Kitchen Layout Design

Kitchen Layout Design: What Is The Best Use Of Your Space?

Tags: G-Shaped Kitchens, Galley Shaped Kitchens, Kitchen Design, kitchen layout, Kitchen Layout Design, Kitchen Work Triangle, L-Shaped Kitchens, U-Shaped Kitchens, Wall Shaped Kitchens

When looking to remodel a kitchen, homeowners often use the existing design for the new kitchen without changing it. The importance of looking at a different design is overlooked.

No matter how high-tech or beautiful the kitchen is, if it doesn¡¯t meet the lifestyle needs of the owner, through excellent kitchen layout design, the rest is unimportant.

Questions to Ask

How do you use your existing kitchen? What do you like about it? What don¡¯t you like about it? What do you find frustrating about the design? What would you do to make your kitchen more to your liking and easier to use? What kitchen cabinet plans would improve your layout? These are all things that you should take into account. The kitchen layout design may have been done with improper standards when it was planned. There are many kitchens out there that have serious design flaws. Your kitchen could have been based on the least expensive kitchen cabinet plans that the builder selected when your home was built, for instance. 

Go With The flow

When you remodel or design a kitchen from scratch, you want to look at the flow that works best for you. You want to make and kitchen design changes that work best for the way you use your kitchen.

Wiring, plumbing and/or ductwork may need to be moved but this is all do-able to get the kitchen the way you want it. You may even want to shift or eliminate certain wall(s) to open up more space to your kitchen.

It is a must that you seek the services of an architect or structural engineer before any load bearings walls are moved. Keep in mind that load bearing walls can be moved if the correct structural changes are made.

It will cost more to move bearing walls, but if that is your only option to get a better footprint for your kitchen, it¡¯s worth looking at.

Lets take a look at the most common kitchen layout designs so that you can get a better idea of how the different aspects of the kitchen relate to one another.

You can see that the kitchen work triangle is well suited for all of kitchen designs shown below. These designs work well for smaller to modestly sized kitchens. The triangle can be changed if it stays within the lengths described in the kitchen work triangle.

As you can see in the kitchen layout designs pictured below, the refrigerator, stove and sink are all placed on the points of the triangle (with the exception of the one-walled design) for the best walking pattern of the cook.

The following are the most common kitchen layouts that can be viewed as general templates for your kitchen.

Common Kitchen Layout Design

One Wall Shaped Kitchens:

This is an efficient design if the entire length of the work area is not too long, seeing how you¡¯re walking from one end to the other. If you can add an island or moveable work surface across from the one walled layout, that will increase how useful this design is.

It is ideal if the design has a flow from the storage areas to the prep area to the cooking area, then, to the eating area and off to the clean up station. The prep area should have a minimum of 30¡å of counter space.

Galley Shaped Kitchens:

This design usually doubles the amount of cabinet and counter space that you have available as compared with the one wall shaped kitchen. This design works great for one cook.

A distance of 48¡å or more between the counters is ideal so that if someone is passing through the kitchen, there is ample passing room to move by.

More space would be ideal but the added distance will make for more walking between one of the elements on the one wall, and the two elements on the other wall.

If there is a door to the outside at one end of the kitchen, restrict its use by finding a different route or just do away with the door.

L-Shaped Kitchens:

With the L-shaped kitchen you have a set of cabinets and countertops that are all connected making the working area very useful. This design also avoids a traffic problem seeing how traffic can move easily around this design.

Each of the legs of the ¡°L¡± can be of different length or they can be similar in length. When the legs are of equal length you may have enough space for an island. Check to see if there is enough room in all directions with 42¡å to 48¡å of passage between counters.

Keep in mind that with this design you will have to work in a base corner kitchen cabinet where the ¡°L¡± meets at the 90-degree angle. This is not a problem since there is a lot of nice corner cabinets that you can choose from today.

U-Shaped Kitchens:

This too is a useful design if the ¡°U¡± doesn¡¯t get too wide and requires a lot of walking from one point to the next.

If the U-shape is wide enough to have an island in the center and maintains a minimum of 42¡å of passage around it, then this can look great and increase the overall appeal of your kitchen.

If an island is possible, then the standard kitchen work triangle may not work well. You may want to look at work zones instead, and an additional small sink to improve the flow.

An island with this design and extra sink works well for a second cook. This type of design also has no walk through traffic. A plan on how to deal with two blind corners in the U-shaped kitchen will need to be addressed.

The corner kitchen cabinets are not a problem since there are a few different designs to chose from that you can work into your kitchen. For more on having an island in your kitchen, go to Kitchen Island Plans.

G-Shaped Kitchens:

This kitchen layout design is a version of the U-shaped kitchen with the addition of a peninsula. The peninsula addition makes good use of the kitchen triangle at the expense of the kitchen feeling cramped.

Another downside of this layout is that it cuts off the openness from the kitchen to the adjacent room. A positive feature of this layout is to have a 36¡å to 42¡å deep counter on the peninsula that will serve as a seating area on one side.

These are sample designs that have been time tested for their useful kitchen layout design. They also make good use of the kitchen work triangle. All kitchens are unique and should designed to work well with your space.

What kitchen design do you currently have and how has it worked for you? These basic designs may help you realize how your new kitchen can work much better for you.

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