NYC Small Kitchen Remodel Ideas: Before & After
Last Updated on May 6, 2026 by lacasaalmodovar@gmail.com
You’re in the right place if you love all things small kitchen remodel ideas before and after. Living in a small NYC apartment doesn’t mean you can’t have a functional and beautiful kitchen. In fact, some of the smallest kitchens often inspire the most innovative and creative kitchen designs. If you’re considering a small kitchen remodel for your tiny kitchen or galley kitchen, this before and after story of our kitchen makeover might just inspire you to take the plunge!
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En Nuestra Casa
When I tell you there was no counter space, I mean there was NO counter space. Which made it feel like the smallest kitchen in the world. How did Peterson and his roommates cook? I think they sort of…didn’t? All I knew was that if that kitchen was going to be ours, it was in need of some serious TLC, which it hadn’t gotten for a long time.
When Peterson and I were engaged, he was living in our now home (conveniently also were he grew up!), and I was living just a few blocks away. He mentioned us maybe taking over the lease and living there, and I was just…NO. It was, um…gross. Neglected. Roach-ridden.
But! He persisted (atta boy, Petey), managed to get our names on the lease, and somehow convinced our landlord that because he had neglected to care for the apartment for years, he owed us big time. By some absolutely incredible life-changing miracle, this guy agreed to completely remodel the kitchen and bathroom at no cost to us. I think his exact words were, “Beyond that, do whatever you want. I don’t need to know about it.”
And so we did. More posts on that later.
And now…for the kitchen!
The BEFORE: Challenges of Our Small Kitchen
Our kitchen, like many in NYC apartments, was on the smaller side (just about 64 sq ft). The existing cabinets were dark, outdated oak cabinets, making the already tight space feel even more cramped. The main issue wasn’t the floor plan itself, but the lack of efficient cabinet space and zero countertop space.
One corner of the kitchen floor had sunken in from a years-ago faulty washing machine, so the entire floor sloped downwards. The upper cabinets were barely hanging on the wall, and I’m pretty sure Peterson just used brute force to yank them down one day.
I honestly don’t even remember the state of the fridge and oven, or perhaps I’ve blocked them out of my mind. Beyond that, there really was nothing else in the kitchen. Oh, except cockroaches. There were, um, a lot of cockroaches. And holes. And just general gross-ness.
Needless to say, we needed new cabinets, a new kitchen sink, new lighting fixtures, new kitchen countertops, new kitchen shelves, new storage ideas…basically a complete overhaul to make it a usable space. And while it would be amazing to have extra space for a kitchen table, wall ovens, or a dining area inside the kitchen, it’s come a long way and serves us well.
The AFTER: A Bright and Functional Small Kitchen Design
Now, let’s dive into the exciting part – the after! Our small kitchen remodel focused on maximizing every inch of space while creating an open, airy feel. We wanted to new focal point (rather than having the side of the fridge in your face as you walk in), to maximize storage space, and improve the overall room feel in our small home. Here are some of the key changes we made to transform our outdated kitchen into a dream kitchen:
1. Open Shelving
When we were browsing kitchen remodel ideas, I was immediately drawn to the minimalist and beautiful style of open shelving. I also realized this was a great budget option, because we could literally buy slabs of wood at Home Depot, paint them white, and lay them on a few brackets. Bada bing bada boom–open shelving! It’s not the most luxurious option, but we’re still happy with ours almost 10 years later!
Admittedly, open shelving is maybe not the best option for small space living, because you really can’t hide anything. Or maybe it is the best option for that reason? I feel like the visual openness of the shelves makes the space feel larger than it is. To put it simply, it doesn’t feel like the walls are closing in on us! (Even though they kind of are, haha!)
2. White Cabinetry
We opted for white cabinets to brighten up the space and make it feel more open. Our landlord agreed to pay for the labor and base materials, so we ended up with bottom-of-the-line options for a lot of things. But, we made friends with the work crew and were able to ask that if they must purchase the cheapest kitchen cabinet option, would they at least choose white cabinetry? The crisp, clean look of white cabinets helps reflect light, making our small kitchen feel much larger than it actually is.
3. Clever Storage Solutions
We felt it was important to have a combination of drawers and cabinets, for ease of storing various shapes and sizes of kitchen items inside. We ended up adding in DIY in-cabinet drawers and a DIY baking sheet divider inside the cabinet; post on that coming soon!
