Choosing your cabinets, flooring, tile, appliances, and paint can be a daunting task. It is not the appearance of the kitchen that makes it liveable, but its functionality that makes it so. When designing and planning a kitchen, you should keep a few important kitchen layout ideas in mind.
If you want your kitchen design to be successful, you’ll want to incorporate these 6 essential kitchen layout ideas:
1: Streamline traffic
Whatever the case may be, the kitchen is probably going to have a lot of traffic. Despite that, there are ways to avoid letting the kitchen become an overflowing dumping ground for mail and backpacks.
To control the chaos that can come sweeping into the kitchen every day, create a mudroom before you enter it. As soon as you enter the kitchen, make sure the primary path through the kitchen is safe and won’t be blocked by appliances such as the refrigerator or oven door.
2: Fixtures should be spaced comfortably apart
Preparing, serving, and cleaning up after meals are the three main tasks you should consider when laying out your kitchen. When you are working in the kitchen, you don’t want the stove across from the sink or the refrigerator too far away from the stove.
3: A good kitchen island shouldn’t be too close or too far away from the stove
Almost all meal preparation takes place on a kitchen island. Considering its location is key if you intend to integrate one into your kitchen layout. Your major appliances, such as dishwashers, refrigerators, wall ovens, and dishwashers, shouldn’t be blocked by it.
Ensure that there is enough room to pass through when the doors are open as well as enough space for the appliance door to swing. It shouldn’t be too far away, however. You should arrange your island so that all of these fixtures are within easy reach.
4: Sinks should be placed first
Kitchen layouts are often created by placing the sink first and then designing from there. In spite of the fact that this may have originated from the time when people spent hours scrubbing dishes, it still remains a good rule of thumb even today.
Even though the oven and fridge are essential to preparing meals, we spend the majority of our time at the sink. You might want to consider placing the sink where there is a view out of a window or into the room. It is also a great idea to place the sink on a kitchen island.
5: Stoves should always be placed on exterior walls
Rather than installing your stove and oven on an island or interior wall, place them on the exterior wall. A proper ventilation system can then be easily installed (at a lower cost).
6: Don’t forget vertical storage
Rather than focusing all your energy on creating cabinet and drawer storage, invest some of it in designing convenient wall storage instead.
With storage walls, you can organize pantry items, small appliances, baking accessories, extra china, or even a broom closet. It is not only convenient to have open shelves, wall hooks, and overhead pot racks – if stocked with the right items, they can also add a visual dimension to the space.