ᐅ Optimizing the Kitchen and Storage Room Layout in a Multi-Story Apartment

Hello everyone,

My brother is planning to buy a condominium unit, which his mother-in-law would then move into as a tenant.

The main reason for the purchase is that the apartment is nearby, allowing my brother and his wife to receive significantly more support with childcare.

The mother-in-law likes the building and the location of the apartment but has an issue with the completely open kitchen, which consists of just a single countertop row without upper cabinets. She would at least like to have the option of a small table in the kitchen for when she, for example, eats breakfast alone or has a coffee. A dining table is planned to be placed in the living room.

I had the idea to enclose the kitchen along the back wall of the unit using drywall, to move the door of the storage room to the lower part of the floor plan, and replace it with a sliding door, so that at least a small fold-down table can be attached to the wall, which can be folded away when not in use.

Do you think this idea could work, or does anyone have a better suggestion?

Yaso2.0 schrieb:

I had the idea to close off the back wall of the kitchen run using drywall and to relocate the door of the storage room to the bottom of the plan.

I wouldn’t build a wall.
A blackout blind at the end of the kitchen cabinet that you can pull down when the kitchen is untidy.
There’s no room for a dining area in the small kitchen; it would feel very cramped.
A dining spot with a view of the balcony right next to the kitchen cabinet—that would feel cozy to me.
And before deciding, consider whether you need seating for 2, 4, 6, or 14 people.

Nida35a schrieb:

I would not build a wall.

The current kitchen needs to be replaced due to age; right now, the refrigerator is built into a base cabinet.

I don’t see any other way to integrate a refrigerator and an oven into a tall cabinet without closing off the kitchen.

The seating area will probably need to be reconsidered then.

Yaso2.0 schrieb:

The current kitchen needs to be replaced due to its age; currently, the refrigerator is built into a base cabinet.

I don’t see any other way to fit a refrigerator and an oven into a tall cabinet without closing off the kitchen.

As for the seating area, that will have to be considered later.

Why does the oven need to be in a tall cabinet? And could the kitchen pantry be closed off?

Yaso2.0 schrieb:

The current kitchen needs to be replaced due to age,

Then just don’t play the “telephone game” with your brother and mother-in-law. Your mother-in-law should register on the kitchen planning forum and plan according to her wishes—that’s both fun and practical.

Myrna_Loy schrieb:

Why should the oven be installed in a tall cabinet? And could the kitchen storage room be removed?

So that it’s positioned higher, for age-related reasons—I think my mother-in-law is somewhere between 65-68 years old.

I don’t think this was considered because otherwise there wouldn’t be any storage space. But I’ve noted it down as an idea.

Nida35a schrieb:

Just don’t play the telephone game with brother and mother-in-law.

I offered my brother to ask for ideas here 🙂

I will pass them on; what they ultimately do with them is up to them.