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Choosing a Kitchen Layout

Kitchens act as the heart of a household. This is the room where people eat, talk, celebrate and just hang out. With the amount of time and energy that people spend in their kitchen it only makes sense to design a kitchen layout that will take advantage of the space you have available and incorporate features that are important to you and your family. Before choosing your cabinets, countertops and appliances, however, you first need to select a kitchen layout.

No longer just for food prep, today's kitchens are gathering places for entertaining.

"L" Shaped Kitchens The first type of kitchen layout is the "L" shaped kitchen. As the name suggests, the "L" shaped kitchen layout is based around the shape of the letter "L." This is a very popular kitchen layout as it works well in both small kitchens and in larger kitchens. If you are interested in maximizing the amount of movement space in your kitchen, then the "L" shaped kitchen may be the design for you. If you select this kitchen layout you will want to carefully think about where you locate your sink, stove, refrigerator and work spaces. If not properly designed, you can spread these kitchen elements too far apart, making your kitchen's layout inconvenient.

"U" Shaped Kitchens If you have a small kitchen area to work with then a "U" shaped kitchen layout may be a better choice for you. "U" shaped kitchen layouts are very popular for apartments and condos. Generally this kitchen layout places the refrigerator on one wall, the stove on the second wall and the sink on the third wall of your kitchen. The disadvantage of this kitchen layout is that, depending on the size of the kitchen, it can feel "tight" and if extremely small, may only allow one person at a time to work in the kitchen. You can open up the "U" shaped kitchen by connecting it with the living area with either a pass through or by leaving the fourth side of your kitchen open to the dining room or family room.

Corridor Kitchens (a.k.a. Galley Kitchens) The third kitchen layout that is available is the corridor kitchen layout, also referred to as a galley kitchen layout. This design works best for long narrow kitchen spaces. To create a galley, or corridor, this kitchen layout keeps your appliances, sinks, cupboards and workspaces on two opposing walls and then have the other two opposing sides of your kitchen remain open. The advantage of this type of kitchen is that it tends to have a lot of counter space. The disadvantage of this layout option is that even though a corridor kitchen may have an average amount of square footage, it can still feel tight because of its narrow width.

Island Kitchens The island kitchen is very popular kitchen layout. There are several different ways in which you can design this type of layout. Your first option is to keep all of your appliances, including your sink, located around the perimeter of your kitchen and then use your island as extra workspace. Your second option is to locate your sink or range on your island. The island kitchen layout has several advantages including offering you more workspace, more storage space and more layout options. The disadvantage of the island kitchen layout is that it requires a lot of space.

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