are going the office route. Most likely? A great spot for the grandkids to play hide and seek.

So what do you think?

We are off to the garage right now to build cabinets! Can't wait to share those plans!