The design magazine bounty at Kinokuniya in Japantown has been mentioned here before, but we wanted to show you this great space-saving trick we saw in the #4 issue of Esoteria Interior and Home. What a good place for a bookshelf, no?
Housing in Japan is notoriously small (especially in cities), so even if you don't read Japanese we recommend checking out some design magazines or books from Kinokuniya for inspiration on how to maximize every inch of a small space.
-Lily
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Comments (10)
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We are planning on doing something very similar.
I generally don't like using barstools, so the space could be well-utilized like this. Instead of books, you could store kitcheny things (decorative bowls? pots & pans) in the space.
I thought of doing this with our kitchen, but realized that it would cut into the cabinet space on the other side. Unless you have a lot of space, it's actually not that practical.
I did this last year to see how I liked it - I plan to have it built in when I re-do the kitchen.
I also built my home office so the outer side is a bookcase. http://tribecatribal.typepad.com/photos/house/5officekitchen.html
I have that same issue! I love it, and plan to get another soon. By the way, the title is actually "Interior and Home". It makes more sense now, eh?
SFGail--
If you look at the photo carefully, you'll notice that the counter is about 3' deep...
...24" for the cabinets and 12" for the books.
Putting books so close to a sink makes me nervous! Makes me think of spills and water damage.
If you look at the photo carefully, you'll also notice that the the ovens are also on top of the book shelf. Because the opposite side seems to be just cabinets. I wouldnt put my books under the stove in any case, you know.. what happens even if a small fire hazard?
Can anyone identify the aluminum/stainless lamps?