Design Advice – Small Industrial Kitchen for a handy renter

Dear Creative CoLab design team,

I need advice on my disastrous kitchen. First off, you should know that I rent, so I am not looking to remodel, but need tips to make the kitchen look more stylish and make better use of the space.

Here are the main problems:
1.) I have virtually no counter space.
2.) The Jolly Green Giant must have install my kitchen cabinets because I have to use a step ladder to access their contents. Plus, the cabinets themselves are super outdated.
3.) There's an old school washer and dryer in the kitchen that can't be moved.
4.) There's dead space to the left of the refrigerator I can't figure out what to do with.
5.) Linoleum floors...yikes.

I don't know that I can peg down my style except that it's modern-eclectic-50's industrial-funky. I'm beginning to cook again and entertain small groups, so I need to address the bar situation (it's the diamond plate cabinet next to the window). You should know that I'm very handy and don't mind sweating a little to make improvements, although I don't have much money to spend. Let's say $500 for the whole room.

Thanks,
Mary G.

Our response......

Dear Mary G,

First of all, thank you for submitting your design dilemma for our review. We are happy to help you tackle some of your problems.

Here are pictures of your current kitchen you sent us:

click on the images to enlarge them....

Let's start with the corner area with microwave and window.

to add more storage we suggest an "L" shaped walnut and black pipe shelving for a nice and clean industrial look

Next we address the wall with washer/dryer & sink. You mentioned that the washer and dryer can not be moved. We also noticed few other problems with this area; the overhead cabinets cross into the washer-dryer area and the washer/dryer juts out too far to make open shelving above that can be accessed easily. Also from the photo it looks like one of the appliances is top loading and the other one is front loading.

There are couple of ways to address this problem:

You can completely box the washer/dryer out, make doors framed in wood with steel-blue fabric, or stained wood panels or, like on the picture below, covers made out of fine-gauge screen material hooked on rings, which creates a very raw "pasta factory feel".
...or you can create additional counter space and have the counter surface a lid with hinge to access the appliance that is top loading

use open shelving above the washer/dryer with aesthetically consistent boxes or crates for storage or you could use that area to display art or a fun herb garden as pictured below

you could also build-out the area floor to ceiling and hide the washer and dryer with floor-to-ceiling door that hang from wall-mounted barn-door track as below

Next problem area on your list is the appliance wall. Appliances are old and don't have the integrated feel. There is also a dead space to the left of the refrigerator that houses the vacuum and mop/broom, and another dead space on top of the fridge.

For this area you could frame the refrigerator and build a cabinet for extra storage and also a cabinet or shelving above the refrigerator.

Next area : the sink area. not sure how much changes you can and are willing to make. You could simply refinish the cabinets to match the rest of the built-ins or you could replace the upper cabinetry with open shelving or as below partly open shelving with sliding panels on rail. This is also something you can take with you when/ if you move.

on the wall to the left of the doorway and adjacent to the kitchen sink where you currently have a map you could make a walnut, drop down shelf with industrial hinges to give you more counter space. Another option is to add some industrial shelving or this fun Industrial wall storage by Danish company House Doctor

Other great storage options for a great industrial look could be this Industrial Shelving with individual metal bins taking the place of drawers , as well as this set of ASKER containers, suspension rails & hooks from IKEA ($ 3.99 - $7.99)

any of this retro light fixtures would look great in your kitchen

If you are interested in painting the walls here is a suggestion:

The kitchen in the picture below has been painted in a stormy grey to create a cool industrial-chic feel.It can be livened up for instance by yellow accessories shown here, orange or lime green. Your kitchen is very small so you can use lighter gray, or make one accent wall with darker gray while rest of the walls could be lighter gray.

If replacing the Linoleum floors doesn't sound appealing we suggest you to check out FLOR
Their carpet squares let you create custom design to fit your space.

We hope you find our suggestions helpful! Please send us "After" photos when you have completed the project

Best,

Snow & Heidi