The Golden Girls Kitchen is one of the most famous kitchens in television history. At the breakfast table, the ladies tell stories from their past or eat cheesecake to solve a problem. This quintessential 1980s set was produced for a multi-camera show at Sunset Gower Studios in Hollywood, California.
Replicating The Famous Golden Girls Kitchen
How can the iconic Golden Girls kitchen be replicated for your own? Let’s break down the kitchen set, including the kitchen sink, to find out.
Golden Girls Kitchen Cabinetry
The kitchen walls are decorated with yellow-patterned wallpaper and wooden cabinets. The light yellow and light wood bring brightness to the kitchen without making it white, as in current kitchens.
The exterior of the cabinet doors features natural wood grain with knots, with raised panels on the upper cabinets. The base cabinets have a drawer panel and door with no drawer banks. False panels beneath the double-basin silver kitchen sink keep the look uniform.
The countertop surface looks the same material as the cabinet, so it most likely has wood sealant to protect it from spills. The countertop space to the left of the sink has a mounted paper towel dispenser, can opener, and coffee maker. A 6″ backsplash covers the wall just above the countertop.
Where the Ladies Cook
Normally, the cooking range would be found against the kitchen walls. However, the show kitchen has a matching kitchen island with a four-coil white range top.
A wing extension is at the side if the cook needs more counter surface. Coil ranges mean that this range is electric rather than gas.
In the 1980s, island stove tops were not common. This island placement lets us watch the actions of someone cooking while interacting with the rest of the cast.
Other Appliances and Furniture in the Golden Girls’ Kitchen
The refrigerator has faux wood paneling to relatively match the kitchen with a double ice tray dispenser. “Relatively” since wood paneling on refrigerators is usually metallic and can have magnets on their surfaces.
The silver microwave underneath the upper cabinets on the kitchen countertop is next to the refrigerator.
Next to the sink is a large wooden rolling cart that serves as a worktable and another seating area. Beneath the table surface is a horizontal rack to store kitchenware.
People might notice that when the four ladies are all together, they don’t sit at the same breakfast table. In fact, one of them tends to sit or stand near this extra rolling cart.
If you seated all four ladies at the small table, one of them will have their back towards the camera. It is uncommon for a kitchen to have two islands.
There is no dining room in the house, as the kitchen is used for both dining and cooking. This is likely a production consideration; not many scenes would take place there if that room existed.
However, to keep it stylish, the three Chippendale dining chairs have bamboo back frames. This bamboo matches all the bamboo furniture in the other rooms of the house, especially the living room.
Doorways
There are two doorways into the kitchen. The most visible one is the swinging door with a metal plate, similar to a restaurant kitchen door.
The kitchen generally does not need a door, and sometimes, it’s just an open archway. But the door creates comedic moments like listening on one side and pretending not to hear what’s in the other room.
Next to this door is a white baker’s rack that holds jars and bowls. This is purely for set decoration since no one interacts with this area, and it fills up the space.
An implied second door behind the pale yellow touch-tone corded phone leads to the garage. The long curly cord is meant to be long enough to be used anywhere in the kitchen.
Golden Girls Kitchen Décor
The setting for the Golden Girls is contemporary, which was Miami in the 1980s. Believe it or not, the same executives that did “Miami Vice” developed the basic concept for this show.
The Miami look had a lot of pastels, but the wallpaper was often yellow and had a plant pattern. Copper and ceramic cookware like cake molds, pans, and baking tins decorate the wall above the wall cabinets.
These were usually above the upper cabinets but also on the sides of walls to fill space.
Other Unique Setups for Production Design, but Impractical for a Home
According to various production design notes on the show. The breakfast table had a tablecloth because it was reflective. Breakfast tables are usually utilitarian surfaces.
The glare from the reflection from the overhead stage lights would have been bad for the camera.
The other unique staging done for production consideration was the kitchen island placement with the range top. Because the range top is placed so close to the base cabinets, they cannot be opened.
Can we recreate the Golden Girls Kitchen?
Although this kitchen was designed as a production set, it can easily be replicated. Natural wood grain cabinets are still popular
Although stovetops were uncommon in the 1980s, many modern kitchens have island cooktops and downdraft hoods. Rather than having extra countertops fold out, quartz countertops can extend further out to double as seating.
Some kitchens have the sink positioned at a diagonal angle rather than off-centered to the window, while sinks nowadays are always centered to the window.
The refrigerator was placed between 2 walls to create the look of being built in. You can create a built-in unit for the refrigerator between 2 panels to achieve this look.
Feel free to get free design assistance or if you have questions about kitchen ideas.
