Small Kitchen Remodel in Los Angeles, CA

Galley kitchen remodel: sizes that fit a narrow room

Galley kitchens are everywhere in Los Angeles, from 1920s duplexes and courtyard apartments to postwar Valley houses and new backyard ADUs. Two parallel runs make an efficient work triangle, but there is little forgiveness: an extra inch of cabinet depth or a door that swings into the aisle shows up every day.

If the aisle is already under 42 inches, swapping door bases for drawer bases helps more than shaving cabinet depth, because drawers open into the room by only a few inches before you can reach inside.

Compact kitchen cabinets and small kitchen storage ideas

Storage in a small kitchen comes from height, corners and drawers rather than floor area. The cabinet lines in the showroom come in a choice of colors and sizes, which is what makes these details possible:

• Uppers to the ceiling. 42-inch wall cabinets, or a stacked row of short cabinets above standard ones, hold the platters you use twice a year.
• Drawer stacks instead of doors. Pots and pans are easier to reach, and nothing gets lost at the back.
• A tall pantry pull-out. A 12- or 15-inch pantry beside the refrigerator often replaces a whole wall of shelving. See pantry cabinets.
• Corner solutions. A blind-corner pull-out or a lazy Susan recovers space that a plain door would waste.
• Open shelving in one spot. A short run of shelves near the window keeps the room from feeling boxed in.
• Slab or Shaker doors. Flat or simple-panel fronts read cleaner in tight quarters than heavily detailed raised panels.

Which surfaces make a small kitchen feel bigger?

Light, low-contrast surfaces bounce daylight around a small room, and fewer visual breaks make it look longer. In practice that means a pale quartz or light granite counter, a backsplash with a slight sheen, and one floor material carried from the entry through the kitchen.

• Counters: white or light gray quartz, pale granite or a marble look; a prefab top in a standard depth can keep the budget sensible in a short run. Compare options under quartz countertops.
• Backsplash: glossy subway, light mosaic or a large-format porcelain with few grout lines. Our kitchen backsplash page shows the range.
• Flooring: waterproof vinyl flooring or long-plank wood-look tile laid parallel to the long wall draws the eye down the galley.
• Hardware and color: matching cabinet and wall color, with slim pulls, keeps the walls from closing in.

Bungalow kitchen remodel details for older LA houses

Craftsman and Spanish-style bungalows built before the Second World War often have walls that are out of square, a window centered over the sink, and doorways on three sides. Fillers and scribe molding absorb the uneven walls, and custom cabinets handle heights that standard boxes can’t. Shaker doors, a farmhouse-style or undermount stainless sink and a hexagon or subway tile backsplash suit the period without turning the room into a museum piece.

Many of these houses predate 1978, so the EPA’s Renovation, Repair and Painting rule applies to contractors who disturb painted walls and trim. Ask how lead-safe practices will be handled before the old cabinets come out.

Signs a small Los Angeles kitchen has outgrown its layout

Small kitchens rarely need more square feet; they need the room they have to stop fighting the cook. Signs it is time to remodel rather than repaint:

• Dishwasher and oven doors collide when both are open.
• Less counter beside the range than one cutting board needs.
• Wall cabinets stop well short of a tall bungalow ceiling.
• Particleboard bases in a condo or ADU are swollen around the sink.
• The floor dips or feels soft along the sink wall.

From the showroom to your galley in five steps

1. 1

   Sketch the room with real numbers

   Measure each wall, the aisle width, the ceiling height and the window, and note where the sink drain and gas or electric range connection are.

2. 2

   Compare sizes on the floor

   Stand between display cabinets, open drawers and check how a shallow base or a narrow pull-out actually feels.

3. 3

   Choose the palette together

   Pair a door color with counter, backsplash and floor samples in one visit so nothing fights for attention in a small space.

4. 4

   Check measurements before ordering

   Measurements are confirmed against the actual walls, since an inch matters more in a galley than in any other layout.

5. 5

   Deliver and install

   Pick up the order for your own installer, or have the products you chose installed.

What shapes small kitchen remodel cost in Los Angeles?

A small kitchen uses fewer cabinets and less counter, but the cost per square foot can be higher than in a big room because the fixed pieces, such as the sink, faucet, range hood and appliance hookups, are the same size either way. The biggest levers are:

• Keeping the sink, dishwasher and range where they are, which avoids new plumbing, gas and electrical work
• Standard cabinet sizes with fillers rather than fully custom boxes
• A prefab countertop instead of a full slab when the runs are short
• Backsplash height: standard 18-inch coverage versus tile to the ceiling
• Flooring area, especially if one material continues into the living space
• Repairs found when old cabinets come off, such as a rotted subfloor under the sink

Santa Monica and West Hollywood condos answer to their own city building divisions, and HOAs add work-hour and elevator rules. For the finish work, check CSLB classes C-6 (cabinets), C-54 (tile) and C-15 (flooring).

Why small-kitchen owners shop at Adcom

• Sizes you can stand in front of. Cabinetry in a choice of colors and sizes, local and imported, displayed at full scale.
• Counters for short runs. Pre-fabricated tops and full slabs in granite, marble and quartz, so the cost stays in proportion to the room.
• Floors that run through. Hardwood, waterproof vinyl, laminate and tile at a range of price levels, chosen alongside the cabinets.
• Installation if you want it. Supply only, or installation of the products you selected.

Small kitchens come in from everywhere: Santa Monica and West Hollywood condos and apartments, Burbank postwar houses, and the many neighborhoods covered on our Los Angeles page. Our post on small kitchen layout ideas has more floor plans to borrow from.