Planning a kitchen

Island on a river Cabinetry


Before the Kitchen

The following are my ideas of how to design a kitchen. They are intended to reduce feelings of being cramped, fatigued or vague uneasiness. Sometimes you have to work with what you have and recommendations are out the window.
Measure the outside of the kitchen and pencil it in using graph paper.
If there are going to be changes to the outline of your kitchen moved walls, doors, and windows correct your drawing to indicate your final kitchen layout. If your kitchen is small you may be able to use four squares to represent a foot. If it is large two squares may be used. If your kitchen is still to large for the paper it’s very large for one person and will be tiring to make full use of (or your paper is to small).
Now take note of where the doors and windows are, measure, and pencil them in. It may be wise to make the kitchen outline in dark ink on a paper you can copy, keep the original, and add details to the copies. All walkways should be at least three feet wide this includes walk ways between islands and cabinets. Doorways should be thirty-two inches across. Keep in mind your cabinets, especially corner cabinets, need to pass through your doorways. If you are building the kitchen yourself or can afford real custom work you can build angled cabinets to fill in some of the dead spaces (don’t over do it). Make sure that you can get your refrigerator and stove in and out.
If you work in your kitchen these things are as important as, or even more so than the fronts.
The placement of the stove, refrigerator, and sink are known as the work triangle. The points of the work triangle, where the appliances are, should be close enough to cross in a couple of steps. If your appliances are too far apart, it will be tiring and unpleasant to work in your kitchen. 12’ is the maximum distance I recommend for a leg of the work triangle, closer is better. If there is an island the extra steps to get around it should be taken into account when counting the distance between points. If you have a very large kitchen, a normal sized work triangle can reduce your shoe bill. Food preparation areas can be shared between appliances.
Refrigerators should have a countertop, even a small one, for grocery bags on the handle side. Or the refrigerator could be within three feet of an island or another place to set the groceries. If you have a refrigerator with only one door the handle should be facing the inside of the triangle so that when it’s open, the refrigerator will be easier to get into. Most refrigerator handles and hinges are reversible. Tupperware and plastic wrap should be stored near the refrigerator, to encourage saving leftovers.
Stoves need space for preparing meals on at least one side. Spices, cutting boards, hot pads, and kitchen utensils are usually placed near the stove. Make sure you have a place for the cutting boards they don’t always fit in a typical base. Usually a drawer or two are used for the utensils. At the minimum the stove should be a foot away from walls and pantries so you have a little elbow room. This space will greatly reduce the risk of fire. Speaking of fire, baking soda should always be near the stove to put out grease fires (never water!) Spices need to be near the stove and microwave. A countertop or an upper cabinet is usually used for spices. Pans can be in a cupboard close by or (depending on your pans) might look nice in a rack over an island.
Sinks should have counter space on both sides for sorting pots and pans, and prep work. Like the stove the sink needs elbow room on each side. It is usually centered under a window taking advantage of natural sunlight. One way to take advantage of natural sunlight in the winter is a deep window ledge for an herb garden. A skylight especially over an island can really bring in the sun and all of it’s benefits. If you live in an extremely hot area you may not want to be by the window. Some people make an opening between the kitchen and whatever room they entertain company in and face the sink and stove toward the opening. Or, perhaps you could place one in an island. Glasses are usually near the sink, encouraging you and yours to drink water (if it‘s drinkable). If the water isn’t drinkable glasses could be by the refrigerator or where you have filtered water. Soaps and detergents also need to be near, usually under, the sink. The garbage is usually near the sink and forms a grouping with the dishwasher. Some people use garbage disposals. If you have a well and septic they are a bad idea. Grease is not good for septic systems.
Silverware and plates should be near where food leaves the kitchen and will need plenty of storage.
New additions (less than a century) to kitchens are the microwave and the dishwasher. Yes some of these formulas have been around a long time but they still work. (Maybe it should be a work star now.)
Microwaves need an area for food preparation. Microwave proof dishes, serving dishes, hot pads and racks should be readily available. Microwaves are often used to thaw or warm food for a meal and are in use at the same time as the stove. Therefore, they should be close to each other but have enough work surface for each. Many microwaves have a vent fan under them and are installed over the stove freeing up counter space. I worry about spilling scalding hot food on me or a little helper. Therefore counter space is sacrificed.
