Kitchen layout is decided by two things: the shape of the room and how many people cook in it at once. Everything else — the fronts, the worktop, the handles — is finish, and finish cannot rescue a layout.
The galley, or parallel kitchen
Two runs facing each other, ideally 1,100–1,200 mm apart. It is the most efficient layout that exists for one cook and the worst for two, because every time one person opens a door the other is trapped. Best in narrow rooms and small flats.
The L-shape
Two runs meeting at a corner. Forgiving, flexible, and it leaves a natural place for a table. The corner cabinet is always awkward — budget for a proper carousel or a magic corner rather than accepting a void you will never reach into.
The U-shape
Three runs. Enormous storage, excellent for one dedicated cook, and it needs a room at least 2.6 m wide before the middle stops feeling like a trench. It also has two corners to solve rather than one.
The island
The layout everyone asks for, and the one that most often does not fit. An island needs 1,000 mm of clear circulation on every side it is used from — 1,200 mm if there are seats. In a room under 3.6 m wide, an island will make the kitchen worse, not better. A peninsula usually does the same job in half the space.
If you cannot give an island a metre on every working side, what you want is a peninsula.
The rule underneath all of them
Sink, hob and fridge form a triangle. Keep the total of its three sides between 4 and 7 metres and no single leg under 1.2 m. Under 4 m the kitchen is cramped; over 7 m you are walking. Nearly every kitchen that feels wrong to cook in fails this test.
- Put the bin within one step of the sink, not under it.
- Leave 400 mm of landing space on the handle side of the fridge and both sides of the hob.
- Keep the tall units at one end. A run of tall cabinets in the middle cuts the room in half.
- Plan sockets after the layout, never before.
