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28 Best Galley Kitchen Ideas to Make the Most of a Small Space
Maximize your cooking space with these stylish and clever layout and decorating ideas.
These days, there are endless ways to design a kitchen, but one of the most classic layouts, especially for a small footprint, is a galley kitchen. It sure makes for a delightfully cozy cooking space! Here, we’ve rounded up 28 of our favorite galley kitchens full of ideas to inspire your own, whether you are building a new kitchen, remodeling an existing one, or just looking for a few ideas for a quick refresh. No matter its style or how small your kitchen is, you’ll find lots of ideas for galley kitchen layouts, materials, lighting, and more.
What is a galley kitchen?
Originally named for the tight and efficient cooking quarters aboard a ship, a galley kitchen is most commonly characterized as a long, narrow space with two parallel walls. A walkway in between allows for movement through the space, and all appliances and cabinetry are aligned along the two walls. (More often than not, there’s no room for freestanding pieces.)
That said, today you’ll find variations on that classic design. Some replace the second wall with an island or add a breakfast nook at the end. You’ll even see some wrap cabinetry around shorter walls to add more storage space to the tight design.
How do you maximize a galley kitchen?
When space is limited, you definitely want to carefully strategize your galley kitchen layout. One idea is to conceal your refrigerator and dishwasher with cabinetry fronts for a more seamless look. You may also want to consider open shelving in place of upper cabinetry to allow for a bit of breathing room and provide a spot to showcase family china and other treasures. And be sure to give extra thought to the paint colors of your walls and cabinetry. While it’s true that an all-white kitchen can appear larger, it’s always best to go with a color that you know you’ll enjoy for years to come.
Now for those smart and stylish galley kitchen design ideas. Get ready to start kitchen dreaming and scheming!
Check out these other kitchen design stories for even more ideas:
A High-Ceiling White Galley Kitchen
Soaring ceilings and new bright white cabinetry make the small galley cooking space in this Long Island coastal cottage feel open and airy. Engineered white oak floors reinforce the lightened-up feel, and dark green soapstone countertops help ground the room. Across from the hardworking sink area, a makeshift bar area is ready for mixing up cocktails.
A Scandinavian-Style Galley Kitchen
Scandinavian style and muddy paint colors reign throughout this farmhouse and into its kitchen, where a long run of quartzite tops cabinetry made using reclaimed hemlock. A duck-egg blue enamel Lacanche range and skirted lower shelves break up the wood and step the space back to an earlier time.
A White Cottage Galley Kitchen
A wall-mounted plate rack and pot hanger maximize space in the compact cooking area of this Cape Cod cottage. It was renovated to help open up the living area and connect it with the kitchen and the dining space. An antique dry sink provides additional storage.
A Vintage-Filled Galley Kitchen
To make the small galley kitchen of their coastal cottage, Sea Roost, live large, homeowners Ron Brand and Matt Albiani of Mate Gallery kept the walls and cabinetry simple and white, but then added color and pattern with a well-worn vintage dhurrie rug almost the full size of the floor space. They then cast a wide net for one-of-a-kind once-from-nature—or nature-inspired—finds, such as this mounted fish, purchased at a Montauk estate sale, to bring additional coastal character.
A European-Inspired Galley Kitchen
An antique 27-drawer workbench, deep green Hallman stove, and an earthy terracotta tile backsplash give the colorful galley kitchen in Amy Whyte’s magical Virginia Mountain Cottage a straight-out-of-a-storybook appeal.
A Cheery White Galley Kitchen
A skirted farmhouse sink and laser-cut metal cabinet fronts are the stars of the show in the one-wall kitchen of a Greenville, South Carolina cottage designed by Whitney McGregor.
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A Retro Cottage Galley Kitchen
When paired with the circa-1950s metal sink and cabinet unit, breezy café curtains and a selection of old signs help this sweet-and-simple galley kitchen feel right at home in a Michigan lake cabin.
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A Packed With Pattern Galley Kitchen
When combined with a subtly moody wallpaper, a sweet Smeg fridge, and a unique Gothic window, the vintage accents anchoring this Southern eclectic galley kitchen by singer-songwriter Holly Williams really amp up the charm factor. To echo the vibe, search eBay and Etsy for vintage fruit paintings and kitchen canister sets, then add in an antique crystal chandelier for a little hint of glitz.
