A Mini Kitchen Renovation

I made three changes and it completely transformed the space

Last year, when we downsized from our suburban house to a New York apartment that was half the size, we knew we were going to have to make sacrifices in terms of space and stuff. While we were preparing for the move, it felt like when I wasn’t on Craig’s List selling a slow cooker, I was driving to Goodwill to drop off a trunk load of books, clothes, mugs, and toys. We got rid of so much stuff that when we finally unpacked everything in our new apartment, we were a little shocked to see that we didn’t even fill our cabinets. The previous owners maximized every storage opportunity — a huge draw for us, obviously — installing built-ins and floor-to-ceiling cabinets in every room, and this was especially true for the kitchen. Those upper cabinets you see above? The top three shelves were completely empty.

Is this a tragedy? Um, no. But I will say that I felt like a real New Yorker almost immediately, because I became fixated on the fact that this was space not being used in an efficient or effective way. When you live in a small apartment, you want every square foot to work overtime — the dining room is also my office, our daughters’ bedroom is also our gym, etc. — and so a few weeks ago, we did something about it. We did a mini renovation that required only three major decisions (tiles, sconces, shelving) and I’m sort of amazed by how it completely transformed the space.