How to design your kitchen layout

Galley, U-shape or island? Open shelving or full-height cupboards? Get the answers to your kitchen layout dilemmas with our expert guide

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Of all the areas of home improvement, designing a kitchen is one of the most rewarding but also perhaps the most complicated. We demand that our kitchens be functional spaces that can play host to a range of day-to-day family activities, all the while meeting our dream style criteria.

If you're looking at kitchen options for a self-build, you may have already sized the floorplan to suit your preferred layout, but if you're renovating an existing space, your decision will likely be led by the size and shape of your existing kitchen.

Or, perhaps you're keen to rip up the rule book and just want to know the key rules for kitchen layouts, so you can combine those with the vision inside your head.

GETTING STARTED

First, set out a kitchen design brief that covers all the essential features for your new kitchen. List everything that will be going on in the space, including not only obvious things, such as prepping, cooking and dining, but also activities, such as homework, entertaining and working from home. If you don’t have space for a separate utility room, will you need to use your kitchen for this role, too?

‘There are a few things to think about before you start designing the layout and kitchen cabinets,’ says Alex Main, director of The Main Company, which creates bespoke kitchens. ‘Have a moodboard for saving your ideas in one place. This exercise will help you visualise colour choices, materials and other key elements that will help inform your design.’

Stacey Cobley, sales designer at Harvey Jones, says: ‘When discussing specific requirements with my clients, I always like to ask them what doesn’t work for them in their existing kitchen. It is also worth noting any existing architectural features within the space you are designing to ensure the scheme will work around and complement these.’

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