Think about what happens to your food and you will get a good idea how an efficient kitchen works. The steps are usually:

Purchase Storage Pre-preparation Preparation Service Dish Washing

Bear all these in mind when planning and you won’t go far wrong. For example, put the fridge near the door where you bring in the shopping (to save you walking acros the kitchen each time), put the baking supplies in a cupboard near the oven, the clean-up materials under the sink and snack items near the microwave, and so on.

The Work Triangle

For maximum efficiency, the kitchen’s three primary appliances, the sink, the refrigerator and the cooktop or range should be located in a triangle and as close to each other as possible. The triangle is measured from the center of the sink to the center of the refrigerator to the center of the cooktop.

Although not a hard and fast rule, the perimeter of the work triangle should measure at least 12 feet but not more than 26 feet. Each side should measure at least 4 feet but no longer than 9 feet.

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Most kitchens will have service points for [...]

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The next big step in the kitchen planning process is deciding what shape the kitchen will be, and determining who will use the kitchen and how often.

Although deciding on the shape seems restrictive, it actually narrows down the possibilities and makes the planning easier. The goal on deciding on a shape it to make your kitchen as efficient as possible, with the food preparation, sink and cooking areas close together. A good rule of thumb is to keep a piece of countertop between the sink and cooktop on which to prepare food.

Another good idea is to place the fridge between the main doorway into the kitchen and the main cooking area so that the other people in the house can have easy access to the fridge (without having to walk through the cooking area). The fridge shouldn’t be located next to the oven/range or cooktop, however, due to the temperature differences.

There are four main shapes a kitchen can have: Single Galley kitchens, Two-way Galley kitchens, L-shaped kitchens and U-shaped kitchens. There are also variations on each with the addition of an island. Each has its advantages and disadvantages.

Single Galley kitchens

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