Kitchen of The Week

Kitchen Cabinetry

This is the main furniture in the kitchen. They are of various materials and finishes, giving the kitchen either a classic traditional feel or a modern and contemporary outlook. The material you decide on using for your kitchen will depend on the factors discussed earlier in the kitchen planning process. The different materials used for making kitchen cabinets include the followings:

Wood – Natural wood is available in variety of colours, style and finishes. Before being used for cabinetry, wood need to be kiln dried to reduce the moisture content to a level that will allow it withstand any weather condition and preventing it from warping. It can then be styled into various shapes and designs, which is finished in either clear or satin stained wood varnish. Well treated, styled and designed natural wood cabinets are very lovely, have traditional feel but can be very pricey.

Kitchen Cabinets in Natural Wood.

Laminates (MDF, HDF, MFC) – Laminates are made from compressed wood shaving and sawdust, and then covered on both sides with melamine or acrylic sheets. They are cheaper when compared to seasoned natural wood, and come in various colours, mimicked wood grains and textured surfaces.

Kitchen Cabinets in Laminate.

Stainless steel – This material is the most durable of all, but is mainly used for industrial kitchens. This is easy to clean and the priciest of all.

Industrial Kitchen Cabinets made of Stainless Steel.

Aluminium – Aluminium cabinets are not very common. Though the cabinet cases are mainly made in aluminium, the façade are made of natural wood, laminates or glass, giving the kitchen an aesthetic value. Using aluminium to make the cabinet gives the user an assurance that the cabinets will not get damaged easily by water or moisture. 

Kitchen Cabinets in Aluminium Cases and Laminate Facades,

Kitchen of the Week

Kitchen Layouts

G - Shaped Kitchen Layout.

The orientation of the cabinetry, the work zones or work triangle, storage space, appliances, the budget, and activities that will be performed in the kitchen are all determined by the space, which eventually translates to the kitchen layout.

The orientation of the cabinetry, the work zones or work triangle (having the cooker, the sink and the refrigerator form a triangle, with this points at the three corners of the triangle, allowing between 4 feet and about 8 feet walking distance between points), storage space, appliances, the budget, and activities that will be performed in the kitchen, are all determined by the space of the kitchen, which eventually translate to the kitchen layout.

Though it’s good to get ideas on how to plan your kitchen from kitchen(s) you saw at a friend’s, in a magazine or a website, having your kitchen look exactly like some others can be banal. In planning your kitchen, you have carte blanche to design and organize your space to suit your personality, lifestyle, family size and your budget.

Orientation of kitchen cabinetry is classified into:

Single Gallery;

Double Gallery / Hallway;

L – Shaped;

U – Shaped;

G – Shaped.

The single gallery kitchen has a cabinetry orientation on one wall in the kitchen, with all three points of the work triangle on a straight line. It is most suitable for studio flats, mini flats and apartments with space constraint. A well planned single gallery kitchen can still come with a lot of conveniences, with appliances and accessories incorporated.

Single Gallery Kitchen. 

The double gallery or hallway kitchen has its cabinetry orientation on two walls facing each other with a hallway in-between. The work triangle does not necessarily need be on one wall; they can be spread between the two walls. There is more storage space and prep /task area here compared to the single gallery kitchen.

Hallway / Double Gallery Kitchen.

The L – shaped kitchen has its cabinetry orientation on two walls at a 90° to each other, forming the letter “L”. Depending on the lengths of both walls, this type of kitchen is more spacious, with more storage space, prep / task area and circulation area. With a spacious circulation area, an island (this is a stand-alone set of cabinets with worktop placed at the middle of the kitchen) can be incorporated to act as extra prep area, a dining table, children play, or an entertainment zone.

L Shaped Kitchen.

A U – shaped kitchen is one with the cabinetry orientation on three walls of the kitchen forming the letter ”U”. This type of kitchens most times has a very spacious circulation area, creating a longer walking distance, and making it difficult to achieve the 4 feet to 5 feet walking distance between the points of the work triangle, even with the introduction of an island. In solving this, the work zones are now being used to replace the work triangle. With work zones, cooking, food prep, cleaning, storage, entertainment, dining, children play, and home office zones can be created depending on how spacious the kitchen.

The cooking, food prep and cleaning points can be more than one, allowing two or more people to work in the kitchen at the same time.

Remember the kitchen reflects your lifestyle, and defines your class, so, do it your way.

U Shaped Kitchen with an island

The G – shaped kitchen as with the “L” and ”U” shaped, has the cabinetry orientation forming the letter “G”. 

G Shaped Kitchen

The kitchen can be either open or closed depending how you want your space laid out. The closed kitchen is the usual four walled kitchen, with windows and access doors. The open kitchen on the other hand, is one with two or three walls open into living room and the dining area. Because of the evolution of the kitchen as earlier stated, the open kitchen concept is gradually being accepted by more people. 

Open L shaped Kitchen...opening into the living /dining area.

Even at that, some people will not subscribe to it because, they don’t want all their guests seeing them prepare food in the kitchen, see dirty dishes in the sink, or having spiced food smell everywhere in the living room.

