Small homes and studios

Kitchen Work Zones for Small homes and studios

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
Group cooking and cleanup together and reserve a clear landing surface beside the refrigerator.
Detail
Use compact, full-extension drawers and continuous under-cabinet task light.
Trade-off
Open shelves make a small kitchen feel lighter but expose visual clutter.
  • Measure appliance doors when open
  • Check counter landing space and task light
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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