The Kitchen Triangle

Some people attribute the concept of the kitchen triangle to Frank Lloyd Wright. Who knows? The National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) has a very clear definition for it:

"The distances between the three primary work centers (cooking surface, cleanup/prep sink and refrigeration storage) form a work triangle. The sum of the three traaveled distances should total no more than 26 feet with no single leg of the triangle measuring less that 4 feet nor more than 9 feet. No major traffic patterns should cross through the basic work triangle."

Of course, there are situations where the traffic pattern has to cross the work triangle - like a galley kitchen that connect two sections of the home. If you have a "U" shaped kitchen, or an "L" shaped kitchen, it is very easy to avoid a crossing traffic pattern.

This rule gets further complicated if you have more than one person working in the space at the same time. The work triangle isn't very effective in a multi-cook kitchen, and we have to inpose other guidelines.

When given enough space, many kitchen designers will use more than one work triangle, but that can complicate the work flow too.

The design should be flexible and dynamic, so that it fits your unique situation and room size. The issues that should be considered to help achieve the best plan are:

How many people will do the cooking?

Will tasks be performed simultaneously?

Are there special occasions that might require unusual cooking or baking activities?

How many people help with the clean-up?

Is anybody left-handed?

Does anyone have disabilities or special needs? (This requires a lower counter top)

When laying out the kitchen triangle, safety and function come first. Appearance will follow, while being worked around the first two. Put this together with budget, lifestyle, and personal preference, and you can see that designing a kitchen can be pretty challenging.

If you look to the left, you'll see a bar marked "Resource Directory". This offers the names of interior designers and kitchen designers in each state. One of them might be able to help you.

Any questions or comments about this page, contact me about the kitchen triangle here. OR Feel free to ask about any remodeling issue that might be troubling you.

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