Gah! At the end of my tether with my kitchen.

[LapCatLicker]

I'm so depressed. I've googled "very narrow kitchen" and this is what came up www.houzz.co.uk/photos/kitchen/query/very-narrow.
I would give my eye teeth to have the amount of space any of those have. Does anyone else feel this way? I'm so fed up with my kitchen I just hate going in to it anymore. The wall is so close to the counter that there is, literally, not enough room to get past another person. The fridge is under the counter in front of the back door and next to the cat's litter tray which is in front of the cupboard that holds baking pans. You can't get down low enough to see in the fridge because your butt hits the door so you have to contort sideways to get into it. The oven door is about an inch from the wall when it opens so you also have to contort to get anything in or out. I hate, hate, hate it and have outlined this in the accompanying pictures (Diagrams!!). DH doesn't see the problem with it and at this rate I might get an extension in 2040. I'm at the end of my tether. Please, oh Wise Ones, is there anything I can do with this? What would you do?

(p.s. my kitchen is NEVER this clean. I was taking these pictures for a uni project and it took me 2 hours to get it this way.)
(p.s.s this will out me if anyone I know is on MN. Hello, to anyone I know!)

I think what I would do with that would be
-put a run of units to the right of the door, so that section becomes L-Shaped. I'd do this with base and wall units, with a build in eye level oven at the end of the run.

-the section where your cooker is at the moment, I would either shorten this or put a curved unit at the end so its a bet of a gentle corner. No wall units, maybe some shallow open shelves - try to make this more open

-the section at the end (where the shallow drawer is just now) - I'd move your sink down here to create a washing up area

-put at least one set of drawers on the run with your hob (maybe even drawers underneath it) - very efficient storage.

Blue is base units, orange is wall units

That is really toxic! How did it get like this? Was your house originally like this or was it somehow reconfigured? Was the lounge extended sacrificing the kitchen? How have neighbours got their houses set up?

The lounge wall is unlikely to be load bearing. You could move it a couple of feet to give more space in the kitchen although you would lose lounge space. You could literally buy the most compact furniture possible to mitigate that, for example a square table that chairs tuck under is much more efficient than a circular one. Likewise modern sofa rather than a big squishy one.

If you extended the kitchen back in to the living room then you'd be able to put a reasonable L shaped kitchen in the left hand corner of the kitchen, and a small dining area on the right hand side - so losing space from the livingroom wouldn't matter too much

Toxic is a really odd description! Looking at the floor plan, moving the wall between the kitchen and the living room back to the level of the kitchen door would give you a much better space for a kitchen diner and you wouldn't lose from your living room as you currently have the dining table taking up space in there.

I kind of meant badly designed for the poor OP. How did anyone (even in the 1930s) design a room like that in the first place? Or is it a feature of the area?

This was my kitchen. Long and narrow.

Could you do something similar where your table & chairs are. You could move the washing machine to other side of the sink? Put a eye level oven with retractable door as others have said along this wall. Where the kettle is put a shallow open set of shelves to hang cups on etc.

Put your microwave in a wall cabinet like mine in the cupboard next to your hob. also had a built in coffee machine. Use the space where the oven was for drawers.

The far wall where the litter tray is take it all out and put a fitted or free standing fridge freezer.

My kitchen was from Ikea and I used the taller height wall cabinets.

The sink was also fitted into a "straight corner unit".

The tall cabinet to the right of the photo was a 40cm pull out larder unit.I also used for storage on a narrow wall between 2 door ways a very shallow bathroom cabinet. The depth was that of a can of beans, the width 40cm? and the height was 50cm? I put two on top of each other to use as an additional pantry.

I installed an oak worktop. This was the only real fault with this kitchen.

Completely understand you not wanting to spend much money while saving for an extension. But if it's going to be years, I'd be tempted to get a new (cheap) kitchen that works better in the meantime. Here's what I'd do- Main kitchen in biggest area, with sink, hob/oven and U/C fridge and freezer. No wall units here to increase feeling of space. Section off the smallest area to the left as a utility cupboard with a pocket door and stacked washing machine and drier. Along the living room wall I'd have a very narrow breakfast bar for 2, that then becomes narrow depth full height cupboards with pull out drawers. Less storage but much better feeling of space

Some really great ideas that have made me think differently about the space. I think in the short term I'd be looking at doing the minimum to make it usable (see attached). @butterfly990 your kitchen is lovely. That is similar to what I envision for mine (but not oak countertops!) to make it bright and clean. The idea of open shelving makes me a bit wary as I worry that things would get that layer of greasy dust even though I think they look lovely otherwise.

The idea of changing the layout of the kitchen/lounge appeals as it avoids taking any space from our already tiny garden. We will be developing the loft as a storage/study/guest space too so the lost lounge space would just move upwards.

