#functionalkichen

Creating Functional Kitchens

 To understand what you want in a kitchen, whether it be for your family home or a development, it is best to go back to basics. Dig out your plan and let’s talk layout and functionality.  The style of the kitchen in your first house is no doubt dramatically different to what you are looking for today, but I can tell you now that the way we use our kitchens hasn’t changed a bit. We still spend the most time in their preparing and cooking for family and friends, we spend a lot of time cleaning, making coffees and just entertaining the masses. If you’re anything like me, you end up standing on one side of the bench with visitors on the other side nibbling from the grazing plate and chatting, the kitchen is not just about food. It is a focal point in your home, and if you ask any agent, it is a major selling point.

  The most common layouts for a kitchen are the galley, L-shape, U-Shape and the more common one these days, the open plan with the island bench. Whilst I understand these layouts affect the look of the space, the more important design aspect is how to make it function the way you want it to. You may have heard of the term ‘The Working Triangle’.

 The Working Triangle provides the basis of most kitchen designs. The three points of the triangle represent the main stations of a typical kitchen; the fridge, the stove/oven and the sink. The fridge for storing, the stove/oven for cooking and the sink for cleaning. There are obviously so many modern kitchen appliances that can render some of this useless…..bring in the Thermomix, but the theory still works remarkably well. The triangle doesn’t have to be perfect, as long as it connects the three main stations it will work. It means that when using your kitchen it should be super easy to get around, get the cooking and cleaning done and still manage to entertain. Have a look at the plan of this kitchen below, the layout provides a perfect example, the sink on the island bench, the top point of the triangle, the fridge and the stove on the back wall, the bottom two points of the triangle.

  Or this one. The layout is slightly different as the points are all on different walls. The triangle is still there, just a little misshaped.

  This one changes the placement a little bit as well, the clients decided they wanted an open bench, this means the sink was placed on the side wall. Again the triangle is there, the points are just a little further away.

   I love the theory of an open bench, but not everyone has that option. If you need to put your sink on your island, maybe think about putting it off to one side. That will still leave you with plenty of space on your for food preparation.

 Whilst choosing the right splashback or deciding on a feature colour or appliance placement are always fun, none of that will matter if the kitchen doesn’t function the way you want it to. Our joiner, Thorwestern Cabinets is fantastic at assisting our clients to create the kitchen that works for them. Work with your joiner the make sure you are happy.