You wish to renovate your kitchen and make it more functional to answer your needs better. If this is the case for you, finding the proper kitchen layout is the first and crucial step of this process. Depending on your decision, everything will find its place, from cabinetry to appliances, and the character of your kitchen will be revealed.
Are you a bachelor who uses this kitchen for mostly just cooking but also hosting friends over once a week for a wine party? Or do you have a big family where members spend their time in the kitchen from breakfast to dinner, children do their homework on the island, and have big birthday parties with all family and friends? Whatever your story is, don’t forget that the perfect layout solution will match all your needs by following the proper design process. Let’s look at the critical points which you should keep in mind:
Top view of architect woman sketching a kitchen in the office
The place and size of the kitchen
The kitchen size, one of the most critical factors in determining the layout, differs in every house. And if we add the location of the kitchen, what kind of design we should create begins to show itself.
While apartments have smaller kitchen areas, we can encounter more extensive and spacious kitchens that are partitioned within themselves when looking at the houses. As the sizes get bigger, the layout options we can choose increase, too. Considering the existing door and window location, an L or U-type layout that will surround the remaining wall areas may be the right choice if you have a kitchen separated from the other parts of the house and a single entrance and exit door.
On the other hand, in an open-concept kitchen that combines with other living areas of the house, the layout you choose must be compatible with these junction points. In small apartments with this plan type, single-wall kitchens, usually supported by an island, are the most used layouts. Depending on the wall areas used in large houses, U-type kitchen layouts supported by an island in the middle or peninsula-type kitchen layouts where a wall-attached counter space divides the living room and kitchen are among the most preferred layout types.
The focal point of the kitchen (island or no island)
Where is the first place you look when you enter a room? To answer this question, we are aware that there are many details that we need to know, from the shape of the room to the design, from the colors to the light. Let’s think of this question only as kitchen areas and give our answer. isn’t the first word that comes to mind “island”?
Islands can be used in all kitchen layouts; according to their functions, they can be the most critical point in your kitchen. If we look from the cooking and food preparation window, this crucial point, which is closest to the other areas of the kitchen, plays a vital role in doing your work quickly. Besides serving as a dinner table where the whole family gathers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, they can also be the focal point of your crowded parties. One of the most critical issues is how you want to use this unit.
Whether it’s just a storage and counter space, a sink, or a station where your appliances will be located, if your kitchen area is suitable for island positioning, whichever layout you choose, the kitchen island should be in the corner of your mind. As for the size of the island and, more importantly its shape, we suggest you take a look at the different island types that integrate with snack tables at Magnia’s collections: https://magnia.com/collections/kitchens/
Kitchen traffic “work triangle.”
Have you heard of the term “work triangle”? This is one of the most important issues to be considered in kitchen design and is perhaps the most critical factor that will lead you to your final decision. To understand what we’re talking about, consider what kind of traffic you follow while working in the kitchen. Yes, we are talking about those critical points where we go from one to another while preparing a meal: the refrigerator, the sink, and the cooking area.
Keeping the distances between these three critical points at the optimum will make your work much easier while working in the kitchen. When determining the distances, do not forget to consider factors such as the space required to open the refrigerator and oven door easily, your access to storage areas, other family members who will use the kitchen, and the traffic they will create.
When we think of standard kitchen layouts, we can say that those that support this work triangle most efficiently have an island in the middle and fix one corner of the triangle to this island. In this arrangement, the other side of the island can be used as a sitting area, and the traffic around the island will be cleared for other kitchen users. Of course, you can create a working triangle without an island with different solutions. A peninsula layout, placing the sink in one of the kitchen corners in an L-shaped layout, or using the U-shaped layout as the corners of a work triangle and placing the dining area on the opposite side of the kitchen. These are some of the examples to customize your layout considering your needs.
Planning your custom kitchen layout may seem like a complex and overwhelming task. However, it will become easier to keep these critical points in mind and assess them according to your house and needs. Do not forget that the layout you will choose is unique for you and your kitchen, so do not hesitate to go beyond the standards. As Magnia, we are always eager to help you with your design and planning process and would be happy to join your journey.
