When designing a kitchen, many people use the principle of the kitchen work triangle (also named "the kitchen working triangle" and "the golden triangle") to make their kitchen as efficient as possible.
Even though the kitchen work triangle principle was developed in the 1940's, it is still valid today.
The kitchen work triangle principle suggests using an unobstructed triangular path of travel between the sink (your main sink or prep sink), cooktop, and refrigerator for maximum efficiency.
Using the principles of the kitchen work triangle will allow less walking across the kitchen while allowing plenty of countertop space to prep food.
photo courtesy of Brent Eckley flickr.com/photos/96831183@N08/241758460391) The distance of each side of the kitchen work triangle between the sink to cooktop, sink (or prep sink) to refrigerator, and cooktop to refrigerator should be between 4' and 9' each.
The minimum distance allows enough countertop room for food preparation.
The maximum distance allows for less travel time between kitchen areas while cooking.
If your kitchen is large, consider adding a prep sink to the island for food preparation and your larger sink will only be used for washing dishes in order to reduce the distance between the sides of the triangle while in the process of preparing food and cooking.
2) The sum of all the kitchen work triangle sides should be between 13' and 26' to minimize the amount of steps taken while preparing food.
3) There should not be any obstructions in the traffic path of the kitchen work triangle, such as a kitchen island or breakfast table.
The cook should have a straight path of travel to the most used areas of the kitchen while cooking.
4) There should not be a walkway through the kitchen work triangle to go from one room to another, such as from the dining room to the living room.
The person cooking should not have to worry about other people getting in the way by walking through the kitchen.
5) Consider adding a beverage refrigerator outside your kitchen work triangle to allow people access to drinks while you are cooking so they don't get in your way.
6) Keep in mind that bigger kitchens are not always better. Larger kitchens might require you to take more steps to reach an appliance, thus taking longer (and making you more tired) while cooking.
7) Your kitchen work zone might need to be adjusted if you typically have more than one cook at a time since the kitchen work triangle optimizes efficiency assuming only one cook.
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