Helping friends design a new kitchen in a trailer

Some of you may remember my thread about a friend's house burning & I briefly mentioned he stayed with some friends who had planned to move in with him temporarily. Well, those friends had moved down near Lake Charles & got a home but it was destroyed by hurricanes. They had to move back in to the trailer in the trailer park where my other friend was staying before. The trailer is a mess & they want to re-do the kitchen completely.

One of the friends (we'll call her Lulu) sent me a few measurements. There are 3 walls (all exterior). Left wall is about 10', center wall is 11', right wall is 9' 6". There is currently a 4' 2" counter parallel to the center wall but they want to get rid of it. I believe the right wall is shorter because of the door/entrance to the trailer being along that wall. It's been years since I was in there so I can't remember the full layout.

Lulu said she wants the fridge, stove, and pantry on the left and the sink on the right. The center wall is useless because it is is full of giant windows that are just about floor to ceiling.

Ceilings are only about 7' high (I remember them being fairly low) so there is not a lot of head room.

I'm trying to figure out the best and most cost efficient layout for them. Fridge is 23.74" wide x 29.45" deep (including handles which stick out about 2") x 66.93"H. When door is open it is 46.75" deep. Sink is 33"x22". Did not get stove measurements, but I'm guessing they are fairly standard. There is a 35"W metal shelf for the microwave.
This is the fridge:


This is my rough sketch thus far


I don't know if there is enough space to add corner base cabinets or even corner wall cabinets on the wall with windows as I don't know how far the windows stretch over that wall. I believe it does leave enough space for the depth of cabinets and fridge though.

They do not want to lose any of their living room space.

I *think* the current sink is on the 4ft2 peninsula section that will be removed.

All of the cabinets will be purchased from Home Outlet in Alexandria

From my calculations they should be able to fit a 60" base cabinet and two 24" base cabinets flanking or next to it. The 60" one is currently $169

The 24" base options are:
one drawer + 1 door for $88


3 drawers for $148 (currently out of stock at that store but should come back in)

4 drawers for $209


Obviously, the entire space doesn't have to be used up so smaller cabinets could be used or different sized ones could be used.

12" base (one drawer + one door) is $73
12" base (4 drawer) is $139
15" base (one drawer + one door) $79
15" base (4 drawer) $120
18" base (one drawer + one door) $82
18" base (4 drawer) $131
18" pantry (if it will fit-- is 7' tall) $185
21" base (one drawer + one door) $114
21" base (4 drawer) $180 (out of stock)

I will need to figure out the best layout for a pantry, fridge, and stove to be on the 10' wall.

Lulu says she wants the sink more to the right because she's left-handed and wants more counter space to the left.

Editing to add that I'm thinking of going with 8' of counter space because the counters are sold in 4', 6', 8', 10', and 12'. A 10' counter would have to be cut down. So an 8' one could work if she got a 12" base w/ drawers and a 24" base with drawers to the left of the 60" base. I'm still trying to work out the fridge/stove/pantry layout on the left side of the room.
Another edit: She wants the stove to be between the fridge and the 35" pantry shelves (which will also hold the microwave). She also wants to go with 8' of countertop on the side with the sink.

Anyone have suggestions?

I don't see any uppers, and they make a standard 30" upper.
I'd use at least a 12" base on either side of the range, for counter space, pots-n-pans, thing from the fridge, etc.

Thanks, Soony. We are still trying to figure out the whole layout before deciding on any upper cabinets. She said she wanted the sink more to the right (when facing the wall) because she is left-handed and wants more prep space to the left. So, I suggested having the base cabinets to the left of the 60" one.

She prefers drawers over doors and doesn't want stuff out in the open because there is a cockroach problem in the trailer park. No matter how much roach poison they use, they can't get rid of them because they come from other trailers. She said they are some kind of German roaches. I haven't discussed with her whether or not she wants wall cabinets. I'm messaging her and waiting for replies.

She didn't say whether or not she liked this layout but I came up with a view of the other side: Corner gap will be where the rack shelves (35"w x 15"D- no sure on height) will go. Stove is positioned to leave exactly 35" but could go a little more. There's 31-1/4" gap between the fridge and the stove. Could do a 30" base cabinet with drawers there but they are pricey. (Lulu said she didn't want stuff with doors). I think Bandit (the cat) can open doors.

Unless the refer doors can be reversed, when taking things out, you than have to find a place to set them, which is time/space inefficient.

Soony, yeah. I figured having the fridge on the end would help to keep that from being a problem. I'm thinking a 30"x18" cabinet above the stove could hold a range hood. But I'm struggling with upper cabinet placements. I don't like the way it looks with a 36" in the corner and two 30"x18s above the sink. Just sort of ends weirdly. It's ultimately up to my friends though. I sent prices (sans tax) for the various setups in base cabinets. Haven't heard whether or not she even wants wall cabinets.

She just told me she wants butcherblock countertops. She can get one exactly 8' but that still leaves the 30" piece uncovered. She could also go with 12" (which is pretty unwieldy) and use a 30" chunk.

Edit, she informed me she plans to have an over-the-sink rack. Does not want a dishwasher, and does not want wall cabinets.

The German cockroach is the nasty most common kind. In Fl the American cockroach is prevalent. They call it a palmetto bug to sound nicer.

Eddie_T said:

The German cockroach is the nasty most common kind. In Fl the American cockroach is prevalent. They call it a palmetto bug to sound nicer.

Click to expand...

