Phoebe’s kitchen has an open layout, with a dual functioning bar-countertop, but only one drawer. Though she can finally indulge in her latent suburban desire to watch The Food Network while she cooks, the open kitchen presents a new set of problems, namely guests who insist on “helping.” She is addicted to her mini food processor, but she could rely on nothing but a Le Creuset French oven to get the job done, even though her living room exposed brick walls are adorned by a variety of pots and pans that she’s inherited from her mother.

The kitchen in Cara’s old studio apartment was half the size of the bathroom and clocked in at 18 square feet. Yes, for two years she cooked in a kitchen with zero drawers and an oven with only one rack and entertained in a place where the dining room table shared space with the bedroom. Her recent move to Prospect Heights landed her a larger, newer kitchen. She now has double the amount of counter space— black granite!—plus ample refrigerator space, two oven racks, and four whole drawers.