A Good Kitchen: Orientation and Measure

Apr 12, 2018

Kitchen, one of the most exciting and important part of a house. A good kitchen always keeps the house alive. So it is very important to design a kitchen which helps the members with their lives.

Here is a short guide which will help you to get an idea about what you actually want to do with your kitchen.

If you are lucky enough to be choose which direction your kitchen will face, consider orienting it towards the east or southeast. Then the morning sun will fill it with light.

But if this is not possible, the south or southeast will not cause any harm. If you go this way, you should provide some means of shading the room from the hot summer sun such as trees or shrubs, awnings or overhangs above windows or even with good window blinds.

Once you done with oriented, lets work with some basic design principles that will help you with the layout.

In modern days, kitchens are organizing around what's known as the work triangle — the geometry determined by sink, range and refrigerator. Since most kitchen work is a dance among the three appliances, a good design will make the distances between them comfortable. So make sure that they are in the right place.

There are three basic layouts for the work triangle:

  1. u-shaped 
  2. l-shaped and 
  3. Galley. 

In the u-shaped kitchen, there's a triangular path from the sink on one wall to the range on another, to the refrigerator on a third. In an l-shaped kitchen, one element of the work triangle is against one wall with the other two along another. In very tight circumstances, all three points are arranged along the same wall, like the cooking facilities on-board ship, thus the name galley kitchen.


If you're thinking about placing a table in your kitchen, here are some basic parameters: A rectangular table with a seating capacity of four to six should measure 2½ feet by 5 to 5½ feet. You'll need 2½ to 3 feet of clearance all around for chairs and adequate circulation. A round table takes up less space but can accommodate more people if need be. Remember that a small increase in radius makes for a big increase in the circumference of the table and therefore the floor space it will take up.


Here are extra 5 tips that you can keep in your mind:

  1. Consider a mirrored backsplash.
  2. Light colors help to visually expand the space.
  3. Use pattern in unexpected places.
  4. Do not skimp on lighting.
  5. Open shelving keeps the space light and airy.