4. Butcher-Block Countertops
We fell in love with butcher block counters, found a pretty cheap one at IKEA, and had the guys install that for us instead of something that I’m sure would’ve made me cringe. (Or maybe I should say, something that’s considerably easier to care for…joke’s on us with how high-maintenance a butcher block countertop is! But we do love how it looks.)
5. Subway Tiles
For the backsplash, we lucked out. Our work crew had recently worked on a downtown (read: nice, fancy, expensive) apartment and had some leftover materials. They offered us subway tile to install as a backsplash. Honestly, this whole project felt like everyone was on the same team here–like we all wanted to just give this place the makeover it deserved!
6. Farmhouse Sink
When we were browsing Pinterest for ideas, I fell in love with an apron-front farmhouse sink. And I’m glad we got our new sink when we did, because IKEA no longer sells the same version! We wanted something big and pretty and ideally white. And that’s exactly what we got!
7. Improved Lighting for your small kitchen remodel ideas before and after
Everyone knows about the NYC boob lights, right? Sorry, I know you weren’t expecting me to say “boob” on this blog. Well, let’s just say WE ARE NOT BOOB LIGHT FANS. So we found some fun hanging light fixtures from Home Depot, purchased them ourselves, and asked the guys if they wouldn’t mind splitting the electric to have two light fixtures instead of one.
8. New Appliances
We went cheap on kitchen appliances–one level up from the cheapest refrigerator and oven model at Home Depot, as long as they were white. Interestingly, in NYC, you can have your landlord buy new appliances and just add it to your rent. Except you pay that added amount forever. Like, forever and ever and ever even if you’ve by that time paid the full amount of the appliance a hundred times over. And since we knew we’d be here long term, it made more sense to just buy the appliances outright ourselves.
For the sake of visual space in the kitchen, we opted out of a range hood for the stove. Sometimes we do have the smoke detector start going crazy, but that’s part of the charm of apartment living, right??
Oh, here’s a fun fact! We opted for a toaster oven (the one you can open and lay a slice of pizza in) instead of a microwave. And we’ve never looked back!
The Layout: Making the Most of Limited Space
In a small NYC kitchen, there often isn’t much room for creativity when it comes to the kitchen layout. Our tiny kitchen was no exception. The plumbing was not going to move, and the counter made sense on the sink side of the room. The only real option we had was deciding whether to place the fridge or the oven next to the exterior wall.
We decided to put the fridge in the corner and the oven just as you walk in. This decision was driven by two main factors:
1. Natural Light
Placing the fridge in the corner ensured it wouldn’t block the precious window light. In smaller kitchens, maximizing natural light is crucial to make the space feel more open and inviting.
2. Open Feel for small kitchen remodel ideas before and after
By positioning the oven near the entrance, we avoided the feeling of walking into a wall when entering the kitchen. This subtle change in the floor plan significantly improved the room’s feel and traffic flow. Swapping the position of the oven and the fridge in our kitchen was an easy way to make our small space feel bigger.
Note that our kitchen is not an eat-in kitchen and is quite far from our living room / dining room with our table. We’d much prefer either an eat-in kitchen or some sort of open concept with easier access to the table, but we’re making the most of what we’ve got!
These seemingly small decisions can make a huge difference in how a tiny kitchen functions and feels. It’s all about creating the best kitchen layout possible within the constraints of your space.
Unique Solutions for Common Small Kitchen Problems
No matter your square footage, if you’re in a small kitchen, storage and bumping into each other can be tricky! Here are a few common problems in small kitchens and how we tackled them.
1. The Pantry
Interestingly, our pantry used to be a dumbwaiter! Because of that, the “pantry” was just an unreasonably deep closet with expired Frosted Flakes in the way back, forgotten by everyone but the roaches.
So we brainstormed a bit and (I don’t exactly remember how this happened) ended up with our friend offering to make us pull-out pantry shelves as a wedding gift. Thank you, Jordan! Fun fact: Jordan also played God Bless the Broken Road on guitar for us when I walked down the aisle.
The pull-out pantry shelves have been a total game-changer for transforming a closet abyss into functional space. Though I’ll confess to overcrowding them all the time and frequently just stacking packs upon packs of tortillas on top of various canned goods. Realities of small space living, amirite?!
