Q: Any special blog hints for those with very small urban apartment spaces? Aside from space, urban apartment dwellers face other challengers (contractors charging more because they know finding a place to put their truck each day will be a major headache, etc., timing work with your building manager, etc.)
A: That’s right, it’s not your imagination: contractors charge a premium for challenging work situations – parking, walk-ups, etc. It’s fair in one sense, but hugely annoying to those of us who’ve had to pay.
My biggest piece of advice for apartment renovators is to be organized. I’m not kidding – it can be more critical than in single-family homes because the work affects more people. Talk to your building manager first, ask these questions, and write down the answers:
- Do I need to get board approval before I renovate? If so, what do they need from me and when? (A rough drawing might be ok, or you might need to be a professional drawing. You might just need to show up and assure everyone that you’ll be considerate of your neighbors during construction.)
- Is there a list of building-approved contractors that I’m limited to? If not, is there a list of recommended contractors? It’s a huge advantage to work with a contractor who’s familiar with your building. Fewer mistakes, if not lower cost.
- Where can my guys park? During what hours?
- Is there a freight elevator (if you don’t already know)? Are there restricted hours on using it? Will I get in trouble if the contractors need to use the regular elevators to transport something once in a while?
(Side story if you’re interested: I was once involved in a penthouse renovation where the building had only one elevator. For people, for contractors, for deliveries, for everything. And it was small! The poor contractors had to cut every piece of drywall to fit it into the elevator and then put them back together in the apartment. It was a nightmare.)
I’m not ignoring your real question: here a few design tips for renovating small kitchens. Some you’ll know, some hopefully will be new.
- Go all the way to the ceiling with your cabinets – generally 42”H. If you’ve been told you have ductwork behind a bulkhead (you’d be surprised how often there’s nothing back there), have your contractor cut holes in the bulkhead to see how big it is. If you’re only talking about 1 or 2 wall cabinets, it could be worth getting ceiling-height cabinets and having the contractor cut spaces for the duct to run through. He or she will hate you forever, but you’ll gain a few inches in front of the ductwork, and the taller doors will make the space seem bigger.
Please give me credit for not recommending that you replace your wall cabinets with open shelving. While that’s a lovely, space-creating look, if you’re like me, you have more crap than you know what to do with. (Renovating is a good excuse to purge, though.)
- Consider installing the wall cabinets 2-3” inches higher than the standard 18” between countertop and cabinet. The space will feel airier, and, with your new under-cabinet lighting, brighter.
- Speaking of light, Infuse the space with lots of it: overhead (track if you can’t recess) and under-counter.
- If every inch matters and you don’t cook much, consider an 18”W dishwasher instead of the standard 24”W. 6” is a lot in a small kitchen.
- Similarly, scale back on your fridge. 36” – a common width – is ridiculous in a small space.
- Delight in the fact that you can use more expensive materials because you don’t need much of them. Honestly, splurge a little on a backsplash or a marble countertop if you can, and people will notice that instead of how tiny the kitchen is.
Q: Is it crazy to change your perfectly-good appliances for stainless, just because you want to look cool?
A: This is a moral dilemma more than a design question, isn’t it? You shouldn’t be penalized for treating your appliances well, so if you want new stuff, get new stuff. But first: if your old appliances are black, consider replacing only the fridge, which has the most visual surface area. Stainless and black look great together. And second: promise me that you’ll Freecycle or Craig’s List the old stuff.