A little olive oil and soy sauce?????

zannej said:

Edit, she informed me she plans to have an over-the-sink rack. Does not want a dishwasher, and does not want wall cabinets.

Click to expand...

Fry pan, spatula & paper plates.

LOL. She said she could do shelves on the walls. I still think she should get at least one wall cabinet to hang a range hood from. She's lived in poverty her whole life so she's not used to having much stuff.

I built my upper cabinets in place, essentially just shelves with face frame and doors added. It gives more usable space inside for a 3 door cabinet. Also goes all the way to the ceiling (42" tall). She could go with shelves and face them later (or not).

Eddie, that is a good idea. We have some shelves in mom's bathroom that she eventually wants to have faced and have doors put on.

I haven't uploaded the pics yet, but I got some photos & friend had me take a picture of a dish rag that is her color inspiration. I think she wants the 50s diner vibe. Black & white squares on the walls- perhaps with pops of red and yellow. She'd had a red microwave but it was destroyed in a hurricane last year.

The place is an absolute mess because her boyfrien'ds brother and some deadbeat tenants wrecked it.

I've suggested to her flipping the plan to have the sink on the opposite. She hasn't seen the pics yet. Probably busy working.

Pictures:

The part with the archway is getting removed.


The island is getting removed since it is rotting away

Switching the sink to the other side wouldn't work because of the supports for the trailer. We got the 60" base and a 12" base. Also picked up a range hood for $25 on clearance. It was a floor model so it had no instructions, wires, or any accessories, but that's fine. The old range hood was pretty beat up and not working.

I missed out on the old floor & cabinet removal that uncovered black mold. Both of my friends were feeling sick from it today. I hope it won't cause any long-term problems for them. New plywood (a pretty rough kind) went in and then we picked up some 1/4" luan. They are going to let me take the scraps home later (it was too dark to load it up when I left).

I forgot to get a pic after the cabinets were secured. My friend sent some pics though

More pics:

I sent Lulu some inspiration pics of 50s diner colors and so forth. She wants the light blue accent similar to the light blue appliances they used to have. She picked Glidden Clear Blue Sky satin paint for an accent wall (the one with the window). I think they want to put drywall around the window as the paneling has holes in some spots.

As you can see, she decided to keep the fridge over toward that side (as the only working outlet available is over there). Not sure what they are going to do for a stove. I'm recommending electric smooth top but they are thinking gas. Given that another friend had his house burn bc of a fire from a gas stove and I almost lost an elderly friend to the gas being bumped on, I'm wary of gas stuff. One little leak could be a disaster.

Found a baker's rack on Marketplace for $40 but waiting on seller to give measurements and trying to see if Lulu is interested in it. It's just like pics she sent me of what she liked.


We could polish up the metal, paint the wood shelf part black or red, and put a red silicone mat on it.. And if she decides she doesn't have room for it or doesn't want it, I can put it in my workshop.

Stove is staying where it is because the hole for the range hood is in that spot and it's just easier to deal with it that way. I need to get exact measurements of where things are going, but she decided a 30"x12" wall cabinet would go well for the range hood. I'm hoping there will be a good spot for the baker's rack. Either next to the stove or over next to the sink cabinet.

I don't have a model for the little movable prep station and not sure where it would go, but it might be able to go against the window area since it can be moved around. I was thinking the trash can could either go next to the window (at least during food prep) since Lulu is left-handed, she can just reach and dump stuff to the left. Or it can go to the right of the baker's rack. Might even fit next to the metal shelf rack too, but not sure.

This is the approximate current setup (but it still has the old crappy wall cabinet and non-functional range hood that is dented up). New setup would have a wall cabinet painted white with black range hood. I think the handles will be black but I haven't seen them yet. Lulu's mom gave them to her.


With baker's rack it would look about like this (although this is not the exact baker's rack obviously)


The rack on the left is actually silver/stainless steel but the program renders the lines darker to make it look black. The baking rack is actually black.

A shelf above the sink to have an overhead light is a possibility.

I totally forgot about the chest freezer. If the rack on the left gets turned sideways there might be room for the chest freezer next to the stove. Also might be room for the baker's rack there.

Editing to show the room with stuff swapped and the chest freezer.

Picked up the bakers rack and Lulu loved it. It has very minor rust on the bolts and at the very top. Some Rustoleum should clear that up. It's lighter weight but slightly larger than I'd expected. 36-3/4" wide and 17-7/8" or so deep for the lower part. She doesn't want it super shiny, but we can spruce it up, seal it so it won't rust more, etc. She immediately put some pots on it as soon as it was in. It's currently against the window but can go where I planned it to go in the last sketch. I'm thinking shelves made of 2x4s can go on either side of the stove to frame it out. Some scrap 2x4s cut so there is one vertical, one horizontal, and a an angled one as a brace. Maybe some sort of surface can be put on top depending on how much space there is. Alternatively there could be some sort of sturdy shelf bracket or corbel.

I was too lazy to measure the height of the baker's rack but the wood surface is a few inches shorter than the regular countertop.

No pics since I forgot my phone in the truck when we got things set up.

I didn't have before pics but the back of the couch used to be along the wall to the kitchen-- the wall that got torn out. They have re-arranged stuff a bit. They still want to repaint the walls a lighter color. They were not happy about the crackhead coming in and painting it a dark color and then putting some sort of astronaut stencil all over everything. He or one of the other crackheads apparently stole the breaker-- which is why much of the electrical wasn't working. Other friend came in and hardwired some ceiling lights and got electrical fixed for them.
This is the current living room-- there is a small office and to the right is a hallway (covered with a curtain)