Almost everything is within a step or two - kitchen remodeling

Sunset, June, 1984

She might reach, bend, and pivot like an aerobics student, but Michelle Foley doesn't take many steps when she puts a meal together. Without expanding the size of her tiny kitchen, Seattle architect Jim Johnston multiplied its usable space by building in work surfaces and storage capacity practically everywhere.

By incorporating dishwasher, sink and range into a U-shaped counter that starts as a peninsula and then follows two walls, and by placing refrigerator and ovens on a third wall, opposite the windows, Johnston established the classic, top-efficiency cooking triangle. (The wash-jup peninsula follows an angle carefully calculated to let the porch door open into the room.)

Food to be baked or roasted are prepared on the plastic-laminate counter between sink and range, then put in either of two ovens (microwave or conventional) in the opposite wall. By stacking the ovens, the architect consolidated the space allowance for open oven doors.

Drawers and cabitnets fill space under countertops, and cupboards fo all the way to the 8-1/2-foot ceiling. Regularly used utensils and serving pieces are kept on the handiest shelves. Other items go up high or down low. A lightweight fold-away step stool puts the highest storage spaces within reach.

Full-extension, load-bearing steel drawer glides are used in a variety of ways. Supported on these, a drawer or bank of shelves can roll out completely, providing an instant shelf for a heavy casserole or making the remotest pots or canned goods easily accessible.

All cabinets are oak-veneered plywood with solid oak door frames and drawer faces. Liberal use of glass in cupboard doors gives the room an open quality.