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8 Common Architectural Design Mistakes in Kitchens

Kitchens are one of the most important rooms in any home, making proper planning essential. A poorly-designed kitchen can lead to numerous issues.

To avoid mistakes, it’s essential that you take the time to measure and double-check all your measurements. This will ensure that cabinets and appliances fit together perfectly without hitting each other or creating obstacles in their path.

1. Not Having a Proper Layout

Arranging beautiful finishes and fixtures is essential, but the kitchen layout itself can make or break its success. Failing to properly plan it could result in disaster.

Avoid placing bins in areas where they will block an entrance when doors are opened, for instance. And your dishwasher where it would not open properly. Not only will this hurt your dishwasher home warranty, it will also create space-related problems. 

Make sure that there is adequate circulation space in your kitchen. 

2. Not Having Enough Space Between the Sink and the Oven

Your kitchen should meet all of your cooking and storage needs without becoming cramped, yet one mistake that often exacerbates this effect is insufficient space between sink and oven.

The kitchen triangle design rule dictates that appliances should all be within easy reach of one another. Failing to comply with this principle by placing short impediments is a fatal design flaw which should be easily avoided.

3. Not Having Enough Circulation Space

Lacking sufficient circulation space is a crucial element of kitchen design when you want an inviting room, as not allowing enough movement can leave the space feeling cramped and limit how many people can use it simultaneously. To maximize comfort, aim to leave at least 4 feet between countertops.

Make sure that these kitchen architectural mistakes do not derail your dream home project! With proper planning and advice from an expert, these easily remedied mistakes can be avoided and successfully resolved.

 

Contemporary kitchen with wooden cabinets

4. Not Having Enough Light

Proper lighting in your kitchen is essential, particularly task lighting. Otherwise, you might struggle to see while cooking or chopping food.

As much as it’s important to select ambient lighting appropriately, too much recessed lighting may make the space feel clinical and harsh, leaving some areas darkened or even shadowed by inadequate illumination.

5. Not Having Enough Storage Space

Storage space is essential to creating an efficient and organized kitchen environment, including dedicated areas for trash, recycling and food storage.

Prior to choosing what you need for storage purposes, it is vital that you consider all of your needs carefully. Also make sure your chosen design takes advantage of every inch available including corners in order to avoid making this common kitchen architectural design mistake.

6. Not Having Enough Counter Space

Kitchen designs often fail to take into account the importance of having enough counter space. A minimum four-foot prep area between sink and cooktop for food preparation as well as enough landing space for dishes or other work items are both key considerations in kitchen design.

Ensuring proper circulation space is also vital. A path between the refrigerator, sink and cooktop should be straightforward and swift.

7. Not Having Enough Storage Space

Too little storage space in a kitchen can leave it feeling cramped and disorganized, so to maximize space you should explore various kitchen storage ideas to increase its capacity.

Lack of circulation space is another key kitchen design error that often impedes productivity in a kitchen, leading to it feeling cramped and restricting how many people can use it simultaneously.

8. Not Having Enough Counter Space

Without enough counter space in a kitchen, working can become very challenging. Before making changes to it, make sure that you measure both the counter area and room size before making decisions about alteration.

Make sure to provide ample countertop landing space near sinks and appliances, which helps with clean-up. Aim to have at least 24″ of landing counter on each side of the main sink for optimal results.

Image courtesy of Copyright Simon Whitbread / Studio ThirtyThree PL