The Cabinet Alternative That'll Give Your Long And Narrow Kitchen An Open Feel

Galley kitchens, named after the style of kitchens on ships and airplanes, are among the most common kitchen layouts. These feature long, narrow designs, often with cabinets and counters on either side of a central path. While this layout is great for saving space, a narrow kitchen presents aesthetic and functional challenges. The center walkway can limit movement, and the room may feel cramped. Not utilizing the available space optimally is one of the biggest mistakes you absolutely don't want to make with your galley kitchen. When planning a renovation of a narrow area, it is important to consider ways to create sufficient room for opening cabinet and appliance doors and moving across the floor without running into anything. One of the best small kitchen ideas to make your space seem bigger is installing shallow cabinets or open shelving. Tall, low-profile cabinets will get the most out of the space above while allowing for a more open, maneuverable area.

In addition to making the kitchen feel more spacious, shallow cabinets may be more functional. Standard kitchen cabinets can make reaching items on the back of the shelves challenging. Often, you have to take things out of the cabinet to access dishes or glasses toward the back of the shelves and then put everything back again. Everything is easy to find and within easy reach with slimmer cabinets.

Large, bulky upper kitchen cabinets make the space in a narrow kitchen feel even more confined, with wide-swinging doors taking up significant head room when open. Installing cabinetry with a slimmer profile or open shelving will make it feel larger. Consider a combination of the two if you want some display space but also enough room to keep other kitchen items tidy behind closed doors. Wall cabinets typically run as shallow as 12 inches, but you can DIY stunning floating shelves for kitchen supplies if you need an even lower profile solution to hold decor and small items and make it less heavy visually.

If you have tall ceilings, make the most of the space above your head by putting in taller cabinets. Go the full length from the floor to the ceiling for more storage area, although you should keep in mind this would limit the available space for a countertop. If you don't want to give up the workspace, you may want to consider installing taller upper cabinets.