Whether your appliances are standalone or built-in, optimising space in line with your cooking patterns will help to create a harmonious atmosphere that ensures food prep is a delight. Careful planning is required to ensure a kitchen that's both beautiful and highly functional. To do that, you'll need to consider several things when planning your kitchen's layout, and follow best practice.
The Kitchen Triangle
This tried and true kitchen layout plan has remained popular for decades, and for good reason. The kitchen triangle is made of the three most used appliances: the sink, the hob, and the fridge. The aim of this kitchen appliance layout is to ensure these three appliances are unblocked, easy to access, and within good reach of each other.
Choose built-in appliances for flexibility
If you are tight on space, built-in appliances such as ovens and fridge-freezers often work better as they help to streamline the kitchen. Freestanding units that combine a hob and oven, are certainly appealing to many, but when you're looking to optimise space, a separate built-in oven and hob can help to streamline a kitchen. A built-in double oven will give you the space to cook large meals and the design allows them to be tucked away either under a counter, or into the wall. Consider utilising the space under the hob for drawers, making your cooking utensils easy to reach without cluttering the countertop space. You can also choose a built-in microwave, or combi-oven-microwave appliance, which will leave counterspace free for food prep.
Plan landing space near appliances
Landing space around appliances provides a spot to quickly place items hot items coming out of the oven or microwave. It's also helpful when prepping ingredients. When designing your kitchen layout, allow at least 450mm of countertop space. Landing space is also important near other small appliances, such as a coffee pot or toaster.
Optimise your kitchen island
As well as dining and food prep, the island can be designed to keep all manner of kitchen appliances. Sinks or hobs can be installed into the countertop of the island to give easy access, and leave you with greater worktop space elsewhere in the kitchen. Likewise, if you're short of storage space, choosing a built-in oven for your island can give you greater freedom when it comes to fitting drawers and cabinets. A kitchen island can even give you the space to add luxury appliances to your kitchen without sacrificing space elsewhere.
Work with your space, not against it
The most important thing to remember when planning your kitchen appliance layout is that you must work with the space you have. It might seem obvious, but sometimes our hearts shout louder than our heads, which can result in a cumbersome layout. Measure your kitchen, and figure out exactly what size appliances it can hold without comprising the space available.