Kitchen plan and design


7 Kitchen Layout Ideas That Work

You may have your cabinets, flooring, tile, appliances, and paint all selected. But what makes a kitchen livable has little to do with the way it looks, and everything to do with functionality.

Blog | Kitchen


Today’s post comes from the home improvement experts at Modernize.

If you’re planning a kitchen, there are a few essential kitchen layout ideas you need to keep in mind as you’re designing and planning.

Before you make any big decisions or get carried away with the aesthetic, here are 7 essential kitchen layout ideas you will want to incorporate to make your kitchen design a success:

1. Reduce Traffic

No matter what, the kitchen is probably going to be a high-traffic area of the house. But there are ways you can get around making the kitchen a catch-all for mail and backpacks and coats.

Create a space before you get into the kitchen, like a mudroom, to control the chaos that can come sweeping in every day. Once in the kitchen, make sure the primary pathway through the kitchen is hazard-free and will not be obstructed by the refrigerator or oven door when open.

Create clear zones for circulation, meal preparation and cooking in your kitchen layout

2. Make the Distance between Main Fixtures Comfortable

When laying out your kitchen it’s important to keep the main tasks in mind – preparing, serving, and cleaning up from meals. You don’t want to put the stove across the room from the sink, or the fridge too far away from the stove because that will complicate whichever task you are working on.

Lay out kitchen fixtures and appliances within comfortable proximity to each other

3. Make Sure the Kitchen Island Isn’t too Close or too Far

A kitchen island is where much of the meal preparation happens. If your kitchen layout will include one, consider its location carefully. Make sure that it will not block the area in front of your major appliances, such as wall ovens, dishwashers, and refrigerators.

Allow enough space for the appliance door swing plus room to pass when the doors are open. But you also don’t want to place it too far. Make sure your island is located within a comfortable arm’s reach from each of these fixtures.

Keep appliance door swings in mind when placing an island in your kitchen layout

4. Place the Sink First

When creating a kitchen layout, many designers place the sink first and then design from there. While this is probably grounded in tradition from the days when people spent a long time scrubbing dishes, it remains a good rule of thumb.

The oven and fridge are vital to preparing meals, but somehow the sink seems to still be the place where we spend the most time. Think about placing the sink where there is a view out a window or into the room. A kitchen island is also a great location for the sink.

Place your sink with a view into the room, out a window, or in a kitchen island for both

5. Always Put the Stove on an Exterior Wall

When you’re deciding where to put the stove and oven, remember to put them on an exterior wall rather than an island or interior wall. This will make it easier (and less expensive) to install a proper ventilation system.

Locate the stove or cooktop on an exterior wall for easy ventilation

6. Keep Vertical Storage in Mind

Instead of focusing all of your energy on creating enough cabinet and drawer storage, put a little of that energy into configuring convenient wall storage.

Storage walls are a great way to incorporate pantry storage, small appliances, baking accessories, extra china, or even a broom closet – in one convenient location. Open shelves, wall hooks, and overhead pot racks are not only convenient – if stocked with the right stuff, they can also add dimension to the aesthetic.

Think Vertical – Combine storage walls, wall hooks, and open shelves for a mix of functional storage

7. Create a Floor Plan and Visualize Your Kitchen in 3D

No matter how much designing, measuring, and pinning to your dream kitchen Pinterest boards you do, your completed kitchen can still come as a surprise once the contractors are finished – and not always in a good way.

Save yourself from costly mistakes and unfixable flaws with a kitchen layout tool. RoomSketcher provides an easy-to-use online kitchen planner that you can use to plan your kitchen layout. Draw your kitchen floor plan, add fixtures, finishes, and cabinets, and see them instantly in 3D!

Visualize your kitchen layout ideas in 3D with a kitchen layout tool

Get Started on Your Kitchen Design

Create 2D Floor Plans, 3D Floor Plans, and 3D Photos just like these, to share with your family, friends, or contractor for more accurate pricing.

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Kitchen Planner Software - Plan Your Kitchen Online

The RoomSketcher App is an easy-to-use kitchen planner. Design a layout of your dream kitchen and visualize in stunning 3D.

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RoomSketcher is a great, easy-to-use tool for interior design.

Antonella Nuredini

Interior Designer, USA

Kitchen Planning Made Easy

Create your kitchen design using the RoomSketcher App on your computer or tablet. Get started on your kitchen today with our easy-to-use kitchen planner. Draw your floor plan, choose your furnishings, and see your kitchen design in 3D – it’s that easy!


Step 1 - Draw Your Floor Plan

Draw a floor plan of your kitchen in minutes, using simple drag and drop drawing tools. Simply click and drag your cursor to draw or move walls. Select windows and doors from the product library and just drag them into place. Built-in measurement tools make it easy to create an accurate floor plan.

Step 2 - Furnish Your Kitchen

Select kitchen cabinets, appliances, fixtures, and more, and simply drag them into place. Resize items easily, experiment with different finishes, and save your favorite design options to review and compare.

Step 3 - See Your Kitchen in 3D

Use the camera to take instant Snapshots of your kitchen design in 3D. Experience a 3D walkthrough of your kitchen design with our Live 3D feature. When your design is ready, create high-quality 3D Floor Plans, 3D Photos, and 360 Views to show your ideas.


Why RoomSketcher is the Best Kitchen Planner Software:

RoomSketcher makes it easy to create kitchen layouts and 3D images of your kitchen remodel or new design – like a pro! Here are just a few examples of the types of floor plans and images you can create:

2D Kitchen Floor Plans

2D Floor Plans are essential for kitchen planning. They help you layout your kitchen correctly, to know what will fit, and get more accurate estimates. Show measurements, the room size in square meters and feet, the locations of kitchen fixtures, and more.

