Tools & Tips Centre
In this section of the web site, we have included some tips that may help you in the planning of your new kitchen. You may find that a good place to start is our Kitchen Connection Fact Sheet.
The following checklist provides a good starting point when meeting with your Kitchen Connection designer.
1. Give detailed consideration to your current and future kitchen requirements:
Experience has shown that most people keep a kitchen for approximately 20 years. That’s why it pays to carefully consider your needs and wants before you venture out to buy a kitchen. You will spend a great deal of time in your kitchen, therefore it should be designed to be an enjoyable place.
The most important place to start is with the available space for your kitchen. However, the layout of the kitchen space is not the only thing you should consider. You should also look at other important aspects such as:
It’s also a good idea to bring a detailed plan of your kitchen, when meeting with your Kitchen Connection designer for the first time.
In order to be well prepared for planning your dream kitchen, it is also a good idea for the designer to know as much as possible about:
Along with this general information, information such as body heights, which will help to determine the optimal work heights, and whether right-handed and /or left-handed people will be using the kitchen is very important for the proper zone layout. A review of the types of items to be stored in the kitchen is also helpful.
To design and plan a kitchen for your unique needs the kitchen planner requires a lot of information from you about your lifestyle and your expectations. This should be thought of in terms of the five storage areas which will lead to optimum kitchen design.
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Food area: Items that are consumed over a short period of time and replenished on a regular basis. Foodstuffs bread, cereals, etc. Refrigerated foods milk, butter etc.d |
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Storage area: Crockery, cutlery, storage containers, glass ware etc. |
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Cleaning area: Detergents, washing up liquids, cleaning materials, waste bin etc. |
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Preparation area: The main work area in the kitchen. Kitchen knives, chopping boards, mixing bowls, measuring jugs, kitchen scales etc. |
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Cooking area: Pots, pans with lids, baking trays, ca |
For a right-handed person storage should be planned in a clockwise direction and in the opposite direction for a left-handed person.
Due to a number of factors there are different kitchen layouts. Simple kitchen layouts include the L kitchen and the galley kitchen. More complex layouts that provide more options include the G, Island and U kitchens.
The U kichen is best suited for optimal workflows in the kitchen followed by the Island kitchen. L shaped kitchens are not as good.
However, all kitchen shapes can be optimized by Kitchen Connection designers. If practical, you should choose a U, Island or G layout.
Every kitchen has a main work area. This area should usually be located between the sink and the stove, and be at least 90cm wide.