The Alvarez galley

A worker’s cottage kitchen that stayed a galley on purpose, done in deep green with butcher block and twice the storage.

Not every kitchen wants walls removed. This 1905 cottage near the Yahara had a galley that worked; it was the storage and the sixty-year-old wiring that did not. We kept the footprint, rewired everything, and used the shop to squeeze storage out of every inch: ceiling-height uppers, toe-kick drawers, a broom pull-out beside the fridge.

The Alvarezes wanted color, so the cabinets went deep green with a butcher-block counter that will wear its scars proudly. Total build time was six weeks, and they cooked at home through four of them.

“Our galley kitchen was rewired, rebuilt, and back to cooking in six weeks. We ate at home through four of them, which I still do not fully understand.”

Sofia A.