Kitchen Design Basics

Over the past fifteen years, I’ve seen a few kitchen trends come and go. Popular finishes and countertop colors will change, but many elements of good kitchen design remain the same. In honor of Kitchen and Bath Month, I’ve decided to outline several key factors for a successful kitchen layout.

Scale:

In a kitchen design, the biggest scale issue is usually with the appliances. A 48” Aga range is gorgeous, but it will eat up a big chunk of a 10-foot wall, especially if that wall also has to hold the fridge. Hoods can also be tricky when it comes to scale and proportion. A small wall won’t be able to handle a massive hood, but a long wall with a soaring ceiling needs a substantial hood to create visual weight.

Scale also plays a factor in the size of the cabinet doors I choose. The available space in the kitchen will dictate the overall size of the cabinets I use, but I can decide how to divide that space based on the size of the cabinet doors. A large kitchen with many small cabinets, with small doors, can start to look cluttered and busy. On the other hand, large cabinet doors can seem out of proportion in a very small kitchen.

Clearances:

Kitchen design centers around having the right amount of room to function. To ensure this, proper clearances are vital. Standard walkways are a minimum of 36” wide, with 42” or more being preferred around appliances or in spaces where more than one person might be working. Corners need to be carefully considered, so that all doors and drawers will open properly. Again, appliances are a big consideration when calculating clearances. I need to consider how far an appliance will protrude into a walkway and how much space the doors require to open completely. For example, some refrigerators simply won’t open if they are pushed too far into a corner of the room. Additionally, cooktops and ranges require specific clearances to combustible materials, depending on building codes and the manufacturer’s specifications.

Flow:

A beautiful kitchen is worthless if it doesn’t function properly. Everyone has their own cooking style, so the flow of a kitchen will depend greatly on the owner’s needs. Many designers still hold to the “work triangle” concept, but I prefer to look at the kitchen in zones. Every kitchen needs a zone for storage, prep, cooking, and clean-up. Some of these zones may overlap, and some may be more or less important to different people. Some people do a lot of scratch cooking and need a large prep area. Others may cook mostly pre-packaged food and need more pantry storage for boxes and cans. Whatever the case, these zones need to relate to each other logically. No one wants to prep ingredients and then have to carry them clear across the room to cook them. Nor do you want your dish storage to be a long walk from the clean-up zone.

Storage Options:

After appliances and sinks, storage is the next biggest need in a kitchen. Like cooking styles, storage needs can vary from person to person. With the popularity of meal kits, many people need very little ingredient storage. On the other hand, those who like to stock up at a wholesale club might find that they need not only immediate food storage but also a place for bulk items. Either way, all kitchens need some type of storage for dishes, cookware, and utensils.

Whatever their storage needs, homeowners can find a wide variety of accessories to organize their kitchens. The kitchen industry has developed cabinet inserts to organize everything from pots to spices, even including drawer organizers for individual coffee pods. Personally, I try to avoid highly specialized cabinet inserts. They often take up too much space, and they don’t allow any flexibility. I prefer drawers (a mix of large and small), adjustable roll-outs, and a cabinet with dividers for cookie sheets, if possible. If the space allows, I also like to add some kind of pull-out storage or organizer for spices.

Whatever style you choose, a great kitchen starts with a smart design. If you keep these four factors in mind, you can have a kitchen that looks great and functions even better.