Remodeling Magazine (September 1995) "Bite-size Kitchen" One hundred square feet of awkward corners, dark crannies and drab finishes made this cramped kitchen typical of those found in many New York City Apartments. Architects Harry Elson and Jason Gold of Elson + Gold Architects, New York City, along with Gary McGraime of McGraime Woodworking, Inc., Long island City, N.Y., didn't make the kitchen any bigger - but made it a whole lot better. First, they imposed some regularity on the irregular space. "Essentially," says Gold, "we built a sheetwall box within the original space. Too many chaotic corners make any room feel to small." Because the rest of the apartment features earthy colors and a lot of paintings and handcrafted objects, the architects aimed for a "crafted, rather than slick" look. The covered broad sections of walls - above the stove, on the backsplash area and behind glass shelving - with multi-hued, handmade glazed ceramic tiles. Thanks to meticulous planning, there are no slivers or half tiles to clutter the orderly arrangement of squares. The materials chosen for the rest of the kitchen - cherry veneer custom cabinetry, concrete floor, slate countertops, brushed stainless steel stove backsplash and refrigerator panel - complement the tiles in craft and finish without competing with their vibrant color. "The last thing we wanted," says Gold, "is to make the space overwrought." Another space-enlarging visual trick was to blend appliances seamlessly into the cabinetry. "You don't want to break the room into a million pieces," explains Gold. Panels disguise the dishwasher and refrigerator, and the small oven nestles beneath a counter. Elson + Gold also streamlined the storage areas. Open glass shelving, an integral shelf and utensil rod over the stove, and a full-height slide out pantry in the 10-inch-wide space next to the refrigerator minimize the amount of space sacrificed to wall cabinetry. After all, points out Gold, "What are wall cabinets, anyway? Big things that enclose valuable space." In a small kitchen, he suggest, the fewer, the better.