subject: Designing a Kitchen that works for you [print this page] Designing a Kitchen that works for you Designing a Kitchen that works for you
The kitchen is the area of the house where most activity occurs. Cooking is a hectic activity and people like it when they create their own spaces for this activity. Critical to the design is the placement of the sinks, stove and refrigerator. All activities in the kitchen involve at least one of these items and possibly a combination of all of them.
A key factor to kitchen design is movement. How people move through the house, how food, tools, and supplies move in the kitchen itself and how people use their arms, legs, eyes, and hands as they cook food and clean the area later. A small, homey kitchen construction in symmetry or tune with this movement will be more appealing to work with. The most richly adorned kitchen outlined with common recipe and stock cabinets may not work for all families if movement planning is omitted.
Start with how the cooking area will fit into the house. Positioning a kitchen in the house is as necessary as positioning a house on property. If your budget is limited, spend time on planning the layout, and be economical with cabinets, with possible later additions.
Next, plan your storage. When thinking about the storage, have in mind you and other people's convenience as much as possible. Think of an area where it would be easy for you and other members of your family to obtain tools, supplies, and food when preparing meals and cleaning up afterwards. It is important to have essential things handy and ready. Everyday elements should be organized so that they can be tucked away and retrieved with less effort.
Based on these observations and your concepts, create a plan. Make a list of your design objectives and include the way you want your kitchen to be different or more functional. Incorporate all areas inside and out that may be part of or related to the design. You should plan for efficiency and not for appearance only. Examine your plans by assimilating each with your design portfolio and with the annotation you made during observation. Then if there are changes that you want to apply, you can modify and review it.
A good way to test your design is to picture yourself working in the kitchen. Imagine where you feel is the least place to store tools, supplies, and other stuff. Continue until you have imagined a kitchen that is functional and that would work for you and your family best.
