How to Lay Out a Kitchen
The dimensions that decide whether the room works, whatever it ends up looking like. The room where a remodel changes the most and forgives the least.
BeforeAfter
- 1
What the room is arranged around
A kitchen remodel is really three decisions stacked on each other: where the sink, range and fridge sit, what the cabinets look like, and what the surfaces are made of. Move the first and the project doubles. Change only the last two and most kitchens still look completely different.
- 2
Rule 1
Keep the sink, range and fridge within a triangle whose sides total 13–26ft — tighter feels cramped, wider means walking.
- 3
Rule 2
Leave 42in of clear floor in a one-cook kitchen and 48in where two people work.
- 4
Rule 3
Allow at least 15in of landing space beside the fridge on the handle side.
- 5
Rule 4
Give the range 12in of counter on one side and 15in on the other, minimum.
- 6
Rule 5
Hang wall cabinets 18in above the counter; less and the worktop feels like a tunnel.
- 7
When it is tight
In a galley under 8ft wide, run cabinets to the ceiling on one side only and keep the opposite run open. Two facing walls of upper cabinets is what makes a narrow kitchen feel like a corridor.
Questions
- What should I decide first in a kitchen remodel?
- A kitchen remodel is really three decisions stacked on each other: where the sink, range and fridge sit, what the cabinets look like, and what the surfaces are made of. Move the first and the project doubles.
- What goes wrong most often?
- New cabinets in the same bad layout, so the kitchen looks fixed and still works badly. A backsplash chosen against a countertop sample rather than the actual slab.
- Will it work in a small kitchen?
- In a galley under 8ft wide, run cabinets to the ceiling on one side only and keep the opposite run open. Two facing walls of upper cabinets is what makes a narrow kitchen feel like a corridor.
- Can I see it on my own kitchen before starting?
- Yes — photograph the space and run it through the Studio. It is generated imagery, so compare the render against your photo rather than treating it as a plan.