Apartments

Kitchen Work Zones for Apartments

Arrange preparation, cooking and washing around the way meals are actually made, including more than one cook.

Explore the ideas
Straight kitchen with sage base cabinets, white wall units and under-cabinet lighting
Kitchen inspiration: a single-wall arrangement with task lighting.

Plan in this order

  1. Map the route from food storage to preparation, cooking and serving.
  2. Keep landing surfaces beside the appliances and sink that need them.
  3. Test two people working at once and remove crossing paths where possible.
Worked example

Two cooks make breakfast together, but one must cross behind the other to reach the refrigerator.

Map the actual food-to-prep-to-cook sequence and move the most-used ingredients closer to prep, leaving a separate pass-through.

How to test it

Rehearse a typical meal with cabinet doors and appliance fronts open.

Apply it to this space
Layout
Keep sink, hob and refrigerator on a workable run; place the dining edge outside the main prep aisle.
Detail
Use wipeable backsplash and task light over counters, with enclosed bins near cleanup.
Trade-off
More tall storage can reduce daylight and make a narrow galley feel closed.
  • Measure shaft, appliance and door clearances
  • Check counter light and exhaust path
White L-shaped kitchen with gold-tone handles, under-cabinet lighting and a chimney
Kitchen inspiration: an L-shaped work surface and integrated lighting.

The Elixir portfolio

Details worth a closer look

Photographs for design inspiration
Parallel kitchen with teal cabinets, a pale backsplash and profile lighting
Kitchen inspiration: two opposing work runs in a compact plan.
L-shaped kitchen with pale green lower cabinets, white upper cabinets and a tiled backsplash
Kitchen inspiration: a light palette and continuous counter run.

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