3D Kitchen Floor Plans

With RoomSketcher, you can create a 3D Floor Plan of your kitchen at the click of a button! 3D Floor Plans are ideal for kitchen planning because they help you to visualize your whole room including cabinets, appliances, materials and more.

3D Photos

Create high-quality 3D Photos of your kitchen design from your camera Snapshots. See how your kitchen design will look including colors, textures, and materials. They are the perfect way to see and share your design ideas!

360 Views

Create stunning 360 Views of your kitchen design instantly. View the entire room as if you are standing right there!


Kitchen Plans and Ideas From RoomSketcher

Turn your kitchen dreams into reality. Start with a kitchen layout template that you find in our Floor Plan Gallery.

Kitchen Plans

Island Kitchens

L-Shaped Kitchens

U-Shaped Kitchens

Peninsula Kitchens

Single Wall Kitchens


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):


Recommended Reads

7 Kitchen Layout Ideas That Work

Planning a kitchen? These 7 essential kitchen layout ideas will make your new kitchen design a success.

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Need help planning a kitchen design? RoomSketcher shows you how to plan your kitchen with an online kitchen planner.

4 Expert Kitchen Design Tips

Think like a kitchen designer with these 4 expert kitchen design tips.

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10 Steps and Why It's Perverted

I made a 10 point plan to design my own kitchen project. Although there is a free and more adequate option, and, for my taste, doing the project yourself is a perversion.

If you know the basic dimensions of the modules and the basic principles, then making a kitchen project on your own is as easy as shelling pears. You don’t even need programs, just a piece of paper and a pen. But even this is not necessary if you are ready to cheat a little.

3 ways to make a kitchen project to create a project

903 ways to make a kitchen project 903 ways kitchens:

  1. Draw on paper
  2. Draw in a special computer program
  3. Use the service of free projects

The 2nd is not rational in terms of spending time on mastering the program. If you only need to do a project once for yourself, then the other two ways will suffice. But if you really want to, I advise the Pro100 program. Or take a picture or scan your layout and draw in any graphic editor (photoshop, paint, etc.). An example of a kitchen furniture project in the pro100 program:





The best way to get a kitchen project : go to custom-made furniture manufacturers, make a project with them for free.

Point.

No one forces you to order a kitchen from them. After you can print and slightly correct on paper. In general, drawing a kitchen by hand is not difficult at all. Something like this would be a kitchen project:








Most custom kitchen companies offer free consultations, planning and calculation. One head is good - but many free ones are better.


Doing a kitchen project yourself

If you get a perverse pleasure from making a project yourself and therefore do not want to use kitchen workers, then you are weird, but okay.

The algorithm for you will be the following:

  1. We think you need a bar counter (and it's cool).
  2. Define the shape. Those. Which wall will the kitchen be on?
  3. We make a list of ALL planned equipment, including non-embedded.
  4. Next to each item, mark the width for embedding. For example, a 45 cm or 60 cm dishwasher, a 60 cm oven, etc.
  5. We divide the walls into modules according to the lower drawers, taking into account the dimensions of the built-in appliances.*
  6. We divide the wall into modules from above, trying to make all the upper drawers of equal width.**
  7. We make at least 2 options for the relative location of the refrigerator, sink and hob. We show them to everyone we catch, trying to figure out which one is better.
  8. We choose the type of fittings for opening each module, we think whether they will interfere with each other.
  9. Ask someone to criticize your project and finish the final version.
  10. Do you want backsplash lighting from under the upper cabinets? It's time to label it.

*All appliances are built into modules with a width of 45 or 60 centimeters.

**Looks best when all upper cabinets are the same width. Make everything strictly the same, and only the outer cabinet of a different residual width. Less than 40 cm wide is better not to do.

You may be concerned about the depth of the lower and upper modules, the width of the worktop, etc. Absolutely in vain, somewhere you will order furniture or at least cut it, and so they know everything there, these dimensions are standard:

The depth of the upper cabinet is 40 cm, the useful depth is ~ 35 cm.
The depth of the lower cabinet is ~ 50 cm.
Tabletop width ~59 cm.

You can play with the height of the tabletop from the floor, adjusting it to your own height so that your arms are slightly bent at the elbows when cooking. Standard kitchen countertop height range 82-92 cm.

Kitchen worktop height from the floor:

Design is not us, drawing is us

Not everything will be done for you in a free planning solution (and in a paid one too). They will give you a kitchen project with furniture arrangement, design and a drawing for cuts, but we do it ourselves.

  1. Location of all sockets . To do this, it is important to know not only built-in appliances: coffee maker, kettle, toaster, blender, etc. Separate socket under the sink in case of waste shredder or filter pump.
  2. All light circuits and location of all switches. Important : the standard for turning on the backlight of the apron with the button on it itself is a mistake. Make the supply of all additional lighting to the normal switch at the entrance to the kitchen - you will use it more often than the overhead light. It is especially important to make a normal inclusion in the kitchen-living room.
  3. Handles . No, you can't leave it for later. They have a lot to do with appearance. Plus, for corner or small kitchens there may be nuances with opening doors.
  4. The correct connection of the hood means a tee with a check valve that needs to be led somewhere. If the kitchen is not up to the ceiling, there is no problem. But the right kitchen is made up to the ceiling - think about where to make a free exhaust outlet.



Whether to redevelop

If you have a major renovation and there is a possibility of redevelopment, then first you need to think about whether you want to change the geometry of the room. Answer the following questions to make a decision about the need for redevelopment, answer the following questions: