5 Factors to Remember Before Designing a Functional Kitchen

Designing a kitchen requires more than just picking out shiny appliances and decorative hardware. It also involves careful planning to ensure you can comfortably perform a variety of tasks. Whether it’s cooking, cleaning or entertaining, a thoughtful kitchen design will allow you to get things done without the headache.

In this post, you’ll discover five factors to keep in mind before designing a functional kitchen. To discuss your kitchen renovation in more detail, contact the pros at Woodhaven today.

1. Redirect Traffic Away from the ‘Working Triangle’

The ‘working triangle’ is the space between your refrigerator, cooktop and sink. The idea is that these three areas are close - but not too close - so that people can use them efficiently and without wasting steps. Also be sure that you redirect traffic away from this space so that you don’t have people coming through while you're cooking or washing dishes.

2. Leave Ample Working Space Around Your Appliances

All appliances need ample working space around them. Otherwise, you won’t be able to comfortably open the oven or turn pot handles. The working triangle will help with this, but also consider having spaces next to your appliances to set down food, dishes and cooking utensils.

3. Assign a Purpose to Your Island

Islands are highly requested in kitchen renovations, but don’t just put one into your design unless it has a purpose. Islands are big and take up space, so you want yours to be functional. Architectural Digest has some great kitchen island ideas. For instance, do you plan to cook on the kitchen island? Eat your meals on it? Do you want a sink or dishwasher added?

4. Organize Items within Reach

If new kitchen cabinets or a walk-in pantry are part of your kitchen remodel, make sure you have an organization system in mind. Place frequently used ingredients within reach. They might look good being organized on a top shelf, but this isn’t functional. Also, if you have kids, consider installing lower shelves that the kids can reach.

5. Pay Attention to Corners

Pay attention to the corners of cabinets and appliances. They need full clearance to be functional. Otherwise, they’ll be hitting up against walls, appliances or other cabinets. It’s also helpful to do a test run of cooking a meal so that you can see if multiple doors can be open at once.

By taking these five factors into consideration, you can design a functional kitchen that is easy to move around in. To discuss your kitchen remodeling project, contact Woodhaven today. Our kitchen design experts will make sure that we get every detail right for a perfect end solution!