Look Up! A Kitchen With a Ladder (and More Storage)

A ladder in the kitchen? We've dreamed of a library lined with bookshelves and a sliding ladder, but we never thought about a ladder in the kitchen. But that turned out to be exactly the right solution for this small, but tall, Edwardian kitchen.

The owners of this Edwardian home in San Francisco needed to improve their small kitchen; it had been fitfully, badly updated in the 70s, and was awkwardly arranged. But they didn't want to make sweeping modern changes; they wanted to keep as much of the original character as possible.

So instead of drastically changing the kitchen's footprint, they kept the kitchen very close to how it was, but they looked up for storage. The 13-foot ceilings allowed them to create storage for many kitchen tools and cookbooks above the main area, and they installed a sliding ladder for access. The ladder slides off to the side when not in use, tucked next to the new bay window and windowseat.

We love this small, pleasant kitchen, and the ladder makes it feel like our dream library too!

• See the whole tour: Harnessing Height in the Kitchen at PointClickHome

(Images: PointClickHome)

Comments (10)

That kitchen is absolutely gorgeous. I, too, have always dreamed of a library with a ladder like that, but when I first read about it in a kitchen, I thought it'd be annoying and in the way. But that little niche it slides into is perfect and just adds to the awesome.

Very clever use of minimal space. Since the ladder has a niche, it's not in the way as I originally feared.

If my starter home becomes a long term home, I would love to tear out the soffits in the kitchen and use the tops of the cabinets as a storage/display area.

I just want to know where the cabinet doors came from! Love the look and exactly what I have been looking for in my kitchen.

Oh, I need one! I have a circa-1890 apartment with 10-foot ceilings and really high cabinets. And I'm 5'1".

I really love the extra touch that the ladder adds. What a charming kitchen design!