The Galley

So how much could I get into an 8ft x 6ft gap?
How would I maintain the access panels for the hydraulics that ran through it?
These were the first questions I asked myself, as I stared at a blank piece of paper. I had got hold of an ex display solid oak kitchen, and although there were far more units than I needed I was struggling to put any sort of design together.After a while I managed to formulate an idea, free standing units into a U shape and using wall units as base units, with a little modification I had a galley.

To overcome the access panel I constructed a false floor, for the units to sit on, at plinth height. For normal inspection I would be able to remove the plinth, lift the access panel, and by means of work lamp, inspect the hydraulics. For more serious works with a little effort I would be able to remove individual units.
I decided to leave the worktops at 600mm, so that we could choose from full size hobs and sinks. Also as we intended to live aboard it would be more practical.
However the 600mm tops wouldn't work against the bulkheads and leave space to move in between.

Again a little modification sorted the problem.
I used an 800mm wall unit to make a corner unit trimmed down to a depth of 240mm, but still used a 400mm worktop this created a mini breakfast bar effect. On top of this I trimmed a decorative glass door wall unit to the shape of the roof. The opposite bulkheadwas just a case of trimmingthe service wings off of a standard 400mm base unit and fitting a 540mm top

On the port wall I planned a straight 500mm deep x 900mm long top to cover the fridge. I used a wine rack to make up the 300mm difference.
We chose black worktops and stainless steel sink and hob. I used some stainless steel tiles as splash backs and framed these in solid American White Oak.
I also trimmed all the open edges of worktop with the oak.
A small unit was built between the corridor entry and the fridge unit that was only 150mm deep but filled an otherwise wasted void.
Over a period of time some minor changes have taken place for practical and aesthetic reasons and now we are really happy with it, even though we still have to install an oven.