The kitchen is one of the most functional spaces in your home. From cooking meals for your family to baking for pleasure, much of your day is spent there. So, when you’re designing the layout for your home, the kitchen’s location shall be given utmost priority.
Interior designers have started to realise that the kitchen location is just as important as its design. Modern homes now include the kitchen as the heart of the home in a way that makes efficient use of the space whilst also fulfilling all functions.
So, how exactly can you make your kitchen an attractive and pleasing spot for your family’s evening gatherings every day? Here are our top tips!
The Best Way To Position Your Kitchen
Designers and builders put a lot of effort into deciding the layout and design for the kitchen, but they tend to overlook the importance of the right location for the kitchen within a home itself. Below we will discuss some important tips that should be kept in mind when choosing the best place to position your kitchen.
Make It The Hub Of The House
Generally, a significant amount of time is spent cooking and eating meals in an average household. If the kitchen is not located centrally, the person preparing food will be secluded from the conversations and interactions in the rest of the home. If you have guests over, this obstruction becomes a lot more undesirable. Accompanying the guests, managing the kitchen, and providing refreshments simultaneously becomes difficult.
With the kitchen located near the preferred seating area, you won’t have to constantly leave the guests alone or take them to the kitchen with you.
Create A Connected Layout
As the example highlighted earlier, your kitchen needs to be connected to the areas where you want your family members and guests to get together. This way, you will be able to engage with everyone while ticking off your chores list!
Make It Completely Incorporated
Many decades ago, it was a tradition to have a separate kitchen that could be closed off with four walls and a door for entrance. However, things have now changed. Following the aforementioned advice, people have moved towards open-plan living, consisting of kitchens open to a lounge or dining area.
Societies have become more inclusive and less formal. So, to reflect those changes in your home, opting for an open-plan living that connects your kitchen to entertaining spaces is an ideal solution.
Ensure Access To The Outdoors
Apart from providing a smooth connection between the kitchen and indoor spaces, you also need to consider the outdoor spaces. This is especially important if your family spends a lot of time in the garden or the pool.
Allow Maximum Light To Enter
Your kitchen will have at least one wall occupied with floor-to-ceiling cabinetry without any windows.
Be mindful when choosing the side where you want to install this. The best option is to go for the wall that receives minimum natural light. Such an arrangement will allow you to install big windows to let lots of light into your space. As a result, you will enjoy a visually expanded space, improved overall moods, and enhanced productivity levels.
Opt For Easy Entry From Garage
A study carried out in 2019 showed that the average grocery shopper in the US makes at least 1.6 shopping trips per week. Another study done in 2020 showed that 43% of grocery shoppers in the UK make at least one shopping trip per week.
This makes the link between your kitchen and garage an important consideration. If you have easy access to the kitchen from the carport, your grocery trips will be much more hassle-free.
What Is The Most Preferable Location For Your Kitchen?
Ideally, the North-West or South-East direction is considered the most suitable location for kitchens, especially in countries with a South-West wind direction. The reason is that the flow of wind helps prevent the odour in the kitchen from passing through other rooms and provides adequate ventilation. The fumes, hot air, and odour will be cross-ventilated and replaced with crisp air from the outdoors.
Which Direction Should Be Avoided?
The North or North-East direction should be avoided. The diffused, soft sunlight that pours from the North and East sides is best reserved for meditating areas or study rooms.
The East direction is recommended instead because the UV rays carried by the morning sunlight will aid in killing germs from your kitchen.
Final Words
Having a mispositioned kitchen can become frustrating and disruptive. Changing the position may be an arduous task, but the outcome will definitely be worth it. It'll help transform your home into a more attractive, coherent, and functional space.
Remember, just like a well-designed kitchen adds financial value to a home, a well-placed kitchen does too!
Need some support with planning your kitchen renovation? Just book one of our Interior Design Gurus here! They can look at your space over video chat and give you tips, ideas and guidance on how to achieve an interior that you love.