A walk in the kitchen – designing a kitchen

The coziest place in the apartment is the kitchen. Not for nothing do many people call it the heart of the house. On the other hand, the kitchen – a cross for almost every woman. How to build your own kitchen? Let’s try to reduce the miles we “wind” through the kitchen. First we need to decide what of the appliances and furniture should necessarily stand in the kitchen. This list in my case includes: a sink, a stove, a dining and cutting table, and a washing machine. My fridge is perfectly placed in a niche in the hallway, one meter from the kitchen….

Kill the blind spots

In “Little Tricks for the Resourceful Hostess,” N. p. Konoplyova has a section that really helped me in designing my kitchen. It invites you to experiment with the “internal displacement chart”. On a sheet of paper, as close as possible to the size of the kitchen, draw a plan of the kitchen and place the furniture that is there at the moment. If you have a pristine new apartment, then draw the furniture the way you would like to put it. Done?

Now let’s imagine our typical day. Morning, wake up, breakfast… And start drawing lines from the refrigerator to the table say 3 times, if you have a family of more than two people , now get cups and cutlery from the cabinet and again carry them to the table 1 stroke , then take the pot, pan, bowl as appropriate to emphasize and on the cutting table.

Then we move from the cutting table to the stove, from the stove to the table. Probably a couple more times will have to reach the cupboard with coffee, sugar, cookies. And then you still have to wash the dishes and clear the table… The algorithm is clear? Then continue to draw all of their transitions to the evening, including a second breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner and kefir before bedtime.

I was impressed with my picture. It became terribly sorry for my beloved self, and I decided to kill the “dead zones” that bother me. “Dead zones” are spaces that can’t be used. They are quite a lot – these are the places at the objects that have opening or reclining doors: refrigerator, stove, kitchen tables, it also includes the area around the dining table, which extend the chairs. Do not forget about the door to the kitchen and the passageways from it to the table, stove and window.

Now let’s try to remove those nasty blind spots as much as possible. Unfortunately, we can not cope with a place under the window and all sorts of doors, unless you buy a table without doors, but it’s not too aesthetically pleasing and not very hygienic, because of the dust in the apartment is not completely get rid of. But you can remove the door to the kitchen, literally. Why not make an arch, although this advice is not for everyone, decide for yourself. I actually followed it and am very happy. The space around the dining table can be saved by replacing chairs with stools, which can be stowed under the table when not in use.

Let’s play dice

Now let’s try to cut down on the miles we “wind” around the kitchen. First, we need to decide what appliances and furniture should necessarily stand in the kitchen. This list in my case includes: sink, stove, dining and cutting table and washing machine. My refrigerator fits perfectly in the niche in the hallway, one meter from the kitchen.

In our country there are many strange and incomprehensible, I still do not understand why in some of our houses the elevator shaft is in the hallway… You probably have a lot of corners and nooks in your apartment with no clear purpose. Perhaps a refrigerator or washing machine will fit in one of them.

But back to our list. Everything that, in your opinion, is worthy to stand in the kitchen, we draw on paper on the same scale as the plan. Then lay it on the plan and start moving and swapping places to get the best arrangement. It’s not profitable to put the fridge next to the stove.

First of all, it gets grease and splashes from the stove, which are then difficult to wash off. Secondly, most of us are right-handed, and it is more convenient to do everything with the right hand, including putting the pot on the stove with the right.

In most apartments, the kitchen, bath and toilet are located on one outside wall of the apartment to make it easier to lay the communications. However, what is convenient for builders is not always convenient for housewives.

In case of a new apartment, the question of transferring the sink or stove is equal to the cost of the device, but if you do not have a new construction, be prepared for additional and most unexpected costs.

For example, a complete replacement of the sewer system or water supply. It would probably be nice to admire the view from the window while doing the dishes, but not all of us are ready to change the kitchen in such a radical way, both financially and psychologically. Perhaps it is just more common for us to see the sink in the corner of the kitchen, usually on the left side.

And what kind of sink to look at, you decide. Nowadays there is a great variety of sinks, from stainless steel to granite crumb and even marble. there should be no problems with the choice of shape: round, rectangular, with or without a wing, with a different number of bowls… You can also pick up a sink to match the color of the countertop or, conversely, to contrast with it.

More and more attention is paid to built-in appliances, because they not only look nice and stylish in the kitchen, but also solve the problem of gaps between, for example, the table and the stove. What to buy, a built-in hob and oven or a free-standing oven, of course, also depends on the price.

On average a cooktop by a reputable brand costs approximately as much as a freestanding stove, and if you add a built-in oven… There are several ways out of the situation when you want but do not want to, for example, not to chase a big name or buy a smart microwave oven instead of the oven.

