For decades, one of the ‘golden rules’ of efficient kitchen design has been the work triangle. This design concept places your hob, sink and fridge at three key points to form a triangle. The idea is that one of them is never far out of reach from the other, no more than 9 feet in fact. This is how it might look in a u-shaped kitchen:
Work triangles and classic kitchens
This design ‘rule’ was created when kitchens were very much stand-alone rooms, not the more flexible, multi-use room that many of us want our kitchens to be. It also assumes you have three walls available and can place each point of the triangle on a separate wall, which is often not the case!
Most modern kitchens are based on one of these classic layouts.
U-shaped kitchens
These are the kitchens where the work triangle works best, as you can have the three points on three different walls. You can also add a kitchen island which acts as a third wall for your work triangle. This is a very popular option these days, as you can position the island wherever you like – it doesn’t need to ‘join up’ with the worktop.
L-shaped kitchens
L-shaped kitchens are an excellent way of defining your kitchen within a larger space. Unlike a galley kitchen that can become a ‘cooking corridor’, L-shaped kitchens have a run of cabinets and work surface at one end that stop kids, dogs and spouses rushing through at speed!
Galley kitchens
Many older terraced houses have these kind of kitchens with the back door at one end and the door to the hall at the other. Galley kitchen are space efficient in that both walls are fully used, but it can be a tight squeeze and difficult for more than one person to be cooking at a time. A work triangle is possible, as you can have two points on one side, and one on the other.
One-wall kitchens
Used in loft apartments, flats and smaller spaces, single-wall kitchen are space-efficient and easy to use. The worktop and cabinets run along a single wall, so it’s easy to fit too. However, a single wall kitchen layout can’t include a triangle.
Kitchen extensions and kitchen islands
A new kitchen extension gives you the ideal opportunity to create the kitchen and living space that suits your lifestyle best, and include a kitchen island. Kitchen islands are ideal for kitchen extensions because they expand the cooking, entertaining and family spaces.
Kitchen islands are a focal point in your kitchen where friends gather to chat over wine and nibbles, kids sit to eat breakfast or do their homework, and cooks lay out their culinary ingredients without jostling for elbow room with toasters, draining racks or kettles!
Kitchen extensions from Silk Services
Traditionally, creating kitchen extensions involves at least two companies; the builders who builds the extension, and the kitchen company that supplies and fits your new kitchen.
At Silk Services, we do things a little differently. We do the entire job – build the extension to our high standards and then install your dream kitchen designed with precisely your space in mind. Since we’re doing the entire job, we can time it perfectly, so there is no wasted time waiting for one set of tradesmen to finish and the next set to arrive. Everything is done in-house, so it’s more efficient, more cost-effective, and a lot less hassle for you and your family.
For details of our kitchen extension building and kitchen kitting services, just call us. We’ll be happy to talk through your specific requirements and requests, with no obligation and no hard sell.