Kitchen & Bath Business - November/December 2019 - 56

SMALL SPACES

Working Every Inch

A kitchen & bath transform into modern,
open spaces in a one-bedroom apartment

AS MORE PEOPLE MOVE TO CITIES, kitchens and bathrooms are getting
smaller even while the desire for open floor plans remains. For this onebedroom apartment in New York City, designer Alena Capra was asked to
face down this challenge and to not only make the space feel more open but
to also incorporate seating and a bar area.

THE CONS OF SHARING WALLS

Originally a galley kitchen with a separate living area and a bathroom down
the hall, this space was undergoing a full remodel to make it more functional
and modern. Unlike a typical redesign, simply taking down walls was not
an option.
"Because this is in an apartment building, we were unable to fully eliminate
the wall of the kitchen due to the location of a gas line," said Capra, who is
the founder of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Alena Capra Designs. "Instead,
I worked with the general contractor, and we came up with the maximum
amount of space I could take to open the wall."
Using AutoCAD for her plans, she decided to open the range wall about 18
inches - up to where they would not interfere with the gas line.She also removed
the existing doorway entrance to the kitchen and extended the room into the
existing hall closet.This 36-in.-wide closet space is now the new bar area.

ABOVE The ﬂoor plan was

opened up when the range
wall was shortened by about
18 inches, still leaving sightlines from the kitchen to the
living room while also leaving
enough space to mount a TV
on the wall.
Choosing smaller or built-in
appliances - like an 18-in.
dishwasher and a 30-in.
refrigerator - helped maximize
the space.

By ERINN LOUCKS

"Then to make the space seem more open, off of
the shortened range wall I created a large peninsula with a waterfall edge, extending 50 inches out,"
said the designer. "This way it was even with the
new bar area in the old closet space, and it made
the kitchen look more open and much larger."
The added peninsula and the use of the hall
closet for the bar made the kitchen almost four
feet longer than it originally was.
SPACE ILLUSIONS

According to Capra, one of the key tricks to
this design was choosing appropriate sizes for
the appliances. For the most part, they stayed in
their original locations but were replaced with
smaller versions, like the 18-in. dishwasher that
was traded in for the 24-in. one. A 30-in. built-in
refrigerator - instead of a full-depth freestanding
unit - also helped significantly.
"Built-in refrigerators are perfect for small
kitchens,"said the designer."The extra inches you
save in depth are priceless, and they look sleek and
clean in the layout."
The existing soffits were removed, and the cabinets were brought up to the ceiling to add more
storage space. Painted white with linear stainless-

/ NOV.-DEC. 2019 / KBBONLINE.COM / The official publication of NKBA (NKBA.org) and KBIS (KBIS.com)

http://www.KBBONLINE.COM http://www.NKBA.org http://www.KBIS.com

Kitchen & Bath Business - November/December 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Kitchen & Bath Business - November/December 2019