In a lot of New Orleans houses, the kitchen is the last room in a straight line of rooms, boxed in by a party wall, a back door, and a window nobody wants to lose. Moving those walls means structural work, permits, and sometimes a historic review. Most small kitchens here can get far better without touching them.
A cramped kitchen is one of the most common complaints in older New Orleans homes, and the first instinct is usually to knock something down. In most cases the walls are not the real problem. The layout inside them is: aisles that are too tight, counters that run out, appliances that are too big for their openings, and storage that stops a foot short of the ceiling.
At TurnKey Renovators, we renovate compact kitchens across the New Orleans area, and much of that work happens inside the original footprint. We plan the cabinets, counters, flooring, electrical, and plumbing as one project so the trades are not working against each other in a tight room.
If your kitchen feels like a hallway with a stove in it, contact us and we will walk the room with you and talk through what the space can do.
Small kitchens in this city usually come from the house type, not from a bad remodel. The building around the kitchen sets the limits, so it is worth knowing which kind you have before any planning starts.
The shotgun house became a major New Orleans house type in the second half of the 19th century, and thousands were built in the 1880s and 1890s, according to the 64 Parishes encyclopedia. The rooms line up one behind the other with no interior hallway, and the kitchen typically sits at the very back.
In a double, a party wall splits the building lengthwise into two halves, so one side of your kitchen is a shared wall. That wall is the last thing to move. A narrow back room with doors at both ends tends to push the kitchen into a single run or a galley, and the doors decide where cabinets can go.
Many older shotguns sit raised a few feet off the ground on piers. That matters for a renovation, because supply and drain lines under a raised floor can often be reached from the crawl space below.
Slab-on-grade homes are a different job. Relocating a supply or drain line there means cutting into the concrete, so on a slab the cheapest sink location is usually the one you already have.
Back doors, side windows, and the doorway from the next room all eat wall space in a small kitchen. Each opening also sets traffic paths, and a path that cuts between the sink and the range makes even a well-equipped kitchen awkward to cook in.
The goal of a no-wall renovation is to work with those fixed points, not to fight them. Our small kitchen renovation work starts with exactly that question: what stays where it is, and what can be rearranged inside the room.
When we measure a small kitchen, the same handful of causes show up again and again. None of them requires moving a wall to fix.
The National Kitchen and Bath Association’s Kitchen Planning Guidelines recommend a work aisle of at least 42 inches for one cook and at least 48 inches for more than one. A walkway, where people pass through but do not work, should be at least 36 inches.
Older galley kitchens often fall short of those numbers once cabinets and appliances are installed. When the aisle is tight, two people cannot pass, oven doors block the room, and the open dishwasher door becomes a trip hazard.
Counter space next to each appliance is what makes a kitchen usable. NKBA recommends at least 24 inches on one side of the sink and 18 inches on the other. A cooking surface needs 12 inches on one side and 15 on the other, and the refrigerator needs 15 inches on its handle side.
A small kitchen can have plenty of total counter and still fail these tests if the counter is in the wrong places. A sink jammed into a corner or a range squeezed against a wall leaves you nowhere to set down a hot pan.
A full-depth refrigerator sticks out past the counter line and narrows the aisle at the worst spot. A 30-inch range takes wall space that a 24-inch model would hand back as counter or storage.
These choices often come from replacing old appliances with whatever was standard at the store. In a room this tight, a few inches per appliance decide whether the layout works.
Upper cabinets that stop well short of the ceiling leave a band of dead space that collects dust. In a narrow room with tall ceilings, that band is often the largest untapped storage in the house.
Not every small kitchen can be solved inside its walls. These are the signs that yours probably can.
NKBA’s guideline is that the sink, cooking surface, and refrigerator form a triangle totaling no more than 26 feet. No single leg should be shorter than 4 feet or longer than 9 feet. Most small kitchens pass the long-distance part of that test easily.
If your three work centers are close together and no major traffic path cuts through them, the bones of the layout are fine. The fixes are about what sits between those points.
When the sink and range locations are workable, keeping them saves real money, especially on a slab. A renovation that keeps the sink where it is can still change everything around it, from cabinets and counters to the faucet and the lighting overhead.
Sometimes the aisle is short of 42 inches only because of one deep appliance or a run of extra-deep cabinets. Swapping those pieces can recover several inches without moving anything structural.
If your complaints are clutter, dark corners, and nowhere to put the mixer, the problem is storage and lighting, not square footage. Those are the easiest problems to solve inside the existing footprint.
Once the layout is settled, the work comes down to a few decisions. Each one recovers space without changing the shape of the room.
Stock cabinets come in fixed widths, such as 12, 15, 18, 24, and 30 inches, and in a small room those sizes leave gaps that have to be closed with fillers. Semi-custom and custom cabinets can be built to the exact inch, so every foot of wall stores something.
Running upper cabinets to the ceiling claims the dead band above them, and pull-outs, drawers, and pantry organizers make the lower cabinets easier to reach. Our kitchen cabinet installation covers stock, semi-custom, and custom lines, installed level and plumb even when the walls are not.
NKBA recommends a total of 158 inches of countertop frontage, 24 inches deep, to cover landing areas, prep space, and storage. Many small kitchens cannot reach that number, which makes every inch of counter more important.
The fix is placement. NKBA also recommends a continuous prep area at least 36 inches wide and 24 inches deep right next to the sink, and that one stretch matters more than counter scattered around the room. We coordinate kitchen countertop installation with the cabinet plan so seams land in the right spots and corners are not wasted.
