Modern kitchen areas marry design with function to create multi-purpose rooms that are in tune with our pace of life. In addition to providing somewhere to prepare and wash, the 21st-century kitchen area is the center of our houses, welcoming dining, relaxing, entertaining and even research.
The kitchen area is the most pricey room to fit out, so it’s important to customise it to your needs and get the layout right from the start. Chances are you will be living with your choice for a very long time, or if you sell then you require to be aware that your love of lime might not attract potential purchasers. Fashions can change rapidly, and those plans that are at the cutting edge today will likewise be the quickest to date, so it can pay dividends to stick with traditional styles and use accessories to give a trendy edge, which are more affordable to update.
Planning and creating your kitchen is an experienced task, and time invested at the style stage will guarantee type fulfils function in a way that suits your life, and will go on doing so as your situations change over the life expectancy of the kitchen area.
The brief
Your kitchen brief will depend on one of two elements: whether you are self-building or coming at it from a restoration angle. Starting from scratch is far simpler as you can put power sources, drain and so on where you desire them. For example, if you desire an island hob with main extractor, you can consider the ducting at the planning stage, which is far harder to do in an existing home.
When replacing a kitchen area in an existing home you have to work within the constraints of the position and shape of the space, the area of gas/electricity and drain, in addition to doors and window positions and uneven walls. If you desire a range-style cooker you might require to reinforce the flooring and have an external wall for extraction.
One advancement in the last years is the appeal of the large kitchen/living extension, where the whole back of a house is altered around. These extensions create dramatic spaces, perfect for open-plan living, and have actually driven the existing vogue for sleek, long kitchens that control the design pages right now.
The layout fundamentals
Generally, designs are created using a working triangle, centred around three activities, based around the sink, the fridge and the cooker (see far right). These form the points of the triangle (apart from with a single-sided galley) and ought to make for simple, unblocked motion in between the 3 locations. Preferably, the distance between the points of the triangle should be between 5-7m– any less and it will appear cramped; anymore and you’ll squander unneeded quantities of time walking in between the locations.
With a galley or open-plan kitchen area arrange the space so that these 3 functions have unique work zones, instead of getting hung up with the idea of a triangle.
Essentially a kitchen area is divided into zones, including: provisions (food etc), non-consumable storage, sink storage, waste, food preparation and cooking, and the size of each of these zones will depend upon the way of life of the user. In addition, they need to be arranged in a rational sequence making it possible for tasks to be finished in the most efficient method. A left-handed user might work differently from a right-handed one.
Other factors to consider include the placement of soft goods, which will dictate, or in an existing home be determined by the position of gas supply, power sockets, drain, and extraction outlet. Generally, an external wall will be the logical area for these, in particular sinks and cookers. Area should be permitted between the work zones, so that washing up doesn’t mess the cooking area, and the cooker and fridge/freezer aren’t beside each other, which can compromise their working ability.
Appliance doors can foul if they are positioned in corners, so make sure you’ve factored in adequate space for them to completely open. Be aware that if doors open onto walls, ie the only swing around 90 degrees, you will struggle to open them broad enough to eliminate fitted racks in fridges/freezers and so on.
Lastly, whether you desire fitted or free-standing systems will impact your finished appearance. Free-standing has the advantage that you can alter the layout, but is harder to keep and keep clean as systems have gaps in between and under them, and it’s simple for these to harbour dust and dropped food.
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