I’m back with another installment of our Capitol Hill Condo Tour! Previously, I shared our living room and dining/bar area and, as promised, I’m working my way through the condo as you would experience it in real life. When we were looking at houses and condos, the kitchen was obviously high on our list. We cook a lot and we wanted a functional space. While I was fine with small, I knew I didn’t want a galley kitchen or one of those kitchens where it’s open to the rest of the living space, but it lives on one flat wall. I wanted it to be its own defined room, yet flow through to the rest of the living area.
Disclaimer: apologies that these aren’t the most gorgeous photos on the condo tour. Because of the placement of our kitchen, it’s hard to photograph. I need a super sunny day and, even then, the ISO is often too grainy. Alas, I am not a professional.
A Small City Kitchen and Breakfast Bar
What we ended up with was a small, but functional, kitchen that opens up to our dining and living space, but that is set off by a peninsula. When we initially moved in, it dropped off on the edge, creating an abrupt delineation between living and kitchen. Finally, after two years, we bit the bullet and had new countertops, including a breakfast bar installed. That changed the game for this space, creating a more natural flow from space-to-space and giving us a quick place to eat besides the dining table. Because of how open the space is, we kept the design similar to the rest of our condo, with black, white, gray, and red serving as the main color palette, but done in a way that feels eclectic, vintage-inspired, and warm.
On our counters, we’ve tried to keep things as minimal as possible for small kitchen. The appliances and items that have earned a permanent place on the counters include: toaster, espresso machine, coffee maker, kitchen tools in a container, knife black, pepper grinder, and a spoon rest. This leaves room on both of the small counters on either side of the oven, as well as the entire peninsula for meal prep.
We also installed open shelving to add both an interesting design element, as well as make the most of unused, awkward space. Here we keep a few cookbooks, coffee accoutrements, often used nuts and grains, as well as small bowls, plates, and a ring dish.
I will add the caveat that despite our lack of square footage, we do have a large walk-in closet off the kitchen that we use to house a few appliances (air fryer, panini maker, cold brew maker), as well as our pantry items. It was definitely a selling feature of our condo and helps us make this kitchen work without having to overcrowd our cabinets at all.
Source List:
