A Small Kitchen Gains Space Within the Same Footprint

Having maximized square footage for numerous clients over the years, architect Jerri Holan could tap a wealth of space-saving ideas when it came time to redo the modest kitchen in her own Albany, California, home. Expanding its approximately 9-foot-square dimensions would have interfered with her desire to host holiday meals in the adjacent dining room and to preserve the charming separate breakfast nook that came with the 1930 Spanish Colonial Revival bungalow. So she resolved to maintain the kitchen's footprint but gut the dark tile from a 1980s "update" and rethink the full-size range that constricted the space's flow. Removing doors and scaling down appliances allowed several feet of extra countertop space with additional base cabinets tucked under it. Replacing the solid wall behind the stove with a half-wall that has an arch overhead makes the room feel bigger and frames the view of the new butter-yellow tile, cream cabinets, and new casement windows.