The working triangle is an age old belief associated with the layout of your kitchen design and it is as relevant today as it was when it was first introduced years ago. It refers to a specific zone within the room; it is within this zone that the principal activity takes place. It involves the preparation, cooking and cleaning that takes place on a daily basis, which is why it is important that you arrange key appliances in conjunction with this layout, so what exactly is included in it?

There are three major appliances that make up this triangle; these are your cooker, sink and refrigerator. However recently this theory has been expanded and other items have been included such as the dishwasher or microwave because, to some people, it is appliances such as these that are considered to be the most used, however the true intent of the triangle is to include the cooker, sink and refrigerator. As well as ensuring that these three items are placed next to each other, it is also important you take on board what should be placed next to them. For example you need to have a work surface either side of the cooker to compensate for aspects such as handles that may stick out from pots and frying pans etc. Also having work surfaces either side means you can easily prepare food for cooking. A similar thing can be said for your sink area. You need to ensure there is a sufficient drainage area for items after they have been washed. All of these aspects help to make up the most important part of this room.

kitchens are considered to be the heart of your home so you need to ensure it is designed to your needs, meaning space is an important concept of it. You need to ensure that you have room for essential items, all of which should fit around the placement of your cooker, refrigerator and sink. The working triangle not only refers to the specific items that need to be placed here but also to the distance that should be kept between such items. Each of these items is a main focus of the room in its own right so when laid out correctly you should be left with a room that has the most effective preparation area. You should ensure that when you are placing said items into the room that you keep the number of steps taken between each focal point to a minimum. Basically, in any size kitchen the distance present between the sink, cooker and refrigerator shouldn’t be more than 27 foot, however on the same note it shouldn’t be any smaller than 12 foot. Keeping within these measurements gives you just enough space to use your kitchen sufficiently.

In any kitchen remodel this working triangle needs to be at the forefront of your mind. You need to plan the layout of it so that regardless of who is using the kitchen they are able to move uninterrupted between these three main points. Just make sure that you don’t leave this theory out of your planning as you could end up with a kitchen that is not very user friendly at all.