Still we should not forget such not only a decorative attribute of a modern kitchen, as an extractor hood. They come in different types and shapes, so everyone can find an acceptable option for their taste and money. On the problems of installation of these devices, read a separate article in our magazine.

Let’s make up our minds

Before preparing the article we decided not to order in salons sink, built-in appliances and cooker hood, but when drawing up a sketch we took into account that in

Our future kitchen will have a round sink, hob, oven and extractor hood fireplace type. In addition to furniture, we have included in the price of the order only fittings for drying.

We’ve omitted options for both 20- and 4-meter kitchens. And we settled on the option in which the kitchen set is placed along a three-meter wall. We chose MDF or laminate as a material, and the style was modern. In the showrooms we did not choose the cheapest set or the easiest both in terms of finish and configuration.

Each factory has its own standard elements. Apparently, this is connected with the possibilities of production and its cost price. Trying not to make the kitchen more expensive, in all the salons we chose standard elements.

If the factory can not produce a table width of 60 centimeters with three drawers, but can only either with two large or four small, or a table with drawers can only be 45 centimeters wide, we changed the kitchen sketch a little. Apparently this is due to the capabilities of production and its cost.

In principle, everyone is ready to do “non-standard” for extra money, and it’s from 15 to 50% of the cost of the basic element.

We tried to find a functional and beautiful combination of tables and cabinets. The desks with drawers and baskets, not with doors, make our model functional.

They are convenient not only for storing cutlery, but they fit pots and other relatively large kitchen utensils. After all, a large drawer with a basket pulls out completely, and when you look at the top you will immediately find the right pot or pan. While to get something from the shelf of the kitchen table with doors, you have to bend down, move or get each item, and do not forget about the lack of light inside.

For things that do not fit in the baskets, we decided to take a tall column of 60 centimeters wide. The beauty is provided by the single worktop, the presence of glass and cabinets of different heights.

Any kitchen set has a set of obligatory included items. Table legs are number one on this list. Some factories have them in different heights – 10 or 15 centimeters.

The total height of the worktop with 10 cm legs is 85 cm, with 15 cm legs 90 cm. At first glance it is a small difference. But we cook and wash dishes standing up, and the height of the table should be adjusted in relation to height. For taller people, the highest possible table will do, so it is more comfortable and less tired back and arms.

In most sets, the legs do not bear aesthetic load, and they are hidden from sight behind the plinth. Plinth – a slat made of kitchen framework material, most often of particle board, which is protected from the bottom of the plastic to prevent getting wet during cleaning.

When developing the design of each set selected type of handles for desks and cabinets. Sometimes you can choose from 4-5 types of free handles. If you still don’t like the free options, you can always order handles for extra money right when you make your order. Similarly with the handles, the glass is chosen either from free options or for extra money.

Another obligatory, but not free, is a skirting board for the countertop and plugs to it. The skirting board can be matched to the worktop, but the end caps only come in a few colors.

Optionally, you can order a light panel with or without a skirting board, backlighting for cabinets, visor and rails. We decided not to spare money on beauty and add to the sketch a visor on the depth of the cabinets 30 centimeters between the dryer and the column in a spacer.

Our list includes firms with more than three salons in New York. They offer kitchens made in America, as well as Italian and Czech. That’s why the prices in some stores are in Dollars and in other stores in standard units.

Our set

When drawing up a sketch of a kitchen set, we started from the following conditions:

• The kitchen unit should stand on one wall, i.e. e. Be straight

• The length of the wall – 3.05 meters often the walls have ledges and irregularities, so it is advisable to leave 3-5 centimeters for insurance

• we chose the following appliances: a round stainless steel sink, a chimney-type hood and a built-in hob with an oven. We buy all the appliances separately from the kitchen set

• We don’t buy light fixtures, rails, and other decorative items

• We have tile on the wall, so we don’t need a wall panel.

For symmetry, we decided to choose the maximum number of elements and a width of 60 centimeters, the length of the wall allows. The results are as follows.

The sink is located in the left corner.

Then from left to right a table with drawers, a table for built-in appliances, a table with drawers again, and in the very corner a speaker with doors.

Tables with drawers we chose different. After all, we need somewhere to put the cutlery and other stuff. That’s why one table came with two drawers and the other with three.

Of the elements we chose a 60-centimeter wide dryer with one door of maximum height and two low cabinets 40 centimeters wide with glass. According to our idea cabinets have different heights. Between the dryer and the speaker, we put a visor in the color of the frame of the same width as the dryer.

The kitchen legs are covered with a plinth in the color of the frame or metallic, depending on the model.

Knob placement is predominantly horizontal.

Opening of the doors from the center of the set, t. e. sink, dryer and left cabinet with glass, from right to left left tear-off , the doors of the speaker and the right cabinet from left to right right tear-off .