Kitchen Cabinet, Design, Remodeling

Kitchen Design -

Understanding the Work Triangle and Kitchen Layouts

by David Buster


Having a good layout for your kitchen is important, because the kitchen should be an efficient and pleasant area in which to prepare meals and do related tasks. Understanding the kitchen work triangle concept and the basic kitchen layouts is a valuable starting point for having a good kitchen design that you like.

The kitchen work triangle consists of the distance between the sink, refrigerator and range or cooktop. Each one of these areas becomes a focal point in the kitchen and forms the three points of a triangle with different distances between them. Done correctly, the kitchen work triangle provides the most efficient food preparation area layout in the kitchen.

Whether you're remodeling an existing kitchen or building a new one, an efficient design means that your work triangle minimizes the number of steps the cook must take between the three areas during meal preparation and cleanup. The total distance from the sink to the stove to the refrigerator and back to the sink should be not less than 12 feet total nor more than 27 feet. Each triangle leg should measure between 4 and 9 feet in length. The kitchen isles should be at least 42 to 48 inches wide to allow people to move around easily and for appliances to be opened with ease.

When selecting the floor plan for your kitchen, here are basic kitchen layouts to consider:

* L-Shaped Kitchen - this is the most popular kitchen design. It consists of a long leg and a shorter one and this type of design can be used in small and large kitchens. The L-shaped kitchen gives you the possibility of having a center island depending on the space available. In general, this design will have 2 or 3 appliances on one wall. The usual arrangement is to have the refrigerator at one end, the range or cooktop at the other end with the sink located in the middle. This shape of kitchen generally provides good traffic flow.

* Double L-Shaped Kitchen - this kitchen design has a lot of cabinet space and plenty of counter space. This design is used in large kitchens with two cooks, and it has two or more entering areas, which can cause traffic flow problems. To avoid some of these problems, create two separate working areas on each L of the kitchen so that workflow does not get interrupted by human traffic. * U-Shaped Kitchen - this kitchen design shape has three walls instead of two, and the sink usually is located in the middle wall section. The refrigerator and range or cooktop are usually on the side walls opposite each other. The U-shaped kitchen design gives room for ample countertop space, and you have three walls for cabinets and appliances. This kitchen layout tends to create a working triangle that is very efficient.

The only problem with this type of kitchen design is that sometimes the two U corners are not used appropriately. Make sure you buy the appropriate storage items for the corner cabinets created by the U shape design. The U shape design can also create dark kitchens because of the shape and the amount of cabinets. Using skylights, large windows, lots of under-cabinet task lighting and light colors will help keep the kitchen bright with sufficient light to see what you're doing.

* G-Shaped Kitchen - this type of kitchen shape is becoming very popular, and it gives you a fourth wall to use. The G-shape can be used if you have more than one cook in the house. This fourth wall section can be used for a counter, island and storage space.

With this kitchen layout you can have two sinks, perhaps two cooktops or two ranges. You could have two working triangles -- one for sink, cook top or range and refrigerator and a second working triangle with another sink, built-in grill and cooktop. It allows two cooks to do different things at the same time and entertain large groups of people.

* Single-Wall Kitchen - if you do not have much space, you may only be able to have an I-shaped kitchen. No problem. Just be sure the sink is placed between the refrigerator and the stove. Locate the refrigerator so that the refrigerator door opens away from the kitchen sink. This is a very common arrangement for small kitchens in narrow spaces.

* Galley-Shaped Kitchen - this type of kitchen design is more common in apartments or in homes where space is limited -- it is often called the corridor style. The kitchen cabinets and the appliances can be located on opposite walls for better work flow -- place the range or cooktop on one side of the kitchen along one wall and the refrigerator and sink on the opposite wall.

To eliminate traffic issues in this type of kitchen design, one entry is often closed off. This type of layout should only be used by one cook. If you want to maintain both exits, place the refrigerator near the end of the galley kitchen for easy access -- this way, your family and friends can reach the refrigerator without interfering with the person who is cooking.

If you need extra storage in the galley kitchen, install tall kitchen cabinets that go all the way to the ceiling. Wall storage is crucial -- buy a stepladder to use when you need to reach the upper shelf of the cabinets, and place the items you use less frequently on the upper shelves.

By understanding the kitchen work triangle concept and how you want your kitchen to function, you'll be more likely to create the kind of kitchen you've always wanted. Today, kitchens are often viewed as the hub of the home as well as a social center for family and friends. Planning your kitchen can be a challenge, but the rewards you'll receive are very much worth the time and effort.


About the Author
David Buster is Vice-President of InfoSearch Publishing and webmaster of http://www.yourdreamloghome.com - visit the website to learn more about home decorating and remodeling, kitchen and bathroom design and décor tips, log homes and log cabins, home plans, home storage, backyard living, fireplaces, log cabin rentals and more.


Cleaning Out The Cabinets in Your Kitchen

by Stephanie Davies


Cleaning out and finding space in your kitchen cabinets can be a hard, trying experience. There seems to be so many items, and just no where left to put them!

There are several methods you can incorporate into your kitchen to save shelf space, store items easier, and save time searching for the right thing. And there are also a few basic pointers I will give you along the way.

The first thing is to group like mined items together. Be sure all your spices and herbs are in the same location, and also that your pans are together, ect. Unfortunately, the kitchen is the one area of the household where the use it or lose it rule doesn't always apply. Meaning, in most other areas of the house, if you don't use something frequently, or have a purpose for it even if that purpose is aesthetic, you need to throw it away or donate it. However, in the kitchen there are a whole lot of things you may not use frequently but will need to save, such as herbs, spices, specialty pans, canned items, and more.

