Kitchen storage ideas?

amother

Indigo

Sun, Sep 18 2016, 10:55 pm

I have been looking for an apartment for a while. I finally found something more or less in my price range with a lot of pluses, but it has a small open kitchen. Unfortunately there are not a lot of closets so I can't take one and repurpose it as a dishes closet. What I would ideally like to do is to close off the "open" space with some kind of storage, but since it faces into my living/dining room, what ever I use to do this needs to look really nice. And can't cost a fortune.

Rubber Ducky

Sun, Sep 18 2016, 11:58 pm

How about buying an antique (OK, old Wink

) armoire — which is a large storage piece anyway — and using it as a divider? If you or your DH is handy, perhaps you could even put some framing around it to look built in.

MiracleMama

Mon, Sep 19 2016, 12:10 am

Don't know how big a space you're talking about but I like the armoire suggestion and if the space is even bigger, I see all the time gorgeous buffets/ hutches that are made for just this.

amother

Indigo

Mon, Sep 19 2016, 12:49 am

OP here. The space is way too small for an armoire, a book case, or anything of the kind. As I said, it's very small. And whatever I add needs to fill in the "window" of the open kitchen (I.e., go countertop to ceiling). There is no extra floor space at all!

MiracleMama

Mon, Sep 19 2016, 12:53 am

Ok, so just there are no upper cabinets? The kitchen is separated from the dining room by lower cabinet/ counter? You can either have upper cabinets put in to match or to maintain an open feeling but have some usable space run open shelving across the top from wall to wall.

amother

Indigo

Mon, Sep 19 2016, 8:27 am

I really need to do this on a budget, especially after the expenses of moving. Installing matching cabinets etc not in the scheme.

mummiedearest

Mon, Sep 19 2016, 8:30 am

can you get some kind of desk hutch for this area? you may have to get creative with the backing to make it look nice. what are the measurements of the space?

amother

Indigo

Mon, Sep 19 2016, 8:41 am

No floor space at all. It will literally be crowded when dd and I are in there at one time. That's why I said "no armoire, bookcase, etc." It's a narrow floor space (perhaps a foot wide?) between a wall of cabinets and a bar type situation that's open to livingroom. The opening, which is on top of the counter (picture a window but no glass between kitchen and living/diningroom) is probably about 3 feet high by 4 feet wide. And because it is open to livingroom, any storage solution needs to look nice.

mummiedearest

Mon, Sep 19 2016, 9:30 am

op, maybe something like this? I bet you can build one yourself with the right dimensions if you are handy. stack your china in it for a nice display/storage combo.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/cata.....4622/

amother

Indigo

Mon, Sep 19 2016, 9:45 am

That has real possibilities! Thanks. But I don't want to display to the LR. What do you think of a curtain or something over opening? Could it be made to look purposeful and maybe even a little....elegant?

mummiedearest

Mon, Sep 19 2016, 10:09 am

amother wrote:

I'm not a fan of curtains, but I think it really depends on your taste and the look of the living room. if you find curtains you really like, it could work, but keep in mind that you'd have to be ok with keeping them closed full time. that kind of display surrounded by open curtains would look odd, imo. If you do go with the curtains, I'd suggest long ones down to the floor.

amother

Indigo

Mon, Sep 19 2016, 10:24 am

The curtains would be meant to be a low budget way to close off kitchen. I wouldn't plan on having a display that showed in LR; we have way too much stuff in a tiny space as it is. But it would enable me to have more storage in the kitchen. For example, right now there's no counter space for appliances like coffee maker, urn and etc. There is also nowhere to store them. From pov of kitchen side, I would just consider the curtain a wall and treat that counter like any other counter. On LR side they would see a curtain. Very not ideal but may be best I can do.

mummiedearest

Mon, Sep 19 2016, 10:27 am

again, I'm not a fan of curtains, but that is just my taste. it doesn't mean it can't look good. Is there any room in the living room for a cabinet with opaque doors? not ideal, but you may find that storing your bulkier kitchen stuff in another room when not in use is the best option. get creative. you may want to do something like that in addition to a curtain hiding a shelf display.

lfab

Mon, Sep 19 2016, 1:01 pm

amother wrote:

Can you attach a piece of plywood cut to size to the back of the unit and then cover with a nice wall paper (or even contact paper) to look nice from the living room side? That way it will look more like a regular wall from the living room.

Iymnok

Mon, Sep 19 2016, 1:13 pm

Put plywood in the opening and secure it. On the living room side hang a picture, mirror of tapestry to cover it. Inside, paint it, cover with contact paper... attach out shelves to the plywood.

I'm not sure this works, since I am having trouble picturing it.

Plasterboard may also be of value to you.

amother

Indigo

Mon, Sep 19 2016, 2:01 pm

Plasterboard is a good idea because I can paint it to look like the surrounding walls. This is all starting to gel. What I am starting to picture is somehting like the Ikea unit that someone suggested, shelves towards the kitchen, back towards the LR, with either fiberboard (or maybe not even necessary) painted the same color as the rest of the room. As Lymnok says, I can attach a tapestry to it, or if the measurements work, I could put my seforim shelves in front of it.

Thank you all for helping me out!

amother

Yellow

Mon, Sep 19 2016, 4:58 pm

OP, I have the same style kitchen/dining room and we have a row of top cabinets that is fitted on a mounting plate and a couple of poles. I'm not sure what they're called, but it sounds like something you should look into.

amother

Indigo

Mon, Sep 19 2016, 5:28 pm

Yellow, I would LOVE to look into that. Can you find me a picture of anything like them (even if it isnt exactly what you mean).

amother

Yellow

Mon, Sep 19 2016, 5:55 pm

I had wanted to post a picture when I posted earlier but couldn't find one.