Two Simple Rules to Ensure an Optimum Kitchen Layout
The layout of a kitchen is perhaps the most integral step for designers, as they seek to make the workflow of your kitchen as easy as possible for occupants of your home. For many new kitchens and kitchen renovations in Australia, the workflow of the kitchen takes a back seat, with grand new designs and attractive decor firmly behind the wheel. Without proper consideration, a kitchen design, despite looking good, can be a complete mess to negotiate.
Some of the particular failings of poorly planned kitchens are the distances between appliances, with fridges and ovens being on opposite sides of the room, and cabinet drawers that hinder movement when open. Depth of the benches is also a commonly occurring problem, with many benches being too long and unreachable, or too short and constraining of the optimum space of the kitchen bench.
Luckily, there are two key steps that designers take in the draft process when drawing the layout of a new or existing kitchen renovation. These steps focus on the accessibility of the kitchen and how best to increase the efficiency of procedure for the home chef. We’ve listed three of the main points below so you can start to get a rough idea of what is required, before you can start picking your favourite colours or cabinet materials.
Zoning
Zoning is a general term used for interior designers and architects, to designate which particular zone of the home will be set aside for specific purposes. In the realm of the kitchen, zoning becomes particularly important, as the modern day kitchen is no longer a place where only cooking occurs. Many kitchens are designed to have a sitting bar, some with espresso machines. Even mundane tasks, such as the placement of groceries, comes under zoning.
When thinking up your dream kitchen plans, designating which parts of your kitchen area will be the “entertainment zone”, for instance, is crucial to ensuring the functionality of the kitchen. You should consider where exactly you want to perform certain tasks, what works easiest for you, and the proximity of these areas to other parts of the home where this task can also be carried out. Placing the grocery area near the entrance to the kitchen is ideal, for example.
The Kitchen Triangle
The kitchen triangle is a product of the architecture revolution of the mid-20th century, where ease of access was made paramount over the more traditional concealing of each room. The theory revolves around the three main components of the kitchen – fridge, stove, and sink – and works around four simple principles:
The oven, fridge and sink must be aligned in such a way that a triangle can be formed between the three points
The points between the appliances should form as to be able to walk in a straight line to get to each appliance
No more than 2.5m, and no less than 2m, should separate each appliance
Other appliances, such as the microwave or an additional preparation sink, should be no less than 1m away from any point of the triangle
The idea behind the triangle theory is that, being the three main components of your kitchen, there should be as little impediment in movement between them as possible.
Damco Kitchens, possessing the rich experience that has come with providing functional and attractive new kitchen designs in Melbourne for over a decade, can design your kitchen to be not only attractive, but also functional. Working with you from conceptualisation to implementation, we can design a kitchen that will make your life as easy as possible.
We are an award winning kitchens and bathroom renovation provider in Melbourne, so contact us today on (03) 9544 0210, or come visit us at our Clayton showroom, and let us make your dream kitchen a reality.
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