What Kitchen Layout is Right for Your New Home?
January 22, 2015Two things: You have a new home and you have elbows.
You may not realize it but when planning your kitchen layout – in your new home – you may want to factor in your elbows: Their size, how sharp they are, how many other sets of elbows may be interacting with yours and, most important of all, how much personal space your elbows will need in your new kitchen.
Planning Your Kitchen Layout
When mapping out your new kitchen layout, you have to factor into the architectural equation how large you want your new kitchen and where to put your appliances – both for the safety and wellbeing of all potential elbow occupants involved.
What we at Luetgert Development are trying to say – but who have merely been beating around the elbows – is you need to have a plan to make your kitchen layout suit your culinary needs. After all, you do spend quite a bit of time in the kitchen, so it needs to suit your personality and your own unique needs.
Here are eight tips from Freshome, a Design & Architecture Magazine, to prevent elbow-causalities in your planning:
1. Don’t block access to the area of the sink, stove and refrigerator where most kitchen activity takes place. The sink will need the greatest access and, when planning your kitchen, make sure it’s built as close to the plumbing as possible.
2. No space wasting allowed. Think storage. Kitchens require smart planning to manage the most quantity of stuff. Cabinets store pots, pans, glassware and other items, so sensible use of space is key to maintaining elbow peace. Make sure you have adequate storage.
3. Keep countertops clear. Kitchen planners mistakenly fail to keep adequate space available on countertops. New appliances tend to find permanent homes on countertops and slowly consume space meant for roomier arrangements.
4. Keep the lights on. You have to see what you’re doing. Poor lighting makes for dreary kitchen experiences and makes cooking and food preparation more of a chore. Bright and well-placed lights will also help curtail the prospects of elbow collisions.
5. You’ll pay later for no back-splash today. Some kitchen planners may decide to forgo installing a back-splash. Back-splashes are worthy long-term investments that help reduce steam, high humidity and grease when cooking is underway.
6. Take a deep breath. You simply can’t forget proper kitchen ventilation. Think stinky. Without proper ventilation the whole ambience of your kitchen is lost – and even your health is put at risk. This too leads to unhappy elbows.
7. Think Tom Hanks in CastAway. You don’t really want to build the wrong kitchen island and then be stranded with it. This takes some deep thinking and careful planning. Sharp countertop edges on badly placed islands would make even Chuck Noland’s elbows gripe.
8. You may not be painting your kitchen green. But it’s certainly good to think green when you plan your kitchen. Don’t forget to plan for recycling. It would be a waste of kitchen space if you didn’t plan to manage your waste.
We at Luetgert Development hope you found these tips helpful – especially for your elbows’ sake. Share your own tips with us, or contact us for any questions about home building!