Choosing beautiful finishes and fixtures for your new kitchen is one thing, but if you get the layout wrong, it won’t function as well as you want it to.
Poor circulation
As a major hub of any home, you don’t want your kitchen to feel cramped and restrict the number of people who can comfortably use the space at the same time. A lack of space can also make it difficult to open appliances such as the fridge and dishwasher. To provide adequate circulation, try to have about 1.2 metres of space between kitchen benchtops.
Awkward cabinet and drawer positions
Cabinet doors and drawers can end up blocking doorways and walkways when they’re opened. Think about how and where all the elements in your kitchen will open, including cupboards, drawers, the fridge and dishwasher, and how people will move through the space
Inadequate lighting
If you don’t put the right light fixtures over your benchtops, you will end up prepping, cooking and cleaning up in the shadows. Pretty pendants are beautiful, but if they don’t shine enough light over your work surfaces, they will not be practical. Installing downlights, pendant lights and sconces on separate circuits makes it easier to control your lighting levels and atmosphere.
Inefficient workflow
If you don’t have a kitchen workflow, you can end up running backwards and forwards between the different parts of your kitchen every time you cook, wash or prep. Increase functionality by including storage for spices and oils near the cooking zone and storing cutlery and dishes near the dishwasher.
Wasted island space
Kitchen islands are great for increasing your prep and storage space but will work only if you have the room. A poorly positioned island can obstruct the flow of traffic to and from the sink, refrigerator, stove and primary workstations, creating a bottleneck in your kitchen. Deciding how big or small your island unit should be will depend on what it needs to house and the proportions of your kitchen.
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