So now that you have clustered items together, now what? Well, you figure out which "groups" will need the most space. Start by placing the largest groups in the largest available spaces, and working your way down. At this time you may need to incorporate several space saving techniques.

The first technique is what I call the Martha Stewart technique. This is where if you have the money and resources, you go out at this time and buy all those specialty gadgets for saving space, such as lazy suzans, expandable drawer inserts and shelf racks, wall hooks, and such. This can be a very attractive and simple way to achieve organization...but I am assuming you are reading this because you know how to buy space, you just don't know how to do it with what you have, right?

So the next technique is what I call the easy-find box method. This method works particularly well with spices, herbs, flavorings, and small jars. Find a box that will hold the group of items you need to store. Shoeboxes and gift boxes work well for this purpose. Take all the items in a group, and label each one on the lid using small yard sale type sticker labels stating what they are. Place all the items in the group in the box selected in alphabetical order. Then store the box, and the next time you need to get something from it you will be able to just take the lid off and quickly locate an item. If you have more than a few of these boxes, I recommend labeling them with magic marker on the side or top to be able to locate certain groups quickly. You can expand upon this idea by decorating the boxes by gluing fabric to them, wrapping them in countertop sticky paper, or whatever else suits your fancy. This method works well for storing any number of things including canned goods and pastas.

The other method we will list is the painting method. This is a great method to use if you are a creative type, and also if you have children who have difficulty putting things where they should. Simply acquire several different colors of paint ( the surface depends upon what type paint. Please use your best judgment), and a paintbrush. After grouping your items, look at and evaluate your space available. Make out a map of sorts, and be sure to leave room for future accommodations. Once you have decided in your mind or on a sheet of paper where everything will go you can do one of the two following things. First you can simply paint lines around the areas where certain groups will sit. For instance, draw a square line in the corner of the cabinet exactly where your spices will be. You can ,make the lines straight, wavy, dotted, curly...whatever your imagination desires! Then after letting the paint dry, place the items in their designated areas. The other way of doing this is to paint the entire area in instead of just drawing lines. This can be a lot more challenging, but also a lot prettier. Imagine for a moment, opening a pretty white cabinet with brass handles, and finding the inside painted with four different pastel colors, each having its own group of like minded items. Very pretty indeed! In fact, if you are an artist, you can paint any type of motif or design for a specific category.

Now, while you are doing this there are several things to keep in mind. First, remember to clean out the shelves while you have everything out. Secondly, there will be several things you find that you know won't be used...get rid of them. Thirdly, you probably will find several items that just won't have a category of their own. For this you can make a "misc" box or section, or else place it in a different room or area.

I hope these ideas will help you to create the kitchen of your dreams, and to find things easier in the meantime. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or suggestions.




About the Author
Stephanie is the webmaster of StephanieDavies.com and provides live telephone advice of all kinds to people from all over the world. She gives advice on depression, mental health, spirituality, sexuality, relationships, and many other topics. For more information please visit her website at http://www.stephaniedavies.com or subscribe to her newsletter by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/liveadvice




Inexpensive Kitchen Wall Decorating Ideas

by Lee Dobbins


Add splash to your kitchen walls without breaking your budget with these inexpensive and unique ideas. Your walls cover a lot of space in the kitchen and you can give it a little redo on a tight budget by being a little bit creative. Whether you have a special theme in mind or just updating your look, these ideas below might be able to get you started

Decorative plates are one of my favorite kitchen wall decorations. Colorful plates are much less expensive than prints or painting and can add pizzaz to your walls. You can hang them on fancy wrought iron hangers that cost about $20.00 each or just buy inexpensive spring type hangers for a couple of bucks. If your kitchen has a special theme, you can get plates that match or compliment the theme. If your kitchen is just a colorful mish mash then you can use colorful plates to accent and add interest. You can group plates with a certain theme like plates with birds on them or plates with cats or even plates with scenes of your hometown. Plates can be bought cheaply at yard sales, consignment stores and flea markets.

Another great decorating idea for your kitchen walls is family photos. You can put them in frames that match your decor and arrange them on the wall. They can fit into any decorating scheme but if your kitchen is vintage, Victorian or french country all the better! Plus they add an interesting nostalgia to the room and you get to actually display them instead of keeping them in a closet!

Wallpaper borders are a great inexpensive way to decorate kitchen walls and they don’t take a lot of time or skill to put up. You can even add them in with any of these other kitchen wall decorating ideas for some added zest. Wallpaper borders can be run at the top of the wall, the back splash, or chair rail height. Measure out how much you need and then try rummaging through the bargain bin at the store.

I love to use architectural pieces in decorating and the kitchen walls are no exception! While it’s true some antique pieces are quite pricey you can still find pieces that might not be too old but still have a nice chippy paint look for less than a fine antique. Try hanging out at the dump or driving around on trash day! Depending on your kitchen decorating scheme, you might want to add some iron grates, wooden columns or fancy metal architectural pieces to your walls. Just hang them up like pictures and they make a unique and unusual display. Some old heating grates in fancy designs or those architectural stars that hang on old buildings might be nice for a country look. You can use wooden pieces from old houses, porch railings or even columns (you can cut them in half lengthwise and make them look like they are holding up the wall!

Probably the least expensive kitchen wall decorating idea is faux painting. This does take some skill but you can usually get free lessons down at your local paint store or Home Depot. It’s a good idea to practice on large pieces of cardboard before you take your brush to the walls. You can even tack the cardboard up on the wall and use it to decide if that’s what you really want for the walls before you go to all the trouble of painting.





About the Author
Lee Dobbins is a contributing writer for http://www.a-kitchen-decorating-idea.com where you can find more information on kitchen decorating ideas for every budget.