The kitchen is not just a room for grabbing a quick bite anymore, and careful planning lets you use modern kitchen layout ideas to build a functional and roomy command center of the house. In fact, interior designers have kitchen structure down to a mathematical science. There are many possibilities for aesthetic kitchen design, but most of them are based on the triangle layout. The kitchen “work triangle,” as defined by the National Kitchen and Bath Association, extends from the top of the sink to the top of the stove, to the middle of the refrigerator and back to the sink. You can see why this sequence is important as you prepare meals. Building a proper work triangle ensures adequate space to move from one appliance to the next, and from one dish to the next. The advantages of a well-planned kitchen triangle are obvious: you won’t have to walk far to get water to top off a pot on the stove; you’ll have enough elbow room for effortless slicing, dicing, chopping and preparing; and your well-conceived kitchen layout ideas will allow two cooks to work at the same without stepping on each other’s toes.
The Art of the Triangle
No matter the size or layout of your kitchen, there are hard and fast rules for making your cooking center a fluid and efficient workspace. According to the National Kitchen and Bath Association, the following rules of thumb apply:
· If you add all sides of the kitchen work triangle together, the total need not exceed 26 feet.
· The triangle is not supposed to cut through a kitchen island or table by more than 12 inches
· Each side of the kitchen work triangle needs to measure between four and nine feet in length
· The sink needs to be situated across from the cooking surface, refrigerator or food preparation area
· Foot traffic through the kitchen is not supposed to cut through the work triangle space
This essential kitchen triangle keeps most important work surfaces accessible to the food preparer, but far enough apart to avoid a cramped or cluttered feel.
Your Own Treasure Island
It is practically impossible to picture contemporary kitchen layout ideas without including an island. The efficient kitchen island, standing free in the center of the room, can conceal appliances, store cookware, and serve as a second kitchen table. In larger kitchens, the island can be a liaison between the kitchen and the dining room. Standing at a kitchen island, the cook can have face-to-face dialogues with his or her guests, rather than just facing the wall.
But you need to avoid the mistake made by too many overly-eager kitchen planners, that is, force-fitting a size 12 island into a size 4 kitchen. Although it’s nice to build a grand island that provides lots of storage and counter space, a gigantic kitchen island may interfere with your cabinet and appliance doors. To be safe, allow at least three feet of open space between the island and the wall, and four feet between the island and your appliances.
Get Your Kitchen in Shape
The above suggestions for kitchen layout ideas will work with any of the four common kitchen shapes: the one-walled kitchen where all appliances and counters are placed along the same long wall; the galley kitchen where the cook stands between a row of appliances and a row of counters; and the kitchen layouts shaped like a “U” or an “L,” where the food preparer is surrounded by the appliances, cabinets and counter space. A little planning in kitchen layout ideas will save you time and effort down the road because the kitchen is no longer just a room to prepare meals – it’s an efficient center to prepare food quickly and comfortably.
