Kitchen work triangle vs linear/el

[sarahperdue]

As many of you know, I renovating my grandmother's kitchen. The most logical layout for the kitchen is a linear flow from left to right. The fridge, sink and some counters will be on the east wall, and the ovens and cooktop on the south wall. So, it's a linear layout.

While this seems to be the most aesthetically pleasing and logical layout for the size of the kitchen, I am concerned about functionality. All of my kitchens have had tight work triangles--either small square or galley designs.

What do y'all think? I'm not in love with the idea of an island, but I do want good workflow.

Sarah

 

[lowefficiency]

I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Of all of the houses we have lived in, the kitchen I hated the most was the one with the "best" work triangle layout. Why did I hate it so much? Because if two people were in the kitchen at the same time, you were essentially guaranteed to get in the other person's way. Highly efficient for one person, Highly inconvenient for two.

In other kitchens, with generally "poor" layouts, there would always be some distance between stations/appliances, or at least one of those stations that was "outside" the main workspace. This meant a little more walking, but gave some elbow room for, say, having one person load or unload the dishwasher or grab something from the fridge, while the other person was prepping food on the counter, stovetop, or oven.

So don't optimize that triangle too much!

 

[vacbear58]

Triangle

Sarah

You might find you can end up with pretty much a triangle in any case with your sequence as long as the sink can be close to the cook top so it goes:

Fridge, counter, sink on one wall, cook top and ovens on the other with the cook top as close as is practical to the sink.

Don't rule out an island (or a table) with electrical service as this can be valuable working space particularly for baking and chopping veggies etc. - its nice not to be looking at the wall all the time when cooking. Also great when serving food as hotplates/electric pans/portable induction top can be keeping things warm. It might also be a way of using some of your cupboards which might not be a direct match for the rest.

Good luck

Al

 

[firedome]

one thing to consider..

is that kitchen efficiency studies have shown that the most frequently used item/appliance is... the trashcan! So locating it and the recycling bins for convenient easy access is a good idea!

 

[fan-of-fans]

I like islands a lot. But depending on the size of the room it might not work as well. I've seen some kitchens where it seemed they fit an island just for the sake of having it and it was so small it just seemed in the way.

If the kitchen is wide enough, I'd say go for it.

 

[sarahperdue]

the trash can...

That makes perfect sense! In our current kitchen, the trash can stands alone and seems to be in the way no matter where it is.

For years, I have wanted a pull out or back of the cabinet door trash can under the left side of the sink which is adjacent to the dishwasher. It seems like it would be perfect--scrape the dishes and load...

My new Geneva cabinets have a cute little stainless trash can mounted on the inside of the left cabinet door under the sink. Only time will tell if the little can will be adequate for the work flow. I know I will need a bigger one somewhere.

Thanks for all the suggestions

Sarah