By
Elisabeth Onuoha
Planning
a kitchen is much more than just placing a state of the art cooker,
refrigerator and what have you in the kitchen space. As stated earlier in the
past edition, the needs of the users and number of people in the family must be
taken into consideration.
 |
| L-Shaped Kitchen Design |
When
planning a kitchen, it is important to ensure that the three centers which
comprise the receiving, storage and food preparation and ending with cooking
and serving are placed in a particular sequence to ensure ease of movement
while eliminating wasted movements around the kitchen space. This leads to a
typical layout with refrigerator, sink and cooker in that order spaced out with
work counters and storage between major appliances.
There are
five basic types of kitchen layouts; we have the straight-line layout, the
‘L-Shape’, the ‘U-Plan’, the corridor or parallel plan, and finally the Island
layout. Each of these layouts is unique in its own way and seeks to maximize
space.
The
straight line plan is the most common and perfect for a small kitchen. Here
everything is lined up against one side of the kitchen wall. We have here, the
refrigerator, sink, and cooker all lined up
 |
| U-Shaped Kitchen Design |
with work counters and storage
between them.
The
‘L-Shape plan is as the name suggests. The layout here is like the straight
line but bent at an angle to give it the ‘L’ look. This is mainly to fit the
space available.
The ‘U’
kitchen plan is where the layout of the kitchen is shaped like a typical letter
‘U’.
This is
the most popular and is often recommended. The layout is perfect for one person
working alone who stands within easy reach of the three centers made up of the
refrigerator, sink and cooker. The parallel plan is simply made up of a
straight line cut in two and placed facing each other with an isle in-between
The
island layout
 |
| Parallel Kitchen Design |
is achieved by adding an island to a U layout, or an L layout. It
could be square shaped or round. This layout is suitable for large kitchens
where you have enough space to play around with.
KITCHEN
ELEMENTS AND MATERIALS.
The
beauty of your kitchen is more enhanced by the appliance you decide to equip
your kitchen with. These appliances add to the aesthetics of the kitchen and
make the kitchen inviting. I have been to kitchens where all you have is a
kerosene stove thrown carelessly in one corner and a table holding some plates,
pots and pans. All kitchens may not necessarily have state of the art
appliances, but if you have an eye for beauty and fine details, that kerosene
stove could still be placed in a more beautiful way than just been thrown on a
table.
In
choosing kitchen appliances, the choices are between a built in oven and cooker
into cabinets or a stand alone cookers. Other cooking devices like microwave,
deep fryers, toasters etc serve as auxiliaries to the basic cooker.
