Ideas for Adding Dining Space to a Small Kitchen

To add dining space to the small kitchen, a small wall previously used for housing a makeshift island was re-oriented as a custom sit-down gathering area. To put every inch of space to good use, a bar-height table was made from reclaimed wood by furniture designer Dan Faires. It was attached directly into the wall studs rather than taking up more space with additional legs.

The floating-style table seats up to four comfortably. By keeping the space below open, there’s ample leg room for four guests to spread out. Dan constructed the table from reclaimed wood, sanded it until smooth and gave it a new finish with a wax treatment.

Prior to the kitchen redesign, homeowners Sarah and John kept many of their pots and pans inside their kitchen cabinets. To free up cabinet space and put the space above the gathering area to good use, a pot rack pendant light was installed. The bottom of the pot rack sits 48 inches above the top of the table to allow proper space for pots to hang and ensure guests’ views of one another are not impeded.

To save space, stackable steel stools with a powder-coated celery green finish are used as seating for the gathering area. When not in use, the four stools can be stacked two high, then stored underneath the table.