Kitchen Layout Inspiration

Designing and creating a handmade kitchen consists of many vital components, with one being the layout of the kitchen cabinets. These can change the entire look and feel of the kitchen as well as your lifestyle. What makes the kitchen a perfect multi-functional hub of the home is where the cabinets are placed, to create a fabulous kitchen layout.

Today’s kitchens are more designed around the function of the room, where dining and living zones are incorporated into the room creating open-plan spaces for all the family to enjoy.

Nicholas will work with you and your lifestyle, to provide you with the best possible layout in the space available.

The Kitchen Triangle

The ‘kitchen triangle’ was first developed in the 1940s, known as the ‘working triangle’, where the three main areas of the kitchen such as the sink, refrigerator and stove work in a streamline workspace for the three fundamental tasks performed in the kitchen: cooking, food preparation and food storage. There are many advantages to creating a ‘kitchen triangle’ in the hub of the home-

• More room to perform specific tasks
• The chef can get on with preparing meals without unnecessary traffic through the cooking space.
• The different activities within the kitchen space can be zoned off into their own area without interfering with each other.

Modern kitchens today are now including islands, and additional appliances to the ‘kitchen triangle’, but the main principles of this particular layout remain the same.

Below our professional kitchen we created in Epping using the finest of appliances from Sub-Zero Wolf, creates the most wonderful ‘kitchen triangle’.

L-shaped kitchens

Is space not an issue?

L-shaped kitchens are a classic style and allow extra worktop and floor space, with additional room for storage. They work well in small, medium and large kitchens, and in both contemporary and traditional styles. The layout is made up by two adjoining walls that meet in one corner to form an “L” shaped connected with worktops.

You can use one of the runs to protrude into an open-plan space to create a divider between the kitchen and living/dining area. If your space also allows it, you can incorporate an island into the middle of the room to create a focal point, a place to eat, extra storage and more worktop space.

Below in our Ongar project we created an L-shaped kitchen using our classic shaker style with a run that protrudes into the open-plan space to create a divider between the kitchen and living/dining area. An island was incorporated into the middle too between two pillars to create extra storage, worktop space and the perfect place to eat.

U-shaped kitchens

U-shaped kitchens can be made up of three wall or three sides in a shape of a “U”. It makes the most available space you have in your hub of the home and offers plenty of storage space and worktop areas. They are a perfect layout if you are unsure on what layout you want to create in your kitchen. The U-shaped layout is a flawless design for both small and large kitchen areas, with separate work zones for food prep, cooking and cleaning.

Our handmade classic shaker below in Epping is a beautiful U-shaped design that includes the most luxury Sub-Zero Wolf appliances creating a professional kitchen that a celebrity chef would love! The perfect layout design has been created in this kitchen, making available space for a dining area at the other end.

Galley style kitchens

Galley style kitchens come from the layout found on ships, as they are long and narrow, and pack in plenty of storage and work area space. This layout it mostly efficient when it comes to cooking in the heart of the home, and can feature a single or double run of units on either side and a corridor down the middle.

The ‘kitchen triangle’ is a great way to build an efficient work flow into the kitchen area, and become a professional chef in your own home.

An island was incorporated into our design below in Potters Bar that has replaced a run, and become part of the kitchens functionality and generated a divider in the open-plan space. It offers more storage solutions and a perfect place to sit admiring the outdoor space, and the cooking of that perfect recipe.

Floor-to-ceiling cabinets

Floor-to-ceiling cabinets maximize the storage space in your kitchen and provide a brilliant solution to meet family life. You can add worktop space to the design just like the one below in Hadley Wood, and integrate appliances into the cabinetry to provide a sleek design and free up other areas of the kitchen space.

Our floor-to-ceiling cabinets in the Hadley Wood project below features the perfect breakfast pantry, day pantry and housing for two freezers. Just off to the left of the main kitchen the kitchens essentials are all within reach for a great multi-functional home for all the family.

Overhead cabinets

Overhead cabinets are an ideal way of adding more storage to your kitchen freeing up worktop space. If you have a small kitchen, you can position cabinets close to the ceiling to provide additonal space for your kitchens essentials. To make the space feel wanted fit a cabinet above the fridge to make an unused space feel wanted.

In our Harringay project below the space is filled with a soft black, blue cabinet style that transforms the room into a dramatic and enveloping space. We designed lots of overhead cabinets into the style providing adequate worktop space for our client and a symmetrical design to complete the look.

Floor cabinets

Floor cabinets in a kitchen space will define it and give you lots of extra added storage. Worktop space is instantly added too, so the more  floor cabinets you add, the more worktop space you will gain.

Our client in Ongar below decided to opt for just floor cabinets to make the space feel larger and gain extra worktop space in their hub of the home. The space has been filled with a popular deep blue known as ‘Railings’ by Farrow & Ball to contrast against the light and airy natural hues.

The Kitchen Island

The kitchen island can be a way of adding extra functionality to the kitchen space, as well as storage, and a seating area. Entertain guests with an island, use the island to prepare food, or form a boundary between the kitchen and dining areas.

In our Hutton project below we designed an extra large workable island to the open-plan space with additional storage and a seating area that seats five, that makes for the perfect breakfast bar. This particular island was built to entertain guests, prepare food and form a boundary.

The Larder/ Pantry

A larder/pantry takes the pressure off the main kitchen, and frees up storage space for other kitchen essentials. A walk in pantry is a chef’s best friend with its multiple walls of shelves, drawers and cupboards to store dozen of ingredients, cookbooks, snacks, pots, pans, appliances and more.

We designed a walk in pantry to the utility room below in a home in Potters Bar. Cleverly concealed behind handcrafted doors hand painted in a light neutral hue, this perfect space acts as a 2-in-1.

At the Handmade Kitchen Company by Nicholas Bridger we have gained a fantastic reputation for our quality of kitchen design, finished product and service. Our designers work with you from the start to design a kitchen around your current and future requirements. Contact us today for more information on designing the best layout for your handmade dream kitchen – we look forward to hearing from you.