Storage compartments help organize this wide-open kitchen

Sunset, March, 1984

Storage compartments help organize this wide-open kitchen

You can't see the mess in this kitchen because there really isn't any. Open-faced cabinets fitted with a variety of differentsize compartments, as well as a handy utility shelf running just above the sink, do away with haphazard placement of dishes, appliances, and supplies.

Architect Barney Smith of Albany, California, designed two 18-inch-high compartmented boxes one 7 1/2 feet long, the other 5 feet and bolted them to two adjacent walls 13 1/2 inches above the countertops. These cabinets are of 3/4-inch oak-veneer plywood trimmed with 1/4- by 3/4-inch oak. Behind the sink, the 11-inch-deep utility shelf steps up 4 inches from the counter to hold a miscellany of small appliances, from toaster to food processor.

The rounded caps above the gypsum-board partitions were specially milled. A cabinet shop shaped each fir cap to 4 1/2 inches wide at the base and 3 1/2 inches high at the top of the curve.

A large rectangular skylight in the center of the ceiling provides almost all the light that's necessary during the day. At night, under-counter fluorescent task lights take over, supplemented by overhead down lights.

Photo: Geometric clarity of compartment grid brings order to kitchenware storage. Raised shelf at back of counter holds oversize appliances

Photo: Enclosed by waist-high partition, 8- by 10-foot galley kitchen between two staircases hides clutter, keeps open feeling. Rounded fir cap on partition walls also creates a handsome banister