Before & After: Elegant Gramercy Park Studio Kitchen

A tiny, windowless kitchen with no natural light and only 54 square feet to work with. Is it possible to create an elegant, sophisticated kitchen for an avid cook who throws dinner parties nearly every weekend? Why yes! And it's absolutely beautiful. Take a look at this lovely before and after in a New York City studio apartment.

This 6x9 studio kitchen was remodeled by Frances Herrera, who also created this bright studio kitchen renovation we recently saw.

This kitchen is in a studio apartment in Gramercy Park, New York City. The client was a young, single working professional who loves to cook and to entertain. So the designer's goal was to create a space that was classic, timeless, and sophisticated — and a showstopper for future dinner parties! The kitchen is open to the elegant dining room (also seen above) so its jewelbox quality really enhances the decor of the dining room.

The designer says that she designed this tiny kitchen to feel grand yet be practical, functional and of course low maintenance for a fast-paced lifestyle. Also, like many New York City apartments, the kitchen has no natural light, so she incorporated cabinet lighting, under-cabinet lighting, and a ceiling fixture to make it bright and airy. The Kraft Maid white painted cabinets feel fresh, while the stainless appliances along with the polished steel hardware and faucet reflect light and add sparkle.

The biggest challenge and most important element in maximizing this little kitchen was using compact appliances that didn't overwhelm the small space. They needed to be proportional to the size of the overall space, and this plus the soft monochromatic color palette gives the illusion that the space is larger. The 24" stainless steel gas range is Fisher-Paykel. The 24" refrigerator and 18" dishwasher are GE and the 22" microwave is LG.

The light gray ceramic subway backsplash gives a classic feel to this space yet still modern. The countertop is Caesarstone which is virtually indestructible and easy to maintain.

When all was said and done, the final price tag on the kitchen was $22,000, which included labor and all materials used.

What a lovely kitchen; we are so impressed!

• More information about the designer, Frances Herrera, and her firm: Interiors By Francesca

(Images: Interiors By Francesca)

Comments (24)

Great job! Unfortunately NY landlords just don't get it -- you'll never get something like this in a rental. This was a great investment and one that will give this owner great joy -- congrats!

Incredible!!

Very sleek! The lighted display cabinets are a nice touch.

Waaaaa - too much white for me! I'd love to see that backsplash in a bright green. But otherwise nice.

Well done!

I love it!! The owner must be so, so happy. It is just gorgeous, and classic and functional. Although I agree with DCarl1, a green backsplash would have been really nice too.

It looks like the fridge was moved farther out towards the dining area... enlarging the size of the kitchen?

Thank you for including the price tag. Although it is not amazingly low, I am still impressed considering it includes the appliances and the designer's fee.

That lighting is amazing. Dramatic but looks hygienic.

Wow one of my favorites! Love all the white and scale of it. I'm honestly so tired of all the humongous kitchens with the giant center islands and the massive Viking stoves and ginormous fridges. This is beautiful, calming despite the size and what a great job with the lighting. An inspiration to all of us who don't want to tear walls down and supersize our kitchens!

I would die for a kitchen like this. It's beautiful and so clean-looking.

I want that light fixture on the ceiling! Where is it from?

Really nice reno. $22,000 including appliances, materials, labor & designer fee? in NYC? That's impressive.

Is it my imagination or are those tiles not completely white? Or maybe its that I've never seen grout that white before! lol!

Gorgeous kitchen - Loving the Tiffany Blue china and teapot too!

It's a gorgeous kitchen-but it would bug me that the dishwasher isn't leveled....

@ lisetiffner: I have an almost identical light from lampsplus.com. Try doing a search for "drum shade" on the site.

Great job. Really impressive.

I have a practical question about the upper cabinets displaying the plates. It is beautiful, but given the small size of the space, it seems like those cabinets could hold so much more. They seem to gobble up so much space as display pieces rather than being used to store a lot of kitchen and serveware. I am curious, since the owner is someone who likes to entertain, do they have other dishes stashed away elsewhere and do they have enough room for all of their pots, pans, serveware, and food in the cabinets they have installed?

My kitchen is just as tiny and windowless. It really gives a visual picture to some of the ideas I had it my head. Wonderful transformation!

I really love the design and transformation of this space. I'd hate to make marinara in it, though.

nice execution: semi-monochromatic, classic-ish fixtures & subway tile, cabinets to the ceiling, undermounted sink, lots o' light, no blind corner cabinets. appliance dimensions and brands are appreciated. would have liked floor plans before & after. is 6'x9' (huge! really) the 'before' or 'after' size of the room? of the depth for cabinets @ the microwave; they seem less deep than standard, so how much do they hold? would full-depth cabinets have hit the lamp? are the cabinets from the HD on the UES (as in another post by same designer)? how was the space to the right of the stove used? how does the concrete floor hold up to marinara & dropped dishware? mostly, where exists a general contractor that will do quality work for this price in this kind of space?

What a transformation!! The designor has an amaizing gift and made the most out of the available space, just beutiful. I would love to see of her work.

I LOVE THIS KITCHEN RENO.....IT HAS MY FAVORITE COLOR PALETTE!! WELL DONE....IT TRULY A SHOW STOPPER!!!!!!!

I LOVE it! Everything...subway tiles, cabinets....Question on the dishwashwer - do you like it? I'm thinking about getting an 18" one but I'm scared it will look funny. They are 2" less in height than 24" ones. I'm noticing a slight gap between the d/w and the countertop?

Love the inspiration. Agree with the posts about the use of the glass cupboards for "show" not being a reality in a small space. Would be helpful to see inside the cupboards to see how functional they really are for those of us that cook. Was there any use of the kickboards as storage for roasting pans and baking trays? With all the scaling down of appliances, why the huge sink and use of precious counterspace? That one looks big enough to bathe the family labrador in!

Looks like the asylum version of the LES total tiny kitchen makeover you have up today.