Your kitchen layout is one of the most crucial factors in having a great atmosphere in your space. It also ensures a properly functioning and practical workspace no matter what you plan to do with it. No matter the size, small and cramped, or very spacious and complete, a good layout can make all the difference and help you maximize the space. In a kitchen, it’s more than just placing around furniture, appliances, and cabinets. 

The science of ergonomics, the process of designing and arranging workplaces, products, and systems like appliances is essential when designing your kitchen or any room for that matter. Getting the height right, enough space, and placements of appliances ensure that the people using it are comfortable moving around.

In this article, we’ll teach you several types of kitchen layouts while still prioritizing ergonomics.

 

The Galley Kitchen

The first on this list applies very ergonomic designs. The galley kitchen has two rows of the cabinet that face each other and it creates an inner passage. Hence, the term galley. With this design, we eliminate the need for corner cupboards and it uses space efficiently without waste. The plan calls for minimal special gadgets and it is cost-efficient — meaning that people with small space and tight budgets can do it.

The additional row of cabinets makes it flexible when it comes to storage and is more convenient for large families and kitchens with multiple cooks.

It’s essential to have work areas along only one of the walls to ensure that it works ergonomically. This will help you avoid traffic in the kitchen and work efficiently if others are in the kitchen.

 

The U-Shaped Kitchen

The U-Shaped kitchen is what the name says. It’s a U-shaped kitchen that usually consists of three table cabinets as adjacent walls. This layout provides a lot of storage but might feel like it’s too enclosed if there are upper cabinets on the walls or tables. To avoid feeling too enclosed, only add a cabinet or two along some of the walls with a generally open space. To pull this off, you can use open shelving, focal tiles, or a hob hood.

The U shaped kitchen allows for good workflow when working with many people in the kitchen at the same time. Another way of avoiding the feeling of being too enclosed is to keep windowed areas open. This kind of workspace is best for a lot of multiple workers next to the galley kitchen. The work triangle works well and makes the best use of the space by having work areas on the opposite end of the back and entrance areas/doors.

 

The Island Kitchen

For open-plan homes, the Island Kitchen is a perfect fit. The Island Kitchen provides a large working surface and storage area in the middle of the kitchen, meaning many people can work simultaneously. The island incorporates a wide cooking surface and usually prepping bowls, bars, or a wine fridge. The less fancy rendition would be to just leave it as a flat preparation for the entire family. 

The minor problem with this kitchen is that it requires a relatively larger space so that the island kitchen is large enough to work well. Overall, however, the traffic flow in the area of an island kitchen is very ergonomic.

 

The Peninsula Kitchen

Last and not least on the list is the peninsula kitchen. A variant that’s closely similar to Island Kitchen incorporates a kitchen counter from a wall or a cabinet. This is a great solution for people who want a kitchen island’s benefits but don’t have the space that a kitchen island needs. 

This is beneficial for a kitchen that doesn’t allow an independent island to be placed in the kitchen. Furthermore, the peninsula can be used for food preparation and other tasks in the kitchen while at the same time using kitchen counters for eating. Like the island kitchen, the peninsula is great for interaction while cooking. It can serve as a great way of family bonding if your entire family loves cooking or participating during meal preparation.

 

Do you have any other kitchen layout plans not on the list? Share it to us now!