Kitchen
Basics
Planning and trends
Kitchens are...
• Considered the
control center
• most lived in room
of the house
• most often
remodeled
• strong selling
feature
• 10% of the value
of the home
• remodeling cost
20,000 - 80,000
History of the Kitchen
• Open fire throughout most of history within living spaces - later
moved to separate buildings used by slaves/servants
• 1740's Franklin Stove was invented (wood and/or coal)
• 1834 Oberlin Stove
• 1843 Catharine Beecher wrote "A Treatise on Domestic Economy"
which discussed how to design an efficient kitchen.
• 1880 first gas stoves used. Also water, sewer and gas pipes.
• 1893 electric stove introduced but not used until 1930's
• 1912 Christine Frederick believed in Taylorism, a theory of
management that analyzed and synthesized workflows (time and
motion studies). Its main objective was improving economic
efficiency, especially labor productivity.
Frankfurt Kitchen
• 1926 First "Fitted Kitchen" designed by
Margarete Lihotzky known as the Frankfurt
Kitchen, which was the prototype of the
built-in kitchen now prevalent in the
western world. Based on the scientific
research by U.S. management expert
Frederick Winslow Taylor and her own
research, Lihotzky used a railroad dining
car kitchen as her model to design a
"housewife's laboratory" using a minimum
of space but offering a maximum of comfort
and equipment to the working mother. The
Frankfurt City Council eventually installed
10,000 of her mass-produced,
prefabricated kitchens in newly-built
working-class apartments
Poggenpohl
Kitchens
• German cabinet manufacturer
founded in 1892 focused on
kitchen furniture
• 1923 the "Ideal" kitchen cabinet
• 1928 "Reform Kitchen"
Interconnecting cabinets with
functional interiors
The Modern Kitchen
• Mass produced cabinets during WWII
• Formica countertops
• 1940's saw trend in small and large
electrified appliances such as
blenders, toasters, mixers and
refrigerators and electric ovens.
• 1944 University of Illinois formed the
Building Research Council with the
goal of incorporating state of the art
technology into home building. The
concept of the kitchen work triangle
was developed in the 1950's.
When planning a kitchen….
• Build cabinets to
fit the cook
• 36” high
standard
• 24” deep
standard
• 3”
increments
• Build shelves to
fit the supplies
• Understand
anthropometrics
Reach Limits
Four Kitchen Layouts
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One Wall (pullman or strip)
Corridor ( galley)
L- shaped
U-shaped
Work Centers
• Primary work centers
• Cook Center
• Refrigerator Center
• Sink Center
• Secondary work center
• Mix center
• Serving center
Work Triangle
• Developed in the 1950’s
• used to evaluate the efficiency of a
kitchen plan.
• A line is drawn from the center of the
sink to the center of the cooking surface
to the center of the refrigerator and then
back to the sink.
• These points are the three major
centers of activity.
• Today’s kitchens often have more than
one triangle
Planning Guidelines
• http://starcraftcustombuilders.com/kitchen.desi
gn.rules.htm
Doorway and walkway clearances
Doorways should be at
least 32” wide and not
more than 24” deep in the
direction of travel.
Walkways (passages between
vertical objects greater than 24”
deep in the direction of travel,
where not more than one is a
work counter or appliance)
should be at least 36” wide.
Work aisles clearances
Work aisles (passages between vertical objects, both of which are work
counters or appliances) should be at least 42” wide in one-cook
kitchens, at least 48” in multiple cook kitchens.
Work triangle
The work triangle should total 26’ or less with no single leg of the triangle
shorter than 4’ nor longer than 9’. The work triangle should not intersect an
island or peninsula by more than 12”. The triangle is the shortest walking
distance between the refrigerator, primary food preparation sink and
primary cooking surface, measured from the center front of each
appliance.
Traffic flow should not go through work triangle
Avoid door interference
Dishwasher placement
Kitchen Trends
Storage
Appliances
Styles
Cabinetry / Storage / Accessories
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Lazy-Susans
Drawer inserts
Pantry
Tilt-out drawers at sinks
Roll-out shelves
Tray dividers for baking sheets
Recycling/pull out waste baskets
Spice Racks
Storage designed to fit the user
Tall towers are used to anchor the end of cabinet run. Towers can
include drawers below and tray dividers above the built-in appliances.
 Pull out cutting boards
 Sink tilt-out
 Spice racks
 Plate racks
 Pull out waste bins
Accessible pantry designed for easy access.
Counter tops, Sinks and Faucets
• Granite, Concrete, Solid
Surface
• Stainless counters, tile and
laminate
• Farmhouse sinks (apron fronts)
• Solid surface sinks
• Three “bowl” sink
• Wall mounted faucets
• Pot fillers
• Faucets “all- in- one” sprayer
Granite is most popular counter top with an undercount sink. These
sinks are easy to wipe off crumbs into the sink because there is no
raised edges.
Solid surfaces create a seamless and contemporary look.
Concrete Countertops are unique and can be personalized.
Concrete counter tops with integral sinks.
Copper farmhouse sinks are very popular and expensive.
Pot fillers increase functionality.
Touch control faucets
Teak sinks are a beautiful solution for a clean,
contemporary kitchen.
Appliances
Appliance Trends
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Refrigerator drawers
Sinks that are dishwashers
Dishwasher drawers
Refrigerators with internet access
Bright colored appliances (Red,
Blue, Yellow)
• Wine chillers
• Ovens with side opening doors
• Ovens that cool and operate via
phone app
Wine coolers
Espresso machines
Dishwashing drawers
Wood panel appliance doors
Wine racks
Warming drawers
Lighted cabinets
New Appliances and trends
Kitchen Styles
• Contemporary
• Transitional
• Traditional
Contemporary
Contemporary
Transitional
Traditional