2. The Walls
While we would’ve loved an actual gut renovation, apparently that’s not what work crews in our building do…so! They literally framed the new walls on top of the existing ones. Whatever! It’s fine! We probably lost a total of 5 square feet in our kitchen area, and we’re all doing just fine.
3. The Floor in our small kitchen remodel ideas before and after
I made a promise to myself long ago that if this apartment ever saw another sticky laminate tile, I’d burn the whole place down. KIDDING. But no way were we gonna allow ANOTHER layer of laminate in our beautiful new kitchen! We bought the cheapest ceramic floor tiles at Home Depot, pretty pleased our way into having the work crew install them, and voila! Beautiful tile floor.
4. The Step
Our crew decided that instead of actually fixing the problem of the sloped floor, they’d cover it up (I feel like there’s a lesson in there somewhere..) by building the entire floor up with a step UP into the kitchen. Whatever. In some ways I’m kind of glad we have a single step in our entire apartment–it gives our babies step practice.
Side note: Can you tell by the number of times I’ve said “whatever” in this post that I’m still, 10 years later, talking myself down on some of the things we regret in this major renovation? It’s fine, it’s fine, everything’s fine.
5. The Trashcan
This is a funny section to include, right?! We found the PERFECT trashcan. Perfect because it was white and cute and unique. And it was good for a time, but it kept getting dented, and maybe eventually the top hinge rusted off? So eventually we replaced it with this one. One thing to note in a small kitchen: the trash is kind of always in the way. And we can’t really afford the cabinet space for an under-cabinet trash can.
Lessons Learned from Our Small Kitchen Remodel ideas before and after
Looking back on our kitchen renovation journey, there are a few key lessons we learned that might be helpful for anyone considering a small kitchen remodel:
1. Plan, Plan, Plan your small kitchen remodel ideas before and after
In a small space, every inch matters. We spent a lot of time planning our layout and storage solutions before we started any work. This careful planning paid off in the end, resulting in a functional kitchen that works beautifully for our family. Even though it’s a small kitchen, we feel like we have plenty of room there. And trust, me we cook (and I bake) a LOT. We do a lot of work in there and feel like we have ample space to do what we want to.
2. Invest in Quality Where It Counts
While we went budget-friendly on many aspects, we splurged on things like our farmhouse sink and butcher block countertops. These elements have stood the test of time and really elevate the overall look of the kitchen.
3. Don’t Be Afraid of Bold Choices
Even in a small space, you can make bold design choices. Our open shelves felt like a bit of a risk at first, but they ended up being one of our favorite features of the new kitchen. They gave us a great focal point to enjoy and obsess over getting it all exactly right because it’s the first thing you see when you walk in and strangers will judge us on how well it’s arranged and and and….
4. Build Relationships
Making friends with our work crew opened up opportunities we wouldn’t have had otherwise, like our subway tile backsplash. Don’t underestimate the power of good relationships during a renovation!
5. Be Flexible with you small kitchen remodel ideas before and after
Sometimes, you have to work with what you’ve got. Our step up into the kitchen wasn’t ideal, but we’ve made it work and even found a silver lining.
What We Would Do Differently for our small kitchen remodel ideas before and after
Looking back, the only main thing we’d do differently in this project would be to do the work ourselves. We’ve learned a lot along the way and feel so much more comfortable now taking on a project like this. But the reality is, this was our first major home renovation project, and we didn’t know how to do any of it at the time, so we don’t regret having a crew do the hard work on this one!
I’ve dreamed about opening up the kitchen doorway a bit more so that it’s a little more open concept into the hall, and just slightly regret not doing that at the time of the renovation. Honestly though, I’m not convinced I’d love it if we had done that, so I’m okay with things as they are!
Final Thoughts: small kitchen remodel ideas before and after
Our small kitchen remodel was a challenging but rewarding experience. It taught us a lot about design, problem-solving, and making the most of tight spaces. We hope our story inspires you to see the potential in your own small kitchen. Remember, with thoughtful design and a bit of creativity, even the smallest kitchens can become functional, beautiful spaces that truly feel like the heart of the home.
Have you tackled a small kitchen remodel? I’d love to hear about your experiences and any tips you might have for making a small kitchen feel larger or more functional. Share your stories in the comments below!
And check out this Instagram reel to see some footage of our kitchen renovation project!