Dishwashers should be by the sink, right? Dishwashers can be anywhere. Perhaps if you put it near the dinning room everyone will put their dishes into it (right?). Some new kitchens (especially for bachelors) actually have two dishwashers, sacrificing storage space for convenience. One dishwasher is in the process of being loaded while the other is being washed or full of clean dishes. This allows no excuses for not loading your own dishes. Realistically dishes are usually scraped into the garbage and rinsed in the sink or over the garbage disposal before being loaded into the dishwasher.
Lighting is important for more than just seeing. Sunlight sanitizes and affects your mood. Unfortunately sunlight is only here for part of the day. A full spectrum light over the sink can make a dreary chore into time alone. Under cabinet lights can help keep your work stations bright and inviting. Unfortunately no one reaches under the cabinet to turn them on. Installing a switch by the main switch to turn on and off outlets near the bottom of the upper cabinets is a wise choice.
The steam from coffee, tea and crock pots can penetrate almost any finish and will damage cabinets above them. If possible don’t use them under an upper cabinet. If you pull them forward to get them out from under the cabinets they could tip over the edge, especially if you have little children. If necessary use them on the stove. Heat from some countertop appliances can damage your countertops. You can check your appliances by using them and then holding your hand on the place they were. If it’s very hot you have a problem. Just because your old top stood up to the abuse doesn’t mean this one will. Use something under that appliance.
Now is the time to decide if you are going to build your own kitchen, have it custom built, buy off from the shelf, or buy from a cabinet store. The style is less important to me than it probably is to you. And that is all I have to say on the matter. (For now)
The large cabinet store or custom built cabinets are the most expensive places to get your kitchen. They also have the most service measuring in your home, personal attention, answering questions and having displays of the cabinets you may like. Before you take the time to design your kitchen make sure that you can get a dimensioned layout not just a bird’s eye view when you go home. Having your kitchen quoted this way you can compare apples to apples. Take pictures of the cabinet doors and all of the other details you like. Have the pictures blown up at Walmart. 8x10s cost about two and a half dollars. Tape your pictures up in your kitchen for a couple of days. Building a kitchen is a large undertaking. Take the time to do it right.
Off the shelf cabinets are usually the poorest quality.
Building your own kitchen can create the worst possible or the best quality depending on the amount of work and attention to detail you are willing to put into them. Buying components and having readily available advice is very helpful and still much less expensive than all but the poorest quality cabinets.
No matter what you decide to do there will be setbacks, delays, and extra expenses. I usually count on being 10% over budget and I’m a pro (this is in my estimate and will not be passed on no matter how much I‘m over budget). If you decide to build your own kitchen there are several ways to build cabinets. You can buy all of the raw materials and tools, find a place to use them, learn how to use them properly and build your dream kitchen (extremely rewarding but exhausting). I will gladly consult on your project using my resources and know how to save you time and money. You will spend more on tools and mistakes this way than if you bought the detailed parts. But you will have the tools when you are done. Or you can cut down on the work load buying all the parts, having the box parts cut for you, and finished by a professional. This option is still less expensive than having a custom shop do it all. Please have your kitchen priced out several ways and you will learn how much money you can realistically save.
Most people should do something in the middle. They should make the boxes, buy the components, finish the cabinets, and install the boxes and components themselves. For beginners, installing countertops is a little to much responsibility. Countertops are a large expensive part of the project and should only cost a couple of hundred dollars to have installed. If the job is going well, perhaps you are just a natural, it’s up to you.
You probably have a good idea for your layout by now. I would still have it looked at by a cabinet store, friends, and/or a contractor. Don’t feel bad about using a cabinet shop for design work. Tell them what you are doing you may get a 5 star deal, take it. If not you still need their services. Perhaps you will buy the countertops from them. Countertop prices vary a lot for the exact same tops, shop around.
Component is a fancy name for parts. I custom build doors, drawers, drawer fronts, and face frames. I’m teaching my daughter at the same time as I teach you.
There are only a couple of types of cabinets, base, upper, pantry, bank of drawers, angled, corner, glass, mobile, and the appliance garage.
Base cabinets are the cabinets that the countertops sit on.
