Kitchen Essential

Sinks and Taps

Essentials like sinks and taps are such an integral part of the kitchen that it’s easy to forget what a variety there is to choose from.

Old-fashioned porcelain butler’s sinks (the deep rectangular tanks that have been turned into so many container gardens over the years!) are still very appealing for country-style kitchens. The disadvantage with traditional installations was that the join between sink and adjacent wooden draining board was difficult to seal, allowing water and waste to get into the gap. If you’re buying a new butler’s sink, look for a design with an edge that overlaps the worktop, to avoid this problem. Continue Reading »

These examples will show you some different ways in which efficient planning of kitchen zones can be put into practice.

This L-shaped kitchen (left) illustrates the way the work triangle of sink/cooker/refrigerator has been adapted to the needs of the family as well asthe constraints of the room itself. The workflow sequence is not perfect, but it does make sense. Perfection would have demanded costly major structural work not essential to safety and efficiency.

The U-shaped kitchen/living room (below) illustrates the way in which the utility, eating and working kitchen areas have been created. Within the working kitchen are the six zones: food storage, preparation, cooking, serving, dishwashing, crockery storage. In this case, as the fridge is close to both the working kitchen and the eating area, the food store is not in the ideal position. However, the needs of the whole family have to be balanced against the needs of the cook, and this is an acceptable compromise. Continue Reading »

Serving

As long as there is sufficient work surface beside the hob, the oven or the free-standing cooker on which to put plates and serving dishes, there should be few problems.

Within the serving area there should be convenient storage for oven gloves, serving spoons, plates and serving dishes.

Dishwashing

This is often a part of the preparation area. However, if the kitchen is large enough, it may be worth considering a separate dishwashing zone, close to the eating area. This zone will accommodate the waste disposal unit or a rubbish bin and, ideally, a dishwasher. Twin sinks should be large enough to hold a grill pan.

The hob should be linked by a worktop to the sink. It should also have ample work surfaces on both sides of it. Kettle, tea, coffee, cups and saucers are best kept close to the sink. Toasters should be on a work surface or shelf near to the bread. Deep drawers for bread storage are preferable to bins on the work surface. Continue Reading »

When someone is busy cooking in the kitchen, the instinctive urge for visitors or bystanders is to want to have a taste. Eating food where it is prepared is a traditional, and very comforting thing to do. In prehistoric times it was the norm. There was no special room for eating, nor was there co-ordinated linens, crockery and cutlery! Raw materials were simply hunted, harvested or gathered, then roughly skinned, chopped or ground with simple implements. Cooking, where applicable, was over an open fire and eating was a communal process vital to survival.

Historically, cooking and eating habits have refined and continually changed over generations and according to the structure of the social system. Formal dining rooms were associated with privileged sectors of the community — those who had servants to scrub, clean and polish their homes and possessions. Continue Reading »

This young couple have one child and the possibility of more to come. In this first home, with a limited budget, they wished to spend it as wisely as possible. First priority is the working kitchen, which must be efficient, safe and as timeless as possible. They could not afford it to look old fashioned within a few years.

Sensibly, the washing machine and a sink were plumbed in the garage where the central-heating boiler had already been installed to allow more space in the kitchen. The fridge/freezer, fronted by decor panels to match the units, was placed next to the garden door. Adjoining this is the gas double oven. Base and wall units link up to the double-bowl, round red enamel sinks under the window. Continuing round the kitchen, units link up to the matching red gas hob with an extractor fan above. Base units continue fromthe hob up to the peninsular breakfast bar — also a useful extra work surface. To make use of the end of the wall unit (see picture left) a midway unit, normally wall mounted between worktop and cupboard above, was fitted to hold cruet, jam, sugar and so on in handy reach of those using the breakfast bar. Continue Reading »

Probably one of the greatest needs when improving kitchens is to create more space by repositioning walls, doors, windows and demolishing cupboards. The objective is to achieve more usable space without going to the expense of building an extension. These examples illustrate ways of achieving this end.

Window into doors

When this young couple wrote to Ideal Home magazine for advice on their kitchen, their first child was expected. The house, built in the 1920s, had a very large kitchen with windows overlooking the garden; a large walk-in larder and a big utility room. In fact the house was featured in the magazine during the 1930s.

An interior designer herself, the owner only needed a kitchen planning expert to provide the key to spark off her own creative ideas to revamp the kitchen. In this case, the key was to convert an existing window overlooking the garden into French doors, in order to give easy and safe access into the garden for the future family. Continue Reading »

Two large walk-in store cupboards dominated one end of this kitchen. The wife of the family is a sculptor and spends very little time cooking. But after many years of making-do she felt a complete change was necessary.

The family consisted of parents and two grown up children and a cat. Their dining room was used as a study, so they wanted to eat and entertain in the kitchen. With good natural light from the window overlooking a garden full of sculptures, the potential was great.

At the opposite end of the kitchen to the walk- in store cupboards, another two cupboards housed the washing machine and central-heating boiler. Continue Reading »

When this family of four moved into their new house in a fashionable part of London, they had no idea of how difficult it would be to fit the kitchen.

The room had a window, a deep recess and five doors which left no walls for fixing base and wall units. One of the doors led to a pantry, broom store, box room and WC. It was decided that the only way they could have an efficient kitchen and informal dining area was to demolish this cluster of small rooms, revealing a long narrow area — ideal for an efficient workflow. The family consisted of parents, two children, an au pair and a dog. The cellar housed their laundry equipment and boiler.

Space is put to far better use when the run of units is unbroken by doors and windows. Efficiency and a good workflow are easier to achieve: this new kitchen is a perfect example of a U-shaped arrangement . Continue Reading »

Restoration

This Hertfordshire residence, built in the 1920s, is a relic of a gracious era. It comprised two large reception rooms, large airy hall, butler’s pantry, morning room, huge larder, kitchen and laundry room.

The family who moved into this house were parents and two pre-teenage children. Cooking and entertaining, as well as growing her own fruit and vegetables for freezing or preserving are this housewife’s relaxation. She is also a keen junk shop addict — spotting objects that anyone else would reject. She then lovingly restores them not merely to their former glory, but improves on the original.

While she could see the potential of the house, she could not visualise the kitchen area with its maze of cupboards and rooms. As a designer it is necessary to find out how the kitchen would be used and what the family’s requirements are before producing a plan. During our discussions it became clear that cooking was a major part of the activities. The wife cooked not because it was expected of her, but because she truly enjoyed it. She seemed cut out for an Aga cooker, and once it was explained to her just what an Aga was about, she couldn’t wait to try it. The gas- fired Aga is on continuously, heats the water in the kitchen and cloakroom and warms the kitchen. Once this was agreed, the plan for the kitchen seemed to fall into place. Continue Reading »

The busiest area in the kitchen (called the ‘work triangle’ by the experts) is around the sink,fridge and stove. Position these units close to each other, with work surfaces next to them. Doors should not interfere with the safe operation of appliances, nor should appliance doors interfere with one another.

No major traffic patterns should cross through the basic work triangle. Put tall cabinets outside the work triangle. The food preparation area should be between the sink and the stove, linked by a long work surface. The most important distance is between the sink and the hob as this is the most frequently trodden path. Continue Reading »