(Above) Rashmi’s new galley kitchen with white cabinets and an eat-in counter
A galley kitchen layout can transform a small space into an efficient and stylish cooking area. This design features two parallel counters separated by a narrow walkway, perfect for kitchens under 90 square feet.
Keeping the distance between the counters around 4 to 6 feet ensures smooth movement and efficient workflow.
Andrew and Germàn modernized their galley kitchen in their 1936 Med-Deco home. The room was closed off to the rest of the living spaces. The renovation plan was to keep the square footage the same so as not to disturb any architectural details with expansion.
However, breaking through the wall for a pass-through breakfast bar was the solution to open the space up to the living room. It was the right decision: it ended up becoming an eight-foot centerpiece in the home.
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(Above) Emily’s New York galley kitchen with a pass-through and patterned tile floor
The six-foot-wide galley kitchen in Emily’s prewar apartment was originally an enclosed space. Several ideas helped it feel open and less closed in. In place of upper cabinets, open shelving in marble and brass offered the airiness the small kitchen needed. An undercounter refrigerator took up less space and was less visually intrusive.
To make the layout more ideal for entertaining, her Sweeten contractor created a pass-through window with an extended counter and two stools on the non-kitchen side.
(Above) Megan’s remodeled galley kitchen with open shelves and white countertops
Megan didn’t want to change her galley kitchen floor plan or footprint. She just wanted to give the dark kitchen space a facelift. All new fixtures contributed to the lighter look, as did the extension of a pass-through window into the main living space.
Her contractor knocked down the bar to countertop height and enlarged the opening. Now, all the light from the neighboring room streams in.
Storage and a smart layout made all the difference for Monica’s kitchen remodel. For more convenient kitchen storage, a broom closet was transformed into a pull-out food pantry.
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The refrigerator sat outside of the row of board-and-batten-style cabinets, keeping its height and size out of sight. Adding to the galley kitchen’s character was a cozy eat-in dining niche.
(Above) Jenna’s new kitchen remodel with one-wall cabinetry and a flush refrigerator
To maximize Jenna’s narrow galley kitchen, a run of upper and base cabinets sit along one wall, and face a flush refrigerator and uncluttered wall. Although she admits, “I’m in the process of creating a “bucket list” installation for the remaining wall, though I’m enjoying the space the empty wall creates.”
With only the width of a range to work in, this layout presents an efficient way to navigate this space.
(Above) Kate and Daniel’s galley kitchen renovation with open shelves and butcher block counters
Daniel, a food writer and former chef, installed open shelving instead of upper cabinets along half of the wall in the kitchen. This eliminated the feeling of claustrophobia that plagued the old kitchen.
His Sweeten contractor moved the fridge away from the entryway, where it had made entering the kitchen difficult. It was relocated to the opposite end creating symmetry and making it easier to move through the space.
(Above) Sheilaja and Sergio’s new galley with long counters, uppers on one side, and a full-length wood shelf
Sheilaja and Sergio’s long galley kitchen had a dining space at the end that they no longer needed (thanks to moving it to the living and entryway area). They instead used that extra space to take advantage of the room’s length and install lower cabinets all the way to the window wall.
To make it feel even bigger, they opted for one long wood shelf opposite the wall of upper cabinets.
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(Above) Sandra and Michael’s galley kitchen remodel with shallow base cabinets and white quartz counters
Sandra and Michael overhauled their existing galley kitchen layout to add more cabinet and counter space. They chose narrow base cabinets (basically wall cabinets) to save the square footage without making it feel more cramped.
(Above) Hari and Kaity’s renovated galley space with a herringbone subway backsplash
In Hari and Kaity’s galley kitchen the refrigerator placement minimized counter space and the surrounding walls made the whole space tight. They relocated it to a spot a few feet outside of the kitchen walls. A cutout in the wall at the entrance also helped free up space.
Pro tip: If you’re unsure about taking down walls, moving your refrigerator can be an alternative to free up space while preserving the existing layout.
(Above) Rashmi’s blue-walled galley kitchen with white cabinets and an extended counter
Sweeten homeowner Rashmi had no interest in an open kitchen when it was time to renovate. She lived with the galley kitchen for four years to understand what she needed from the room.
To save space, shallower 18” kitchen cabinets were installed on one side. Closer to the entry, a narrow eat-in bar that was an extension from the countertop in the kitchen fit two stools.
Opposite the bar, Rashmi installed built-in cabinets for storage and a washer and dryer. It had once been dead space.
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