A Casual Farmhouse-Style Galley Kitchen
A design inspired by a photo of a period kitchen, the open upper and lower cabinets give this tiny Texas kitchen a breezy, casual feel. Situated off to the side, the Smeg fridge *technically* breaks with galley kitchen design, but you know what they say about rules, right? Sometimes, they were made to be broken.
RELATED: 60+ Farmhouse Kitchen Ideas To Give Your Kitchen Charming, Rustic Style
A Pretty Period-Appropriate Galley Kitchen
Homeowner Melissa Duckworth looked to Benjamin Moore’s Historical Collection for colors that were just right for her early 1900s Texas farmhouse. In the tiny galley kitchen, which was previously the home’s hallway, she chose a timeless cornflower blue to pair with the reproduction wallpaper (“Larkspur 1872” designed by William Morris) and antique mint-colored—and mint condition!—enamel gas range she found on eBay.
A Sweetly Sophisticated Galley Kitchen
In this extra-wide galley kitchen by designer Whitney McGregor, patinaed light fixtures pair perfectly with chic brass hardware. Not pictured, but equally adorable and located to the right of the white stool: a small niche featuring a a custom window treatment and an antique cabinet.
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A Salvage-Inspired Galley Kitchen
Here, Texas designer (and star of HGTV’s One of a Kind!) Grace Mitchell swapped a second wall for an industrial-table-turned island, complete with a hole cut for the sink. The industrial-feeling Big Chill fridge rounds out the room.
RELATED: Learn More of Grace’s Fool-Proof Ways to Add Character to Your Kitchen
An Industrial-Inspired Galley Kitchen
White brick walls nicely offset the black cabinetry, exposed wood beams, and Edison bulb ceiling lights in this just-a-touch moody galley kitchen by Ferrarini & Co.
A Rustic and Repurposed Galley Kitchen
In their weekend home in the Tennessee countryside, brothers Seth and Chad Gilbert kitted out their tiny-but-mighty one wall kitchen with a host of second-hand finds. Serving as a second “wall” is an island wrapped in chippy blue wainscoting reclaimed from the home’s original front porch.
A Clean-Lined Modern Galley Kitchen
In designer Max Humphrey’s 1970s rancher, the galley kitchen’s floor space wasn’t wide enough to accommodate an island or table, but an easily movable stool tucked by the end wall still invites a second person to perch in the ample space. The flat-front cabinets are made of lacquered plywood and a glazed polka-dot terra-cotta backsplash lends whimsy.
An Open and Colorful Galley Kitchen
Rather than boxing in the galley kitchen with a full wall, designer Steve Somogyi of Chicago firm Steve + Filip Design, gave this Michigan lake house kitchen a large island that not only brings fun color to the space, but also keeps it open to the accompanying great room. The pantry, range, and refrigerator are all banked along the long back wall.
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A Colorful, Tiny Galley Kitchen
When the shape of this 98-square-foot kitchen didn’t allow for a long lean galley layout, these Texas homeowners took a different approach by outfitting each short end with cheery yellow cabinetry and coordinating appliances, and then adding a long table in between for work space.
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A Sunny Yellow Galley Kitchen
On the opposite end of this Texas galley kitchen, the white range is surrounded by more sunny yellow cabinetry and a backsplash of eye-catching quilt-like cement tiles.
A Clever Storage-Filled Galley Kitchen
This tiny 8-by-12-foot galley kitchen is harder working than it looks, thanks to a hidden dishwasher drawer by the sink and doubly decorative and dutiful copper cookware on the wall. Other drawers (homeowner Jennifer Dawson prefers them to door-front cabinets) house dishware. A hand-painted Portuguese tile backsplash serves up a fresh focal point.
A Pretty White and Gray Galley Kitchen
Tend to change your mind a lot? Choose a simple, goes-with-anything color palette (like this rustic-chic white-and-gray galley kitchen by designer Loi Thai) and pepper in color with your accessories. We love the strong wash of blue here, but you could just as easily swap it out for something else when you're in the mood for a change.
Sarah Zlotnick is the Lifestyle Director at Country Living, where she has run point on travel, rural lifestyles, and all things vintage and antiques since 2021. Previously a lifestyle editor at Washingtonian and Philadelphia magazines, she has been championing small businesses and regional destinations for 15 years. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in American Studies from Georgetown University, a major her younger self would be quite surprised to learn has come so in handy. First and foremost a service journalism enthusiast, she loves an in-depth explainer on an everyday topic or a deep dive into the history of vintage objects. When she’s not editing and writing, you’ll find her needling her husband to pull off the highway so they can explore a new small town or cozying up with a juicy murder mystery.
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