They have a bottom, sides, a back and blocks at the top to screw the countertops to. Most base cabinets are not stained on the inside but they must be finished before they would enter my house. All parts inside and outsides of your cabinets should be finished for maximum life. Even particle board (please don’t use any) needs some type of finish if you don‘t want it to sag. Bases may contain drawers, shelves, pull out shelves, a tip out sink tray, a garbage pull out, a can and bottle returnable bin, and recycle bins. Most base cabinets have drawers along the top edge. The drawers should not be more than 30” wide or they may become unstable. There are other reasons drawers could become unstable such as cheep drawer glides or sides that are not parallel.
Corner cabinets can have a Lazy Susan, a spinning shelf. There are more add on parts for cabinets than I can keep track of. Remember you will be living with this stuff for a long time, make sure it’s good quality and you want it or can be taken out without damaging your cabinets.
Upper cabinets are the normal cabinets that are above the countertops. They have a back, sides, and a top and bottom. Upper cabinets carry a surprising amount of weight. Therefore a strong back is a must. Ask about the back of the cabinets. Are they only a ¼” thick? A stack of dishes is probably heavier than all of your pots and pans (unless you use cast iron). Upper cabinets can be stained inside or not. If not, stain the frames before you attach them. Glass doors are usually in upper or pantry cabinets. The inside of these cabinets should be finished the same as the fronts or have mirror inside them. Some upper cabinets have shelves that slide out of the cabinet and then pull down. I have installed some of these and people (old and infirm) liked them. Unfortunately they take up a lot of space, are a little shaky, are quite expensive and therefore not practical for most people.
Pantry cabinets have huge amounts of usable space. Unfortunately they can make a small kitchen feel smaller. They more than double the storage space of base and upper cabinets taking up the same area. This is a popular place to put pull out shelves. Remember if you install a pantry you will loose countertop space.
Angled corner cabinets look fancy, are easier to make than they look, and can solve several problems. One is a corner that is not the same on both sides, or it could be a door which is to close to the wall for a normal cabinet to fit. Often corner cabinets are used to continue the feel of the kitchen into an adjoining room. Unfortunately if you buy one of these expect to pay a lot. Crown molding on odd angle corner cabinets can be very difficult to get right.
Mobile cabinets are on wheels. These cabinets are used in large kitchens to bring countertop to the main appliances. They may roll under a cabinet conserving floor space or be a free range cabinet rolling as the wind takes it. Often they have a butcher block top. Very few people use this type of cabinet. I use them in my shop and have always been intrigued by the idea for a kitchen.
A bank of drawers has drawers all the way down the front of a base cabinet. Most kitchens have at least one bank of drawers.
Appliance garages are loved or hated. If used for their intended purpose they’re fine. If garages are unused or filled and buried they are appliance garbages. If you are going to put an appliance garage in, scribe the separate cabinet to the countertops not the countertops to the cabinet. Paint the area behind the garage the same as the walls before you install the cabinet. If you don’t like it you can remove it without damaging your kitchen.
Now is the time to consider what look you want. I don’t recommend the picture frame style of door. Miter joints are asking for trouble near water and they don‘t have the gluing surface that style and rail construction does. End grain doesn’t except glue very well and they can come apart. I don’t even make them. Tendons have cross grain which accepts glue better. Flat solid wood doors are worse. Contraction and expansion not to mention splitting during the changes between winter and summer months can be a hair puller. I like raised panel or flat panel doors. Wood moves in one direction, the width. On a raised panel door the frame boards have little width and can’t expand very much. The style and rails use up some of the width the door takes up therefore the solid center is 4 or 5 inches smaller. The panel is smaller than the slot cut into the frame and therefore can float, expanding and contracting as it pleases. This preserves the size of the door. The panel is also held flat by the outside frame. Drawer fronts can be panel and frame construction as well. Usually except for the very large drawer fronts, panel and frame construction isn’t necessary.
The best drawers are dovetailed solid wood. Some people argue that dovetailed Baltic birch plywood is more stable and therefore better. There are other ways to build drawers. A plywood and pocket screwed drawer is an inexpensive option. I’ve never had a pocket hole drawer come apart under normal use.
What type of wood do you want? There are hundreds probably thousands of types of wood. Only a few are used to make cabinets in the States. Red and white oak, poplar, mahogany, birch, maple, pine, aspen, cedar, hickory, cherry, teak, elm, and walnut are the most popular types of wood.
This is the advice I give anyone who will listen. I hope you found one thing helpful.