Rather than have an open kitchen, some other people will rather have a bigger space for the kitchen to incorporate an entertainment zone (for close friends), dining area and children play zone in a close kitchen, and then a separate living area to entertain other guests.

All the kitchen layouts can either be open or closed; whichever your preference is, try to make your kitchen as unique as possible.

Taking Measurements

Before moving on to discuss kitchen layouts, the very first and most important step which is taking measurements will be discussed. 
After giving an overview of how to plan a kitchen, I shall now take the steps involved one after the other as promised in my earlier post. 
To take the actual measurements of the space meant to be the kitchen, you can use the conventional measuring tape or the digital type. In taking the measurements, I will advice that the metric unit of measurement be used (millimeters) as against the imperial unit (inches) for utmost accuracy.
To start, you first draw the floor plan of the space taking into account every corner, bend and curve. This done, you mark out points showing where the windows, doors and any other openings are. An elevation plan of each wall might also be necessary to indicate heights; height from the window sill to the floor, door height, height of electrical and plumbing fittings, air-condition ducts/openings, distribution board, water heater etc. It is at this point that you start to consider adjoining rooms to the kitchen as pointed out in the posts, "Getting Started". This will help you and your kitchen designer in taking decisions as to moving things around in the your space; where what should be, which wall to avoid considering the doors and windows, and ultimately what the Kitchen layout will look like.
You can now proceed to taking your measurements and recording them as shown below.

Floor plan with dimensions.

Elevation A as indicated in the floor plan showing heights.

Elevation B as indicated in the floor plan.

Even if you have an architectural drawing from the architect who designed your home, an as-built measurement is very important to prevent the avoidable mistake of making a kitchen that will not fit your space - either too big or too small.
Taking the as-built measurements also help in planning your plumbing and electrical points for your fittings and appliances. At the point of planning, knowing the type and number of appliances and other kitchen fittings will help with putting your plumbing and electrical points in the right places to prevent having untidy electrical cables or plumbing pipes visibly dangling from appliances and cabinets.
As discussed in my posts "Getting Started", the factors to consider when planning your kitchen, have a lot to do with the space available to you. Every other factors are dependent on this singular factor of space, and getting the right and accurate measurements of this space to me is very important.
If you are taking the measurements yourself or you are getting a kitchen designer to do it for you, have at the back of your mind that the final product you will get depends largely on this very important first step.
Thank you for your time, please share with your friends if you find this interesting and educative. Stay tuned as I shall be discussing kitchen layouts next...

Getting Started 3

Remodeling or building a kitchen is a process that requires thorough planning. Having a functional space you can call a kitchen depends on the importance attached to the process of planning the space. From the size of the space you agree on, to choosing the most suitable materials, accessories, utensils and appliances for your kitchen, a process must have been followed; but you need to ask yourself if that process achieved the desired result. Having the knowledge of the planning process that will achieve the desired effect given different scenarios over and over again is very vital, considering the fact that your first kitchen may never be the last.

The factors mentioned above will now be discussed in details, and rank them based on which comes when, and after what.

1. Space available for the kitchen – This comes first and one that is very important of all factors, as every other factor is determined by it. There is no way you can have a kitchen in a void, it has to be within a space; even if it is an open-plan kitchen. Either you are buying your house or having to build, you must give consideration for the kitchen space from the point of inspecting the house, or when you briefing your architect on what space is required, considering every other factor from size of the family that will be using the kitchen, budget or available funds to either make a new kitchen or remodel existing one, lifestyle of the owner, connection of the kitchen to other rooms, to orientation of sunlight.
2. Family size – How many people will be using the kitchen at different times? What are the activities that will be performed by these people at different times? These are succinct questions that will require answers when you are thinking of the size of the family. The size of the family does not mean parents and their kids alone; every other person that may be using the kitchen along with them will be considered as part of the family within this context. The number of people that make up the size of any family, as well as the different activities they perform within the space, either jointly or at different times, should be considered; creating the necessary space for such. This will take care of the issue of cramping up the space in the event of having of small kitchen with somewhat large family, or having too large a space (making moving between activity centers a great distance to cover) with just one or two people making up the family. The family’s daily routine, number, age and activities the children are involved in, as well as their parents job schedule should be considered here. This takes us to next factor, which is lifestyle of those using the kitchen.
3. Lifestyle of the owner – Your lifestyle as the person that will be using a kitchen should reflect in the type of kitchen in your home. This is so because the kitchen as the heart of any home, is a meeting point for every member of the family, and as such reflects our lifestyle and defines our class. The kitchen may be the place where the family have their meals, where the children do their homework or play after school, where the family entertain some of their guests, where a work-from-home mum, or a busy executive work with his/her laptop, or a relaxation point. Whichever of these activities you may be performing in your kitchen, you will notice that you cannot divorce your daily life from that space in your home where you call the kitchen.
4. Connection of the kitchen to adjoining rooms – When thinking of an adjacent room to a kitchen, most people probably think of the dining room. This is obviously so because one has to take the meal prepared to the dining room for consumption, and as such, the dining is always adjacent to the kitchen. In this context of this writing, we will be looking at the adjoining rooms from prospect of planning the kitchen interior. Either buying a house or you are building, the rooms adjacent to the kitchen determines where what goes inside the kitchen, as well as how much natural light you get through the windows. Cabinetry arrangement – kitchen layouts, plumbing and electrical works and fittings in the kitchen are determined by rooms adjoining the rooms. This is so because; sharing a wall that has much of your plumbing works with a bedroom for instance, could mean some very tedious job for the plumber, or a complete change in your cabinetry orientation. Having at least one of the kitchen walls as an external wall is of great importance; the window, escape door, plumbing works, ducts, and gas line fittings can all be on this wall, for ease of mechanical and engineering works maintenance.
5. Orientation of sunlight – As maintained above, having an external wall with the window, escape door, mechanical and engineering works allow for ease of maintenance; it also allows for natural light into the kitchen. Natural light is source of vitamin D and very important source of light in the kitchen, as it creates ambiance and warmth. Therefore, when planning your space, make sure you take this into consideration. In taking this into consideration, you have to know where your kitchen window is facing; the east or west. If facing the east, it means as the sun rises, while doing dishes or prepping food in the mornings, you get direct sunlight into your face, and when your window is facing the west, the same thing happens in the evenings as the sun sets. You might say a window blind should do the trick, yes, but it means you are denying yourself a source of natural light that is very good for your well being. To solve this problem, you may have your window facing the north or south, simply plan for two external walls with windows, or take your prep and sink to another part of the kitchen.
6. Budget – Taking all the factors above into consideration is not enough, as having a dream and well planned kitchen is still steps away. The amount of disposable income available for making your dream kitchen a reality is very vital. It determines what you get at the end of the planning process. What you desire and what you get is a factor of your available resources. The different elements/materials that make up the kitchen will be considered based on their level of importance and how they affect every other thing that make up the kitchen eventually. Each and every one of these elements/materials is as importance as the next like the different parts that make up the gear system, no matter how big or small.

