Kitchen design principles of the past are still the gold standard

Have you ever lived in a house where the kitchen just “worked”; cooking there was effortless? Or, on the contrary, everything you tried to do in the kitchen didn’t work; was nothing where it should be?

The answer is simple, “proper kitchen design principles.” Research-based kitchen design principles from the 1920s still work in homes today, still the “gold standard” when designing kitchens.

Today’s kitchens are used more than ever for various activities and functions, so it is imperative that your design has proper planning. Cooking is obviously still the primary function of a kitchen, but areas for visiting, kids doing homework, paying bills, or using the computer are becoming more commonplace.

Several general pre-design questions to ask are: does traffic flow through the kitchen or does it start or stop there? How many people will usually cook in the space? The more questions you ask and the more answers you get, the better the functionality of your new kitchen will be.

To begin your design, draw the perimeter walls that define the space along with all adjacent rooms and their use to provide information about traffic patterns. Be sure to include island walls or peninsulas. Be sure to define the width of all openings to and from the kitchen. Door openings must have a minimum of 32″ clearance. That is, if it is a clad opening or a drywall opening, measure from wall to wall. If a door is involved, open the door 90 degrees and measure from the face of the door to the edge of the doorstop on the opposite side, remember you want 32″. If a cabinet runs parallel to the opening and the “aisle” created by the cabinet exceeds 24″ in depth (length), then the width must be expanded to 36″. If the item creating the “hallway” is a range, make sure it is separated from the “hallway” by a 12″ cabinet and that there is a minimum 15″ wide counter space on the opposite side of the “hallway” for place a hot stove. pot in. One last point is to make sure that no doors interfere with the operation of any appliance.

Kitchen hallways must be a minimum of 42″ wide for 1 cook and 48″ wide if 2 cooks will be working at the same time. Aisle widths should be measured from the leading edge or protruding handle of any item to a point directly in front of it. Primary traffic should not flow through the work aisle. If you find that this situation exists, redraw the area to remove the pattern.

The infamous triangle

Have you ever heard of the work triangle? This work triangle is formed by drawing a line from the front center of the refrigerator, the front center of the stove, and the front center of the sink. No individual run must be less than 4′ or more than 9′ and the total of all runs must not exceed 26′. Multiple work zones and multiple work triangles can be established with the addition of dishwashers, trash compactors, etc.

Now you can start placing the appropriate cabinets between the appliances. Take care to place the correct configuration of cabinets in each space. Drawers containing cutlery and utensils should be located near the dishwasher, while cabinets for storing large pots and pans should be located next to the stove.

seating

We’ve all been in the house with cramped seats, where someone is stuck in the corner. The minimum gap between the edge of the table and the wall should be 32″ if there is no traffic behind the person. If there is traffic behind the chair, a minimum of 36″ is needed and 44″ if you prefer to have one person pass without turning around

People tend to congregate in the seating area, so make sure you have easy access for people of all shapes and ages. As you can see, the proper design of the space will result in a truly functional kitchen. Start with the Triangle that features your appliances, and then add cabinets, remembering to add space to store your blender, food processor, crock pot, etc.