When you are looking at new homes for yourself, pay very close attention to the arrangement of the kitchen. Builders know that a beautiful kitchen will sell a house, so they will dress it up to look especially appealing. This beautiful kitchen could be a pain if you are not careful to notice the efficiency of the “work triangle”.
The ideal kitchen has the stove, sink and refrigerator laid out so they are all three no more that 4 steps away from each other. When Steve and I were building the house we live in today, I noticed the plans had the refrigerator too far away from the stove and sink. I quickly penciled in the refrigerator to go in a better location and I enjoy this vital decision every day when I am in the kitchen. My work triangle is a very nice 2 step triangle and meals are easy to prepare!
Another point to consider is countertop work space. You want to have enough counter space so you can chop vegetables and have additional space to prepare at least two items at a time. The chopping area is ideally next to the sink, so it is nice to have counter space next to both sides of the sink. It is also nice to have the countertops at a height that is easy to work with. Some people adjust the height if they are taller or shorter than average people. You may want to think this over carefully especially if you consider resale…but that’s another blog.
Here is a link to Lowe’s website which includes kitchen design and has a bit about the “work triangle” and info about about storage which I didn’t go into.
Sylvia
Steve,
When I looked for a house, I need a couple things with the kitchen. First, I like to have the sink and the stove on the same side of the countertop. The reason for this is so that when you prepare food in the sink, you don’t drip it on the floor when you bring it to the stove to cook it. The second to have the kitchen as close to the garage as possible, preferably directly behind the garage. This way, you don’t have to carry your groceries too far from the car to the kitchen. Many times, I see floorplans where the garage is on one side the house and the kitchen is as far away as possible from the garage. This causes you to have to carry groceries a long distance which is not good!
Yes, those are all good points. Especially the distance of the kitchen from the garage. Some people don’t think about this, but having the kitchen near the garage door makes it very convenient when you are carrying in groceries. This is when counterspace comes in handy as well.
This is so true,sometimes the kitchens look very nice,but the layout sucks.