Are you a homeowner wanting to maximize the efficiency of your kitchen layout? Or are you a designer looking for tips on how to make your clients’ kitchens function seamlessly? No matter what type of project or client, designing with kitchen work zones is essential if you want to create an efficient and organized space.
Work zone planning—dividing up the kitchen into unique areas for different tasks—is key in making sure that the space works cohesively. Read on to learn more about creating effective cooking, cleaning, and food storage work zones so that your design process results in looks AND functionality!
Below, I’ve covered some key considerations and some tips for successfully creating your own kitchen work zones. Before defining zones, you must first understand the concept of the kitchen triangle…
What Is the Kitchen Work Triangle?
At the beginning of planning your work zones, you will want to use the kitchen work triangle approach.
Throughout many years, it’s been considered the gold standard in kitchen design. First introduced in the 1920s, it’s a concept where the three frequently used items (sink, refrigerator, and stove) in the kitchen should be arranged in a triangle form.
In certain situations, the triangle works effectively. However, it was created in the past. So, some of the understandings known in that era have evolved.
That doesn’t imply you should discard the concept. In some kitchen settings, the work triangle is still a great pattern that you may apply to your project. You just need to be inventive to create your own updated version.
This concept is applicable to a variety of kitchen layouts. The classic U-shaped kitchen has been the most evident plan for the work triangle. But there are several other options, such as a big, open-plan space with an island. In open-plan kitchens, you could still follow the basic triangle location of the three important components.
If you have a galley kitchen that acts as a freeway in your house, it can break the traffic flow. But a galley that is blocked off on one end might be a great form of the work triangle. A triangular design might also work effectively in an L-shaped kitchen.
The Main Kitchen Work Zones
Kitchen zones are respective work areas within the whole kitchen layout. Each zone is designed for a certain task or purpose. Preparing food, cooking, storing, dining, and cleaning are the most common forms of activities we do in the kitchen.
Having your kitchen elements arranged properly can improve productivity and make cooking easier and more enjoyable.
Prep Zone
This zone, usually an expanse of counter space, is where you prepare dinners or large meals. It’s the zone where we may spend nearly 70% of our time. So, it would be great to have a spacious work surface for doing things like dicing, peeling, kneading, preparing sandwiches, and so on.
Since the prep zone is frequently situated close to the cleaning zone, easy access pull-out trash cabinet attachments are a perfect complement. This way, you can quickly discard the peels and wrappings.
Also, your cabinets and refrigerator have to be near the prep counter to provide quick access to supplies, tools, and pots and pans.
Cooking Zone
The cooking zone consists mainly of the stove and a small space close to it for items that you’ll reach for. This zone should ideally be adjacent to the prep zone. The National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) recommends a minimum of 24 inches between the stove’s left and right sides.
From your prep space, you should always be able to quickly lift freshly made food into a dish or put the meal in the oven. This suggests that there should be less space for the hot pot to go back to the counter from your oven or stove. Which makes it safer for everyone. As you won’t have to navigate through your kitchen while handling a hot pot.
Cleaning Zone
The wash zone usually comprises a sink, a dishwasher, and an area for a drying rack. It can also include a storage unit for clean dishes and silverware. We spend around 20 percent of our time in the kitchen here.
The NKBA recommends a minimum of 24 inches of counter space to the left and right of a sink. Preferably, you should separate your cleaning or wash zone from the prep and cook zones.
But putting your garbage and compost bins next to your sink and dishwasher will make it easier for you to scrape, wash, and load plates. Also, you should be able to reach your wall cabinets to make it easy to empty a dishwasher.
You will finish your chores sooner if your kitchen design lets you avoid the need to walk back and forth through the room handling heavy non-consumables. And it will be safer as the chance of damage or anyone stumbling over an opened dishwasher is lesser.
Food Storage
The food storage zone is a dedicated pantry space for dry goods and spices. It is usually built into a kitchen. Because of the development of rollout cabinetry and attachments, it is now possible to establish this specified zone, no matter how big or small your kitchen is.
Other Kitchen Zones
Aside from the main work zones, you can add extra zones based on your available space and requirements. Such zones might constitute spaces for cooking and eating, like a breakfast nook. You might separate the dining area from the cooking zone, as well as spots for work, study, or entertainment. Also, you may even wish to create a dedicated area for dogs.
Breakfast Bar/ Nook
A breakfast nook or dining area is an excellent addition to any kitchen. It’s a tiny space near the kitchen, dotted by a few chairs for quick meals. This space may also feature counter space and storage, as well as grab-and-go solutions.
Entertainment
An entertainment area helps you host your visitors while allowing them to socialize as you cook. So, make sure that this space is close to where you’re cooking. This area is usually constructed into a kitchen island and serves as a breakfast bar. If it’s situated closer, it might also be a component of your dining room.
It’s always essential to consider what you enjoy and need the most in your kitchen’s features. I hope you find this useful in finding a good kitchen plan and turning it into a space that meets your specific requirements. Good luck!
Plan Your Work Zones
In any design and planning where a home is involved, it’s always best to consult with experts in these areas. Tell them all the early ideas you have, what you want and need. As well as how you’d want to use your kitchen. This way, they’ll be able to analyze the area to determine the ideal layout for executing this while ensuring a natural flow from one work zone to another.
The zones should be in the following order: refrigerator, prep and work area, cooking zone, serving zone or dining table, and cleaning zone.
Zone Overlaps
When the zones overlap, it is because there is limited space, and this event is common. But it may still function well if there is enough room for each task. Think of how typical it is for the prep and cook zones to overlap, with work surfaces along either side of a stove. It provides for distinct locations for food preparation and also placing it down after cooking. This prevents zone overlap from obstructing you while cooking.
Even so, when feasible, you should avoid overlaps between the main zones. Especially between the prep area and sink. Suppose you want to create sweets after a meal, but your refrigerator is in the cleaning zone. You’d be in someone else’s path if the person gets busy in the sink. Similarly, one emptying a dishwasher might be right beneath you while making your dessert.
This type of overlapping is thus ineffective since unclean dishes quickly become mixed in with those that you’re still using for preparing meals. But if you can’t avoid such an overlap, then you should make your sink a partition between the prep and the cleaning zone.
Exceptions to the Rules
There are no strict rules to adhere to, just make sure the structure stays aligned. For instance, you can take your refrigerator out of the prep zone, and exclude it from the cooking zone. Or you can move unsightly small appliances out of sight. And since these zones serve closely similar functions, it has little effect on your workflow.
Kitchen zoning is reliant mainly on your or a designer’s understanding of aesthetics, practicality, and convenience. But really the advantage of such an approach would be that it allows for versatility. in the kitchen. Keep in mind that not everyone’s kitchens are the same, nor are your demands.
