# Small kitchen remodel (before & after)



## no1hustler (Aug 11, 2010)

We bought our first house on 31st of 2009 and the following day I started putting a hole in the wall. The kitchen is technically an "eat-in" kitchen. That wouldn't fly for us so we had to get creative. We decided if we could get the fridge out of the way, it would open up a ton of space. We also needed more counter space because as you can see, there hardly is anything. 

Here are the before photos:

This is looking in from the living room. The door goes to the back yard and across from the door is a door to the basement. On the other side of that is a bedroom that we turned into a dining room. The only counter space is on either side of the sink. Not enough.









This is the opposite angle taken in front of the stove. The door to the left goes into a small garage which we will never park a car in. The opening goes into the living room. The open space to the right is where I imagine them having a small table for 2. 









This is looking in from the living room. You can see the rest of the counter space (lackof).













My solution, put a hole into the garage and create a cavity for the fridge. 


















That frees up the rest of the kitchen so we had room to add some counter space. We decided not to add cabinets across from the existing cabinets so we could sell the house with an eat-in kitchen or with the base cabinet that we selected. We also chose to use shelves to make the room feel more open. I think we hit the mark.









To give us some more drawer space we added some bars to hang some utensils. 









At some point we will replace the stove with a SS one but that isn't on our list at this point.


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## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

Nice...I like it !!
We did not have much counter space either
Maybe 20" on either side of the sink...50's kitchen


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## Proby (Jul 17, 2010)

Nice work :thumbsup:

I'd really love to see the box you made in the garage, got any pics?

How's that exhaust fan working for you? I often retrofit new style Broan fans into the older chain door style fan that you have, customers are always happy with it. It's relatively easy to do if you are looking for an upgrade. They also make inexpensive passive vent hoods which attach underneath the upper cabinet. They help keep the fumes and grease underneath and give the fan more time to suck it out, while stopping the grease from collecting on the fronts of the cabinets.


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## no1hustler (Aug 11, 2010)

Proby said:


> Nice work :thumbsup:
> 
> I'd really love to see the box you made in the garage, got any pics?
> 
> How's that exhaust fan working for you? I often retrofit new style Broan fans into the older chain door style fan that you have, customers are always happy with it. It's relatively easy to do if you are looking for an upgrade. They also make inexpensive passive vent hoods which attach underneath the upper cabinet. They help keep the fumes and grease underneath and give the fan more time to suck it out, while stopping the grease from collecting on the fronts of the cabinets.


Looks like I have one. Unfortunately it has my ugly mug in it.  

After dealing with the small amount of drywall finishing on the inside, I had enough and I never put the corners on the outside or did any finish work to it. I'll get around to eventually...really, I will...

On the other side of the bump-out, I have a full-size stand up freezer. It fits in there perfectly. And believe it or not, a car does fit inside the garage still. It is just a little more difficult to slip past to get to the freezer.













Also, the exhaust fan works great. Well, when my wife doesn't let the chain fly outside anyways. Man is that annoying trying to fish that back through. I've learned to unplug the fan after the first couple times. 

Do they make small SS hoods that I could make work? That would look nice once we get a new stove.


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## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

We have a fan like that in our kitchen too
It has a switch on it for different speeds
Pretty sure it is original to the house
It has "Air King" as a label
Then in smaller letters "Berms" = I think


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## no1hustler (Aug 11, 2010)

Berms sounds familiar. I'll have to look when I get home. Ours has a chain that you unhook and as it pulls outside, the hatch opens up. That also creates slack from a switch that opens so the fan will turn on. Ours has two speeds also, on and off. 

Like I said though, it sucks when you go to open it and the chain comes off and pulls through the fan.


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## Jim F (Mar 4, 2010)

From what I've read, a hood would greatly improve the efficiency of that exhaust fan. The lighter tiles definately brighten up the kitchen. Are they new, or painted?


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## Snav (Aug 20, 2009)

I think you did an excellent job, here - I love the idea for the fridge! Very creative solution to the issue.


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## CoconutPete (Jan 22, 2010)

Nice job!


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