How about removing the wall between lounge and kitchen? Or instead of removing completely, move it back into the lounge and put double doors on so kitchen is accessed via lounge. Table and chairs next to door to garden. Block up kitchen door from hall and fit kitchen units in that area? You could remove the hall/lounge wall too to make lounge bigger and put a door on bottom of stairs to block noise traveling upstairs.

Better to leave the kitchen access where it is or you have to cut through the living room to get into the kitchen plus you couldn't have a run of units along that wall.

Apologies if the pic doesn't work. Have never added one before.

Take out the wall with green squiggle.

Add wall with double doors into our kitchen which is now accessed through lounge. Block up hallway door to kitchen.

U shape kitchen units in red with dining area next to doors into garden.

user - you wouldn't gain very much by doing that because you can't put units on the wall with double doors in it and rooms accessed via other rooms are a pain.

Just though it would be a cheap way, as long as wall isn't load bearing, to rejig the space so they can eat in kitchen and don't have the narrow galley style units.

I think rooms accessed via other rooms are fine in a small house like this. It's different if you have a livingroom, dining room, family room etc, but realistically in a small house the vast majority of times when you go to the kitchen, you'll be going from the livingroom anyway.

Given that there appears to be two windows and a (glass?) door in the kitchen then it could also increase light a lot in the livingroom - and vice versa depending on which way the house is orientated.

Dead-ending the hall would also allow them to install an extra cupboard (basically shorten the hall since it would lead to nowhere) which would be valuable - put a cat flap in the bottom and voila, kitty litter issue is also resolved too.

I've thought about doing as you suggest user360. At the moment I am constantly walking around through the corridor to the kitchen and back to the table when we have a meal so it might be an idea. Other houses on our street have a single door at the end of the run of units where we currently have a cupboard. Doing this might allow for a run of units plus dual entrance to kitchen, although that might give too much space for access and not enough for actual kitchen. I'm going to have another go at the floor plan using all the fabulous ideas that have been suggested.
My DH gets really stressed when discussing the house and can't do brainstorming and planning with me so this is invaluable feedback.

I've moved the wall in the kitchen taking some space from lounge and moved the lounge door towards the corner so that there is more wall space for a sofa. The space where boiler, sink and washer was is now the eating area and the kitchen has moved to an L shape with a much more workable triangle. I've added a wc under the stairs, which kitty litter could go in (bearing in mind the cat is very old and ill and only likely to live for a year or so more ). I wouldn't have overhead cupboards but have all pantry and dishes in the narrow cupboards on the back wall. The only thing that might hamper the flow of the space is the fridge/freezer which will be full height.

Or...... Move the doors to the patio at back to where the sink was. This is the sunniest part of my garden and would be such a lovely place to sit an eat on summer evenings with the sun coming in. I could add a bigger/more windows at the other end of the kitchen to get more natural light.

Now to propose these to DH.... Wish me luck!

Moving external doors and windows is expensive and doesn't really give you any extra space. Same with electrics and plumbing, try to keep them in the same areas as they are now. If you push the wall back into the living room but keep units in same place you could probably re use all of the base units and just change doors and worktops.

If the wall you want to push back is just a patrician wall it won't cost much to pull down and rebuild. Timber and plaster board will be in the low hundreds plus the plaster finish to wall and ceiling and new electrics.

You'll need all new flooring too in kitchen and lounge. Then the cost of new kitchen units and worktops.

I wouldn't move the lounge to hallway door. More costs that's unnecessary plus you'd need to re floor the hall too.

Thanks user360, useful advice about the cost v benefit of any changes to the exterior. I think I was just getting carried away with photoshop there. Are you saying that if we were to alter the exterior doors then, in terms of cost, we might as well extend?
Our units are still in decent shape and I'd be keen to re-use them. I'd like to avoid putting new flooring in the lounge too as we put in oak floorboards about 10 years ago and they are just starting to get that nice weathered look. The hardwood in the kitchen is not holding up well though so it could go.
What's a patrician wall? does that mean non-load bearing? I have a feeling that ours will be load bearing as it's solid block work. If it is the work and disruption required to move it probably isn't worth it.

You might well be able to remove only part of lounge flooring. Kitchen units can definitely be re used or even some of the doors put on different units. Probably will need new worktop.

If your house is old then the partition wall my be brick but there isn't a wall above it is there? Which way do floor boards run upstairs?

@NotMeNoNo There isn't a wall directly above the existing kitchen/lounge wall and the floorboards run widthways upstairs (I think).

Putting French doors in where the sink is currently and bricking up the existing door - or bricking up the bottom half and having a window at the top - will be nowhere near as expensive as building an extension. Your ideas look really good. Brick removed the make the opening for the French doors can be used to brick up the existing doorway. That way you recycle materials and match up the bricks.

If the house is small as you say, its possible the external walls are taking all the weight of the first floor and the roof, especially with it being a terrace.

@LapCatLicker I think yout second plan with moving the french doors is a great one. You would have a MUCH more usable kitchen with hardly any loss of space from the sitting room.

My NDN had a window replaced with french doors and it wasn't a bit expensive job.