Video:U-Shape Kitchen Layout

Transcript:U-Shape Kitchen Layout

Hi! I’m John Summers for About.com and today we’re going to talk about the U-Shaped Kitchen Layout. We’re here at Creative Design Custom Kitchen and Baths in Brewster, New York.

Maximize Space on Three Walls with a U-Shaped Kitchen

Designing a kitchen is all about maximizing space, you will need to consider where your refrigerator, sink, stove top and oven will be located within the unit and how much room you will have. A U-Shaped Kitchen consists of work space on three adjoining walls, two parallel walls perpendicular to the third wall. A U-Shaped Kitchen does not have any corridors for through traffic, it is a self contained space. What’s nice about a U-Shaped kitchen, is there is usually no traffic pattern we have to take into consideration in the work space.

In a U-shaped kitchen we are using three walls, that gives us the maximum storage space and countertop work area, as compared to a one walled or corridor kitchen. The work triangle in a U-Shaped kitchen works very well because we have three walls to work with. We usually place the appliance, the refrigerator on one wall at the end of a run, the sink would be in the middle of a run and usually the third wall will have the range.

U-Shaped Layouts Allows for Various Kitchen Design Elements

A U-Shaped kitchen can open the design up to a lot of different options. One is corner sinks locations, normally we would try and put a sink under a window, but a lot of times corners work well. And sometimes we will also place appliances in corners to maximize space. In a U-Shaped kitchen, if there is enough space, an island sometimes works well also. When placing an island in a kitchen you want to make sure there is a minimum of 36 inches between the island top and the main countertops. You’ll want to talk to an experienced design expert in order to make sure this layout is right for you. To learn more about home renovations and other topics, please visit About.com and thanks for watching.