Simply Enough
  • Building
  • Projects
  • Simply Enough
  • Community
  • Contact
  • Products
  • About Us
  • Media

Big Ideas,
a Tiny House
And Simple Living

Kitchen Bliss

8/29/2015

6 Comments

 
Picture
We prepared food in our tiny kitchen for more than 20 people this week after inviting friends and family to tour our almost-complete home. The kitchen makes food prep and entertaining guests a breeze. The two of us can work in the space without bumping elbows, and more than once we've been told, "The kitchen feels so big."

Some kitchen specs:

Our butcher block counter top runs 9 feet, but feels as though it extends another two feet because our counter-height table sits at the end. If we need even more counter space, we have inserts that fit over the  sink. We cut the counter to build in our oven/stove, and we can lift out the section behind the stove to store pans, racks and the sink inserts when not in use. The counter is IKEA's birch Hammarp, sanded down so that we could stain it to match our other wood. 

The sink is a whopping 32" undermount model from Kraus. We don't have a bathtub, so we wanted a sink big enough to wash out anything that needs cleaning. It's also big enough that we can leave our dish drainer in the sink and still wash dishes beside it. We put in one or both butcher block inserts if we need more counter space and less sink. The faucet is a pull-out, single-lever model from Kraus. Hot water is courtesy of our Bosch mini-tank. More on that here.

The stove/oven is an alcohol-burning Origo 6000 from Dometic. Find more on the stove here.

Our refrigerator is a 5.6-cubic-foot Energy Star GE model. It was hard to find an affordable fridge of this size made to fit under a counter. There's only a tiny freezer, but we have access to a full-size freezer in our friend's house just a short walk away. (One example of many compromises weighed to make the most of our compact space.)

As far as storage goes, our pantry is the workhorse. Six sliding shelves hold everything from dishes to food to cleaning supplies. The top, fixed shelf has room for the toaster, food processor, big pot, colander, water bottles and more. We also built shelves that fit over the microwave and across the top of the window. The long, high shelf is great for extra china and decorative pieces that wouldn't fit in the tiny house otherwise. An IKEA magnetic bar holds our knives and a couple Grundtal racks hold spices, wooden spoons, pots and more.

Our base cabinets come from (where else?) IKEA. We had plans to build our own cabinets and drew  initial sketches. We went to IKEA to get ideas and came home, instead, with cabinets.  We realized they were the perfect size, design and price point--so why reinvent the wheel? We spent extra to go stainless on the doors and drawers, but it was a splurge we both wanted.

The wine rack was a leftover-pallet-wood inspiration because we wanted a finished side on the refrigerator that made use of the six inches left at the end of the cabinets and fridge. Beside the wine rack, our counter-height table features a DIY pallet-wood top with a steel IKEA table base. It's the same dimensions a second table we made, so we can fit them together if we ever want to host a big feast. The folding chairs are also IKEA.

Four pendant lights keep things bright with LED bulbs. To cover the holes in the ceiling, we came up with the idea of using old kitchen tins sourced at an annual flea market that raises money for the hospital. (The fish mold on the wall came from the same sale.) At this point, you've probably already guessed that the lights came from IKEA.

We like our modern conveniences here, so a pint-sized LG microwave sits atop the counter. It's big enough to fit a dinner plate, but small enough to be energy efficient. 

We don't have to but we choose to filter our drinking and cooking water. That's where our beautiful Berkey comes in. In the tiny house, we have the "Travel" model; in the screen house, we use the "Royal" model so we have enough water to wash dishes in our makeshift sink. Here in the house, we installed a shelf so that the Berkey didn't have to take up counter space. The spot beneath it makes a great home for our compost bucket.

That's all I can think of for now....Please ask questions about anything I've left out.

Please click on the pictures below for more details.

6 Comments
kitchen wall stickers uk link
11/21/2015 03:51:15 am

I am hoping the same best work from you in the future as well. I wanted to thank you for this websites!

Reply
tommy
2/16/2016 02:30:14 pm

inspiring! thanks for sharing this dream kitchen. peace and love from hawaii!

Reply
Jody link
2/17/2016 09:18:59 am

Thanks, Tommy. We do love the way the kitchen turned out. The only problem currently is our lack of running water for that big sink...because winter snuck up on us before we finished winterizing our water supply. I'm guessing you don't have that particular problem in Hawaii. Thanks for looking at the site; I hope you'll check back again to see what we're up to next.

Reply
Rebecca
2/8/2017 03:23:52 pm

What a gorgeous home you've created!!!

I have a tiny home myself and have been wondering if you've had any carbon monoxide issues with your origo 6000? I just bought a CO/ smoke detector and it warned me about carbon monoxide levels in the room after cooking some pasta on my origo. It warned me again after having the windows open for about 20 mins. I have an air circulator that is always running, so I'm not sure how levels became dangerous.

Just trying to find out if anyone else has this problem.

Thanks :)

Reply
Jody link
2/10/2017 03:48:41 pm

Hello, Rebecca. Thanks for your comment. Our CO detector does go off in the winter when we use the Origo oven for a long time (not the stove top burners). We assumed that was because we neglected to install an air exchanger (see a recent blog on this). But you already have an air circulator...The only time it went off when I was boiling water was when I boiled several pots in a row (for a cleaning project) and I wonder if it was because of all the steam in the air--not really the presence of carbon monoxide. I also read this: "It's also recommended that a detector be placed in the vicinity of any heat source that burns fuel (such as a fireplace, gas stove/oven, water heater, furnace). However, it shouldn't be placed closer than 15-20 feet, since too-near proximity can lead to false alarms." Mine is definitely closer than 15 feet! And this: "For further protection, be certain to install carbon monoxide alarms at least 10 feet away from sources of humidity like bathrooms and showers." Again, mine is closer to the steam of the shower (which doesn't set it off) and boiling water on the stove (which did). I don't have a definitive answer for you, but I'm going to keep looking into it. I think I'll pose the question to a couple experts and do a blog on it if they give me good material. It's an important conversation. Hope you'll stay in touch--and I'd love to see a picture of your house. Do you have a blog or Facebook page for your tiny house? --Jody

Reply
Robin
4/8/2020 11:55:47 pm

Hi! Love your home. I’m so inspired by your Berkey placement on the shelf. Do you happen to remember where you purchased those brackets? They’re perfect! Thanks so much.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Bathroom
    Bedroom
    Ceiling
    Ceiling Fan
    Composting Toilet
    Cooking
    Deck
    Design
    Doors
    Electrical
    Energy
    Flooring
    Floor Plan
    Framing
    Gutters
    Heating
    House Wrap
    Insulation
    Kitchen
    Making Furniture
    Materials
    Plumbing
    Rain Barrels
    Roofing
    Screen Porch
    Shower
    Siding
    Solar
    Stairs
    Storage
    Tiny House
    Trailer
    Ventilation
    Walls
    Windows
    Winterizing
    Wiring
    Wood Stove

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.