The Kitchen Work Triangle

How do you design a functional kitchen?

One of the most common questions asked when designing a kitchen is, how do you know where to lay everything out? Well there is a concept called the “Kitchen Work Triangle”. The key to an efficient and functional kitchen is the work triangle.  This is the most used concept for kitchen design.

The concept involves spacing apart your 3 main work areas at a reasonable distance. These 3 areas include the sink (prep site), refrigerator (cold food storage) and oven (cooking site).  If you space these work areas too far apart you will subsequently be taking too many extra steps and it can make cooking in the kitchen unpleasant and frustrating.

Here are the basic rules to follow:

·         The distance from one area to the next should be between 4 and 9 feet.

·          The total perimeter of your work triangle ideally should be between 12 and 22 feet and this will vary depending on the size of your kitchen.

·         There should also not be any obstructions in the way of the triangle including islands, cabinets etc.

·         The flow of traffic should not flow through the work triangle. However, with a galley kitchen, unfortunately this is unavoidable.

Other helpful tips…

·         The addition of an island can be helpful in some kitchen layouts as it can minimize the distance of your triangle by adding either the oven or sink to it.

·         You should have a minimum of 3 feet between each side of the island although 4 feet is ideal.

·         Traditionally you should have your sink against a window as this creates a view while you are prepping food. However, this may not be an option so some sinks are placed in an island or countertop that may over look an open space such as a great room.

Here is an example of a successful work triangle. The sink is against the window and there is an appropriate distance between the refrigerator, oven and sink. In this case they have placed the oven in the island to produce a more efficient work triangle.