A kitchen remodel is a daunting task. Plans without restraint quickly turn into an unusable cooking and workspace. Understanding your kitchen space, your personal needs, and common considerations when designing a kitchen layout style will help you during your kitchen remodel.
Let’s look at some common kitchen styles and the ways they utilize space.
The most efficient kitchen for one-person cooking, the galley kitchen is a common for smaller, older homes. It’s very functional for the main job of a kitchen: cooking. With open floor plan design, galley kitchens have fallen out of popularity. Because the cook is holed up in the corridor, galley style kitchens may feel closed off and inadequate for entertaining guests.
If you currently have a galley kitchen, changing the cabinet layout by adding cabinets to one side and taking out a wall on the other can open up the space.
Often found in small studios and condos where space is limited, the one wall kitchen is an ideal option. Because of the single wall only being a line, you will have to throw the idea of the work triangle out the window. Instead, when designing a single wall kitchen, keep all appliances within easy reach to make the space efficient. If you are worried about counter space, installing thinner appliances will help.
A modern trend, when space allows, is to build in a kitchen island adjacent from the one wall kitchen space. This frees up counter space that is taken by appliances either by moving one to the island or just using the island as a prep-space. This gives you the efficiency of the galley layout without closing off the space.
A popular option, the L shape kitchen style is a common choice in contemporary kitchen design. The work triangle is slightly modified in the L shape kitchen into what is called work zones. Instead of focusing on the positioning of the sink, cook top, and fridge for optimal cooking, the work zone plans fundamentally on the use of the space for multiple cooks and entertaining.
Paired with an empty floor plan, the empty space can accommodate a kitchen island for more counter space, appliances, and seating. The L shape kitchen layout becomes an ideal space for entertaining. With the addition of a kitchen island, there is room for multiple cooks and other guests can easily socialize from the kitchen island. Without the island, it’s still easy to use and open but it lacks the same kind of entertaining space and keeps the cooks facing away from the party.
Great for busy kitchens, the U shape is another great cooking focused design. Although it has fallen out of popularity for the L shape + island, the amount of counter and cabinet space is fantastic.The Horseshoe kitchen is now often only in very large spaces and paired with a kitchen island for entertaining purposes. If you have the space for it, these kitchens are ideal. If you do not have an island in your U shaped kitchen, consider adding one if you have the space for it.
If you have a U shaped kitchen layout but no room for a full kitchen island, consider an addition of a Peninsula. The G shape kitchen style is the best compromise for larger kitchens without enough space for a real kitchen island. The biggest complaint of the G shape is there is only one entrance and exist which can impedes multiple people coming in and out of the kitchen itself. However, the peninsula is otherwise a great use of space for both cooking and entertaining.
With so many kitchen layouts to choose from, which is the best for your space? When planning the layout of your new kitchen, the size and shape of your kitchen area will determine which layouts are viable. Our cabinet cures designers will help you choose what modifications to your kitchen makes sense in your space during the design process. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.