Most kitchen problems are planning problems. The cabinets may be well made, but if the fridge door blocks the walkway or there is nowhere to put down a hot pan beside the cooker, the room will frustrate you every day. Here is how to plan a kitchen around the way you actually use it.
Start with zones, not cabinets
Think of the kitchen as a set of zones: storage (fridge and dry goods), preparation, cooking, and cleaning (sink and dish rack or dishwasher). Food should move through these in order with as few steps and crossings as possible. The classic working triangle between fridge, sink and cooker is a useful check: no leg should be very short or very long, and none should run through a busy walkway.
Give every zone a landing space
- Beside the fridge: somewhere to put shopping and ingredients down.
- Beside the cooker: heat-safe space for pans and serving dishes.
- Between sink and cooker: the longest clear run for preparation.
- Near the sink: space for drying and stacking dishes.
Choose storage by what you reach for
Deep drawers under the worktop are easier to use than cupboards with shelves, because everything comes out to you. Keep daily items between knee and shoulder height. Tall larder units are efficient for dry goods and small appliances, while high wall cabinets suit things you use occasionally. Corners are where storage is usually wasted, so decide early whether a corner is worth fitting with a mechanism or is better left as a simple deep cupboard.
Measure before you choose anything
Record wall lengths at more than one height, because walls are rarely perfectly straight. Note the positions of windows, doors and their swing, water and waste pipes, sockets, gas points and any columns or beams. These fixed points shape the layout more than any style choice.
Treat materials as a system
Cabinets, edging, worktops and hardware all wear differently. Areas near the sink and cooker see water, steam and heat, so the boards and edge finishes there matter more than anywhere else. Look at how surfaces meet: a durable worktop with poorly sealed joints will still fail at the joints.