I’m busy dreaming of beautiful kitchens today.

I’ve been ignoring the elephant in the corner of the living room (my golden oak kitchen) for a while now, and I think it’s time I addressed my ideas for improving this space. This is where we left off:

The galley-style kitchen has an odd peek-through that lets in additional light and opens up to the living room. This type of kitchen is extremely common in NYC – though not extremely ideal (in my humble opinion).

To get a better idea of the actual space I’m working with, I’ll include a few photos of identical kitchens in my building. (Apparently, I found oak cabinet “before” shots too overwhelming).

Luckily, our stove and dishwasher were already upgraded to stainless steel before we moved in, but this is basically the space we are working with (minus the awkward backsplash). We still need to address that whole “stove top next to a wall” issue in our kitchen.

Last week I shared my living room inspiration photos. Today, I’m in the mood to look past those oak cabinets and putty countertops and envision the possibilities (and a few impossibilities) for a dark and narrow galley kitchen.

I categorized them, for my personal amusement:

The (Unrealistic) Lantern Series:

The More Realistic Galley Kitchen Series:

The Butcher-block and Bead Board Countertop Series:

The Grey Cabinet/Kitchen Series:

The White Kitchen/White Marble Series:

(This side splash would be so attractive next to our stove!)

I could post photos of beautiful kitchens all day long, but these are the kitchens that inspire me the most (today). Most of these kitchens are on the small side, but the spaces still feel bright, fresh and welcoming. I can’t wait to get in my kitchen and start making improvements!

You can find the links to the original sources for all of these photos on my TickledinNYC Pinterest page.