Creating the ideal layout for your kitchen
Once you've accurately measured and drawn out your floorplan, you can begin laying
out the ideal floorplan for your new kitchen.
Understanding the "work triangle" will help the efficiency of your design. Your
basic work triangle is an imaginary line drawn from the kitchen's three primary
work areas: food storage (refrigerator), food preparation (stove) and clean-up (sink).
Keep your work triangle to a manageable size of 26 feet or less, which is the sum
of the three legs of the work triangle. Keep traffic flow out of the work triangle
if at all possible.
The U-shaped kitchen: a compact work triangle
This kitchen is a very popular layout because of the compact work triangle it creates.
It contains generous counter space and helps provide an efficient work flow.
The L-shaped kitchen: flexibility for large or small homes
This kitchen is a very popular layout because of the compact work triangle it creates.
It contains generous counter space and helps provide an efficient work flow.
The G-shaped kitchen: lots of counter and cabinet space
This kitchen is a very popular layout because of the compact work triangle it creates.
It contains generous counter space and helps provide an efficient work flow.
The single wall kitchen: a simple layout for any home
This kitchen is a very popular layout because of the compact work triangle it creates.
It contains generous counter space and helps provide an efficient work flow.
The galley kitchen: ideal for small kitchens
This kitchen is a very popular layout because of the compact work triangle it creates.
It contains generous counter space and helps provide an efficient work flow.
Some design tips for all kitchen layouts
1. Place the sink cabinets and appliances as close to the original layout as possible.
2. Make sure doors open properly, appliances are unobstructed and traffic flows
easily through your kitchen.
3. Experiment with design. Consider substituting other cabinets -- or combination
of cabinets -- of the same dimension for some of your current cabinets.