I just thought of those who might be reading this and telling themselves; I know all these details, why should I bother myself reading this article, when I have gotten enough ideas from different magazines and catalogues, or saying I can go the DIY lane…please think again. Even if you have know what you want and have seen quite a number of magazines and catalogues, that is good, but never enough to meet your requirements of a dream kitchen. The first thing you should know is that, whatever it is you have seen, it is never possible to replicate it in your own space.

Pick up ideas, yes! But trying to replicate kitchens you have seen somewhere; at a friend’s or relatives’ home or in a magazine, can be banal and very boring if you ask me. Your kitchen should reflect your lifestyle, suitable for your family size, accommodate your cooking needs, have decorations that compliment your house architecture, and above all fall within your means (budget). Your kitchen is yours, whatever you have seen belongs to others.

To make your dream kitchen come to reality therefore, take whatever you know, and ideas you have gotten from different media to a professional who will factor every other thing mentioned above into your space, as he/she plans your dream kitchen. In doing this, be sure you are talking to the right person, or you have seen what he/she has done before, or you get him/her through referrals.

Furtherance to this, I shall be discussing kitchen layouts. Thank you and stay tuned.

Getting Started 2

This is a sequel to the first part of the post "Getting Started".The arrangement and the form the kitchen takes is govern by the kitchen work triangle, or the work / activities zoning.

The space available for the kitchen is a very important factor upon which every other factors and characteristics are dependent. If you cannot do anything about the space, with respect to making it much bigger, not to worry, with proper planning and use of the most appropriate components, you can still have a functional kitchen for your home.

As discussed above, the work triangle or work / activity zoning is very vital when planning a kitchen. With this, the three most important work-points (cooking, cleaning & cold storage), are put at different points to form a triangle. The walking distance from one point to the other should not be more than 4 feet, making it possible to have these three vital points not too far apart. It actually allows for easy and convenient movement from one point to the other. Though it is called a work triangle, it’s only a rule of thumb, wherever the space can allow it. In some cases, where your space may not allow for these three points to form a triangle, make the appropriate points the most suitable; they may all be on a straight line, as in a single gallery kitchen.

With activities in the kitchen going way beyond the traditional three to include others mentioned above, the work triangle as discussed earlier cannot effectively take care of these other activities. This brings us the concept of zoning work / activities within the kitchen. It follows the same principle as in the work triangle, only that we have more work / activities to allocate to different parts of the kitchen.

In fairly large kitchens, zoning of work / activities in the kitchen makes live very easy for the user. The stress of having to cover some distance within your kitchen is removed. With zoning, activities can take place in different parts of the kitchen, with some being duplicated to allow for two or more people to work in there at the same time. For instance, after having your three vital points at the traditional places, you can still have all three points on your island or peninsula, this allows you to work on the island while entertaining some guests, some other person do dishes in the cleaning zone, and your kids can be having fun in the children’s play area you have created.

In an average size kitchen, where there is room for a kitchen island or peninsula, in addition to the three vital points, dining, home office, entertainment and even children’s play area can be zoned to the island, serving as a multi – functional zone. With these at back our mind, we can now proceed to the characteristics and form the kitchen takes (kitchen layouts) depending on the available space.

Stay tuned for the more...