Smaller appliances are often the single biggest space gain in a tight kitchen. A counter-depth refrigerator sits closer to flush with the cabinets than a standard-depth model, which gives back aisle width where you need it most.
Compact dishwashers come in 18-inch widths, about 6 inches narrower than a standard model. A 24-inch range in place of a 30-inch one frees another 6 inches of wall.
Poor lighting makes a small kitchen feel smaller. Under-cabinet task lights, recessed fixtures, and lighter cabinet and wall finishes change how the room reads without changing its size.
Ventilation deserves the same attention, especially in a humid city where cooking moisture lingers. NKBA recommends a ducted ventilation system for every cooking surface with a minimum of 150 cubic feet per minute, and it notes that the International Residential Code sets 100 cfm as the minimum for a ducted hood vented outside.
New Orleans does not require a building permit for every kitchen project. The city’s guide to building permits lists replacing cabinets and countertops as exempt when the job does not also replace plumbing fixtures or fixed equipment, and interior painting is exempt too. The Department of Safety and Permits can still require a permit when conditions are hazardous or complex.
Electrical and plumbing work follows its own path. The same city guide states that only a Class A licensed electrical contractor can apply for an electrical permit in New Orleans, and plumbing permits are issued by the Sewerage and Water Board, not Safety and Permits.
Historic districts add one more layer. According to the HDLC’s own FAQ, the Historic District Landmarks Commission only has jurisdiction over the exterior of a property, so purely interior kitchen work is outside its review. A new exterior vent for a range hood or a changed window, though, is exterior work. The city’s guide also notes that permit-exempt work may still need approval from the Vieux Carré Commission or the HDLC.
In a flood zone, keep the size of the project in view. Under the National Flood Insurance Program rules communities adopt, an improvement costing 50 percent or more of the building’s pre-construction market value counts as a substantial improvement and must meet requirements for new construction. Check where your total lands when the kitchen is one part of a larger project.
Here is how the common approaches compare.
| Approach | Permit Picture in New Orleans | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Paint, lighting, and hardware refresh | Interior painting is exempt; new light fixtures and wiring go through an electrical permit | A sound layout that only looks dated and dark |
| New cabinets and countertops in the same footprint | Exempt when no plumbing fixtures or fixed equipment are replaced | Kitchens short on storage and landing space |
| Cabinets, counters, and new fixtures or appliances | Building permit, plus electrical and plumbing permits where that work is included | Full renovations that keep the sink and range in place |
| Rearranged layout inside the same walls | Building permit, plus plumbing through the Sewerage and Water Board when lines move | Work centers in the wrong places, especially on raised floors |
The right row depends on what is actually wrong with your kitchen, which is why we measure before we recommend anything.
A small kitchen in a shotgun double, a Creole cottage, or a postwar ranch does not need to be bigger to work better. Most of the gains come from sizing cabinets to the room, putting counter where you actually set things down, choosing appliances that fit, and lighting the space properly.
At TurnKey Renovators, we start every small kitchen project by measuring the room against how you cook, then build a plan that keeps the walls where they are whenever the layout allows.
To schedule a small kitchen consultation in New Orleans, call us today at (504) 527-8711.
Do I need a permit to renovate my kitchen in New Orleans?
It depends on the scope. The city exempts replacing cabinets and countertops when no plumbing fixtures or fixed equipment are replaced, and interior painting is exempt as well. Once the job includes new fixtures, appliances, wiring, or relocated plumbing, plan on permits from Safety and Permits and, for plumbing, the Sewerage and Water Board.
How wide should a galley kitchen aisle be?
NKBA recommends a work aisle of at least 42 inches for one cook and 48 inches for more than one, measured between counters, tall cabinets, or appliances. A walkway with no work happening in it can be 36 inches. If your galley falls short, shallower appliances or cabinets on one side can often recover the difference.
Can I move my sink without moving walls?
Often, yes, because the sink sits on a cabinet run, not inside a wall. The cost depends on the foundation. Lines under a raised floor can usually be reached from the crawl space, while a slab means cutting concrete to reroute supply and drain lines.
Does the HDLC review interior kitchen renovations?
No. The Historic District Landmarks Commission only has jurisdiction over the exterior of a property. If your renovation adds an exterior vent, changes a window, or alters anything else on the outside of the house, that part of the work does fall under its review.
What appliance sizes work best in a small kitchen?
Counter-depth refrigerators, 24-inch ranges, and 18-inch compact dishwashers are the usual space savers. Each one gives back a few inches of aisle or wall, and in a tight room those inches add up. Check the opening and the landing space next to each appliance before you buy.
Should upper cabinets go all the way to the ceiling?
In most small kitchens, yes. Cabinets that stop short of the ceiling leave a band of space that only collects dust, and in a room with a tall ceiling, that band can hold a lot. Use the top tier for items you need a few times a year.
How much counter space does a small kitchen need?
NKBA recommends 158 inches of countertop frontage in total, but many small kitchens cannot reach that number. What matters most is having landing space where you need it: 24 inches on one side of the sink, 15 inches beside the refrigerator handle, and a 36-inch prep area next to the sink.
How much ventilation does a small kitchen need?
NKBA recommends a correctly sized, ducted system for every cooking surface, with at least 150 cubic feet per minute. A ducted hood must move at least 100 cfm and vent outside under the International Residential Code. In a city as humid as New Orleans, a hood that vents outside also carries cooking steam out of the house.
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