Brooklyn Garden Apartment: Kitchen Reveal

Photo, David Castillo, Blue Barn Pictures

The kitchen is finished! Come, have a look.

It's a small kitchen, but I packed in a lot of utility. The new layout takes full advantage of the vertical space, with tall frameless cabinets. Kraftmaid Venicia in Blanco Gloss, they have the high-end look of Siematic at a third the cost. I am in love with the simple chrome edge pulls. The glossy white of the cabinets recedes right into the stark walls, dramatically offset by the black honed slate slabs on both backsplash and counter—an expensive splurge, but worth every penny. 

The key to carving out a kitchen in this narrow space was locating the sink in the corner. It allowed me to put the tallest appliance, the refrigerator, in the one place that wouldn't block line of sight to the garden.

The tall, skinny Liebherr is genuinely cabinet depth, taking up a true 25x25 footprint. I'm impressed with it. It's so well made that the doors close firmly, quietly, smoothly—like the boot on a Mercedes. I'll post all of the appliance details at the end. 

Can we take a moment to reflect upon the kitchen before?

Sorry about the graininess of the photo. It appears I was so eager to start the demo that I neglected to take "before" photos. This is a scan from the bank's appraisal.

So, the previous owner was an architect, and while I have to commend her for doing a lot of the heavy lifting on the structure of this place—new floors, new walls, cutting down the back windows and installing french doors to the yard—there was really no kitchen to speak of. Dig the ancient stove, circa 1970s fridge, and cheapo dishwasher that didn't drain properly, and one single plate rack to hold her dishes. (I'm going to guess that she ate out a lot.)

My contractor Henry got down to the demo quickly.

As the appliance orders began to trickle in, Henry hooked each up, so I was able live in a degree of comfort. I had a quaint little temporary kitchen set up. While we waited for the cabinets, he gutted the bathroom. 

Then came the framing and so began a very rough few weeks of my live-in reno, when the appliances went away. At that point I set up a coffee station in the bathroom and a washing up bowl in the tub. (There's a reason that experts advise not to live-in if you can help it. It's not for the faint of heart. I'd heed that advice if you are able.)

Soon the drywall went up, electrical and plumbing were roughed in, and things started take shape. My dream began to materialize, and that was exciting.

The "blue" is a protective film - the cabinets are white

Then we hit a snag. (There's always at least one) when Henry discovered Home Depot had sent us a wrong size cabinet for the washer/dryer—it meant the cabinet over it would fall short and look weird. So I placed a quick order.

Luckily, we had not been measured for the slate countertop and backsplash yet, so it was all solvable. It was a custom cabinet, however, and took several weeks to come in. It all turned out in the end.

Here's a photo of the finished kitchen right after the renovation—before I went furniture shopping for the Saarinen pedestal table and tulip chairs, which fit the space to a T.

I found the table on Craigslist for a steal. The chairs are knock-offs.

Things I would Do Differently

If I'd known how "shallow" the underpinnings of a gas cooktop are, I'd have ordered the base with two small drawers on top and one deep drawer. With a bit of clever sawing to accommodate the gas line, the top drawer would still be usable, and it would have been great to have some shallow drawers for cutlery. I solved it by customizing the deep drawer with a stacked cutlery tray. A small top drawer would have aligned the vertical chrome pulls would with those on the sink base and that would have looked sharp, indeed.

Details

Cabinets: Kraftmaid Venizia, Blanco Gloss, door style Alta - Home Depot

Countertop and Backsplash: Honed Black Slate - Mondial

Liebherr 24" CS 1350 - Krups

LG Combo Washer/Dryer WM3431HS - Krups

Gaggenau 24" cooktop KG26023XCR- Krups

Miele Incognito 18" Dishwasher G818SCVI with stainless steel panel GFVI455/77- Krups

GE Profile Convection/Microwave JUM1790SK- Krups

Sink - Elkay Undermount Single Bowl, 10" deep - Home Depot

Faucet - American Standard Culinaire 4147.300.099 Single Handle Kitchen Faucet - Home Depot

Task Lighting - Home Depot

Pendant - Ikea

Sarinaan tulip table - Craigslist

Knockoff tulip chairs - Cite'

Runner - Chilewich 

Contractor: Henry Almeida, Henry Renovations, Kew Gardens

Floor Refinishing: Richard, U.S. Wood Floor Corp.