Hello Folks. You got it. It's time for another D.I.Y idea, and this time we are taking a tiny kitchen space and transforming it into a delightful space that even the most enthusiast cook would not mind spending time in.
Grab your spatulas, utensils, etc. and lets get down to cooking. Pardon,I meant tools and lets start Remodeling !
In this small remodeling project the owners, well in this case the renters wanted to feel like they were living in a home rather than coming into a dingy apartment home day after day. The renters were working toward having a home of their own, but wanted that warm feeling while they made their stride to making that dream come true.
If you live in a small apartment and wonder if this could be possible, stick around and we will show you with just a few tweaks in this Small Kitchen Redone, how you can accomplish that warm. fuzzy feeling in an apartment home.
Many times there is no space for great appliances in an apartment. Using some creativity to take
appliances off the counter can allow for some much needed counter space. Here we used some 1/2 inch Hardwood Plywood [Source: Non-Sponsored] and had the home improvement department store cut it into three desired sizes making the bottom cut larger as to fit to size the desired appliance.
We used wood screws to attach the pieces as to create the letter (C).
Please don't forget to pre-drill your holes prior to screwing into wood. This will prevent splitting of the wood.
We then had two smaller 1 X 3 inch Plywood cut to size so we could attach it to the sides ( top, back, bottom) of the previous cuts. These two cuts were also screwed to the former cuts as to add weight support at the joints. More on the L shaped metal corner brackets below.
Note: Prior to having the bottom piece cut to size please do yourself a favor by measuring the Depth, Width, and Length of the appliance which is going to be cradled into shelf. The top piece of the shelf was about half the size in depth. We did this so the appliance will have room to breathe and circulate air once it's in use.
In this image you can appreciate the L corner brackets attached to the corners of each joint and at the mid point at the bottom.
The brackets will add some extra strength to the overall piece and therefore able to withstand a very heavy appliance. Now if you take a look at the cut of wood that sits at the top, you will notice four (4) Phillip head bolts with nuts.
We attached these screws to the cabinets that were already part of the setting. You will just need to drill holes through the cabinets were the screws will fit into. Please use an extra pair of hands so you could pencil in exactly were the holes will be drilled.
You only want to do this step ONCE !
Use the appropriate drill bit size that matches your Screws. If in doubt always drill smaller holes first. You can always switch your drill bit and go larger.
Now use the extra pair of hands once again to lift the shelf and place the screws through the shelf and into the holes of the cabinet. Now begin to tighten the nuts with the supplied bolts that are usually paired together when you bought them.
Note: Measure the thickness of the wood and the thickness of the kitchen cabinet. In this case 1/2 inch + 1/2 inch (cabinet) thickness gave us our 1 inch overall thickness. Therefore our bolts must be at least 1.5 inch in length so that we can tighten the shelf to the bottom of the cabinet.
In this image above we took a 40 in (L) x 8 in( width) x 1 in thick pinewood and attached it to the wall above the sink with the same L metal brackets.
A pair of cabinet lights we purchased from the local IKEA store were used to cast a beautiful subtle hue onto the sink area.
You may have also noticed the frame that surrounds the window. These are 1 in x 4 inch pinewood and decorative square corner moldings we used to cover the joints were the wood meet and painted it all in a satin white color.
We also added a brand spanking new Faucet with an extendable nose and a soap dispenser ( to the right of the faucet). These stainless steel sinks in apartment homes usually come with the soap dispenser holes already incorporated onto the sink, but they are usually plugged with a cover.
We simply unplugged the cover and in goes the soap dispenser nozzle (bottle with soap is nestled below the sink). Changing faucet is a simple project folks. Absolutely nothing an intermediate D.I.Y enthusiast can't do.
Oh almost forgot. The tiles behind the faucet were an absolute amazing find at the Home Depot hardware store. They were on clearance for cents on the $ dollar guys. Unfortunately no where to be found anymore. Luckily for the the owners they had a one of a kind backslash. ;@)
Note: We know that if you are renting you may think this idea is out the door. Think Again !
We used a thin sheet of compressed wood cut to size screwed the sheet of wood to the area of interest at each corner with flat head screws.
We then attached these tiles to the board by using liquid nail. They held tight together so there was no need for grouting and Bingo! You now have a back splash that can be easily removed when the time comes.
Another Shot of the LED Spotlights with the ambient lights off at night.
Don't be alarmed folks there is a logical explanation for this. Since we wanted the space to feel like a warm, gratifying, living area to come home to, we added this statement piece that we guarantee you won't find in any regular old apartment!
Once the idea of the hood was introduced into the design, the renters could simply not resist.
They had to have it !
This Range Hood was also a great find in the IKEA home store at a great price tag. The space was once occupied by a greasy dingy old hood vent.
1. In order to make sure the Range was secured to the wall we used a 1 inch plywood and attached it to the wall with masonry screws.
2. Then the plywood was painted with moisture resistant paint and the range was attached to the plywood once dried with 1 inch wood screws. The hood is simply hung on the screws as you would a picture frame.
Quite simple indeed !
3. A few 2 x 12 inch decorative stone edgings was added around the backboard, and along the glass tile back splash to create interest.
Note: The renters were aware that this was the only area of the make over project that they would not get their renters deposit back for.
They where planning to rent the space for a couple years so they where perfectly fine with loosing a few bucks once they leave in order to have the landlord replace the vent hood and paint the kitchen area back to its original color.
But they will still get to take their amazing Range Hood with them to their dream nest !
4. The back splash of which you will see more of later, was done the same way as the method used behind the faucet ( a. compressed wood sheet cut to size, b. screwed compressed wood sheet to wall, c. Attached tiles with Liquid nail to compress wood sheet ).
Only this time we did use some grout to fill in the gaps between the 12 x 12 inch tile, Just as one will when grouting tile on a wall or floors.
Ok. Now its time to stock up the appliances and the embellishments. In the shelf we built, we placed a mid sized Krups convention counter-top oven which now floats in mid air freeing up some valuable counter top real estate. Now you can use the space saved to add some much needed utensils.
A condiment rack stacked right below the hood gives you easy access to your favorite spices. Spoons and utensil now hang from nickel platted bars.
As we mentioned previously, because this is a rental apartment, the glass tiles behind the utensil were attached to the compressed wood sheet and then grouted to prevent moisture from seeping into the wood.
Just to make sure no moisture seeps into the wall or back board, we added some clear silicon along the bottom and side seems of the tiles and also into any cracks that we felt needed to be addressed.
The cabinets were in good shape and were not an eye sore, so we kept as is.
Lentils, Quinoa or some Rice anyone !
Bottoms/Up. Just not with the Knife in your hands please ;0 ) !
Conclusion: Not just because you rent it means you should live a bland, colorless, uninviting, unwelcoming life style. With a little here, a little there, and some creativity a rental can truly become "YOUR" Space Made Perfect.
Thank you for visiting this Small Kitchen Redone post. We hope you liked this space guys. But please give us your thoughts while sharing your opinions.
Please take a further look into more of our D.I.Y projects and LIKE US when visiting our YouTube channel.
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