Tips and Ideas for Planning the Ideal Kitchen

Planning a kitchen can be a challenging task at most times as it has to be modern and at the same time practical and effective to serve its purpose. Kitchen is the hub of activity in most households; hence care should be taken in its planning. Here are some tips and ideas to get the model kitchen that satisfies all your needs. The first thing in planning a kitchen is the placement of various appliances like the refrigerator, the stove, and the sink. These should be placed in such a way that will make it comfortable and easy to do cooking instead of running to and fro, making even a simple task of boiling water a laborious one. The area between the refrigerator, stove and sink should be at least 26’. Providing proper counter space is an important aspect. There should be 24” space on one side of the sink and at least 18” on the other side. There should be 15” of counter space on the handle side of refrigerator to help in unloading groceries and other items from the refrigerator. The counter space can be beside the refrigerator or on the opposite within 48” of minimum distance. Appliances like microwaves and ovens should be provided with ample counter space [15” or 16” deep]. Dishwasher should be kept adjacent to the sink for easy cleaning. There should be a standing room space of about 20” on one side of the dish washer. Work aisles should be placed with a minimum of 42” space if it is a single cook kitchen and in case of multi-cook kitchen larger space should be provided of at least 48”. Work top counters should be of different heights to suit the various needs. A shorter one for chopping and also in case of seated access, a taller one if the cooks are tall. The shorter one can vary between 28” and 36” and the taller one not more than 48”. In the case of cabinets, 13’ base cabinets, 12’ wall cabinets and 11’ countertop cabinets will be optimum if it is a small kitchen where the available space is less than 160 sq. ft. If the space is more, then bigger sizes of 16’ for base, 151/2’ for walls and 161/2’ for countertops can be used. It is not advisable to put a cabinet over the cook top, but in case of space restraint if a cabinet is used then it should be about 24‘ from the cook surface if there is a fireproof surface and if there is no fireproof then 30” of space should be provided for safety. There should be optimum clearance space for all doors [cabinets, refrigerator, dishwasher, ovens, and entry doors] so that there is no cramping of space and work interference. Planning a kitchen should be done meticulously to avoid inconvenience and also to help make cooking a pleasurable experience.