7 Kitchen Layout Ideas That Work

You may have your cabinets, flooring, tile, appliances, and paint all selected. But what makes a kitchen livable has little to do with the way it looks, and everything to do with functionality.

Blog | Kitchen

RoomSketcher Kitchen Layout Ideas Storage Cabinet Wall Hooks Open Shelves

By Trine Bretteville

Today’s post comes from the home improvement experts at Modernize.

If you’re planning a kitchen, there are a few essential kitchen layout ideas you need to keep in mind as you’re designing and planning.

Before you make any big decisions or get carried away with the aesthetic, here are 7 essential kitchen layout ideas you will want to incorporate to make your kitchen design a success:

1. Reduce Traffic

No matter what, the kitchen is probably going to be a high-traffic area of the house. But there are ways you can get around making the kitchen a catch-all for mail and backpacks and coats.

Create a space before you get into the kitchen, like a mudroom, to control the chaos that can come sweeping in every day. Once in the kitchen, make sure the primary pathway through the kitchen is hazard-free and will not be obstructed by the refrigerator or oven door when open.

RoomSketcher Kitchen Layout Ideas Triangle Zones Circulation Preparation Cooking Traffic — Create clear zones for circulation, meal preparation and cooking in your kitchen layout

2. Make the Distance between Main Fixtures Comfortable

When laying out your kitchen it’s important to keep the main tasks in mind – preparing, serving, and cleaning up from meals. You don’t want to put the stove across the room from the sink, or the fridge too far away from the stove because that will complicate whichever task you are working on.

RoomSketcher Kitchen Layout Ideas Fixtures Appliances Locations — Lay out kitchen fixtures and appliances within comfortable proximity to each other

3. Make Sure the Kitchen Island Isn’t too Close or too Far

A kitchen island is where much of the meal preparation happens. If your kitchen layout will include one, consider its location carefully. Make sure that it will not block the area in front of your major appliances, such as wall ovens, dishwashers, and refrigerators.

Allow enough space for the appliance door swing plus room to pass when the doors are open. But you also don’t want to place it too far. Make sure your island is located within a comfortable arm’s reach from each of these fixtures.

RoomSketcher Kitchen Layout Ideas Floor Plan Island Appliance Layout — Keep appliance door swings in mind when placing an island in your kitchen layout

4. Place the Sink First

When creating a kitchen layout, many designers place the sink first and then design from there. While this is probably grounded in tradition from the days when people spent a long time scrubbing dishes, it remains a good rule of thumb.

The oven and fridge are vital to preparing meals, but somehow the sink seems to still be the place where we spend the most time. Think about placing the sink where there is a view out a window or into the room. A kitchen island is also a great location for the sink.

RoomSketcher Kitchen Layout Ideas Best Sink Location Island — Place your sink with a view into the room, out a window, or in a kitchen island for both

5. Always Put the Stove on an Exterior Wall

When you’re deciding where to put the stove and oven, remember to put them on an exterior wall rather than an island or interior wall. This will make it easier (and less expensive) to install a proper ventilation system.

RoomSketcher Kitchen Layout Ideas Best Stove Cooktop Ventilation Location — Locate the stove or cooktop on an exterior wall for easy ventilation

6. Keep Vertical Storage in Mind

Instead of focusing all of your energy on creating enough cabinet and drawer storage, put a little of that energy into configuring convenient wall storage.

Storage walls are a great way to incorporate pantry storage, small appliances, baking accessories, extra china, or even a broom closet – in one convenient location. Open shelves, wall hooks, and overhead pot racks are not only convenient – if stocked with the right stuff, they can also add dimension to the aesthetic.

7. Create a Floor Plan and Visualize Your Kitchen in 3D

No matter how much designing, measuring, and pinning to your dream kitchen Pinterest boards you do, your completed kitchen can still come as a surprise once the contractors are finished – and not always in a good way.

Save yourself from costly mistakes and unfixable flaws with a kitchen layout tool. RoomSketcher provides an easy-to-use online kitchen planner that you can use to plan your kitchen layout. Draw your kitchen floor plan, add fixtures, finishes, and cabinets, and see them instantly in 3D!