Cooking Up A Storm: Kitchen Design
A kitchen is the heart of any home and while planning your new kitchen can be exciting, there are many considerations. Being the most functional room of the house, a kitchen is often used for many different purposes beyond cooking, therefore it is important to design a kitchen that reflects your needs.
Thinking about your lifestyle will often help shed some good insight on the requirements you may need. Do you love cooking? Is the kitchen your family hub? Do you entertain often? Do you have accessibility requirements?
Two design philosophies that are often used to influence kitchen layouts are the work triangle, and zonal design. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, however the work triangle is often preferred by single cooks, whereas the zonal design is beneficial for multiple cooks.
Kitchen Styles:
Once you’ve recognised the functionality required from your kitchen, it is then time to consider the common styles to enable efficient use. There are several styles to consider when planning your kitchen, such as a single, Galley, U-shape, L-shape and G-shape.
Single wall kitchens are ideal for smaller homes as these kitchens keep everything in a compact fashion. They have a good use of overall space and are becoming increasingly popular in open plan living environments.
Galley kitchens are considered as one of the most efficient kitchen layouts, originating in ships and aeroplanes. This kitchen design make efficient use of limited space through their use of limited space by offering parallel work surfaces along narrower spaces.
U-shaped kitchens are ideal for an individual cook with their efficient use of the work triangle placement. The kitchens appear open whilst remaining closed to through traffic. However the main challenge for this design is ensuring there is adequate provision for eating and entertaining.
L-shaped kitchens are formed by two wall lengths, and have become a popular style for both single and shared cooking. Adding an island for eating and entertaining allows for preparation to occur while conversing with family and friends. This kitchen style enables a blend of the work triangle configuration with the flexibility of zonal arrangements.
G-shaped kitchens allow for maximum preparation and entertaining space without the use of a dedicated island, creating space savings. This design maintains connectedness with the rest of the home and creates an ideal kitchen format for both shared cooking and entertaining friends and family.
Sculleries are a frequent addition to kitchens to offer space for appliances, ingredients and dishes. This is a good example of a zonal design, and while many are walk in pantries, sculleries can also provide an additional sink or dishwasher to enable cleaning to be hidden from guests. Sculleries can however occupy more floor space, but are easily catered for in new homes.
Other choices in the kitchen design process are benchtops, application, appliances, placements, storage, features, tapware, technology and accessories.
For more inspiration for your new home, check out G.J. Gardner’s Inspiration gallery.
