Planning the kitchen in your new home or working on a complete remodel of your kitchen? The idea of the “kitchen work triangle” is something you may want to keep in mind. It is a researched and applied ergonomic principle that is the centerpiece of many kitchen layouts. The goals of a good kitchen work triangle are to place the three most common work sites the most efficient distance apart and to minimize traffic through the work zone.

In a traditional kitchen the three main work sites are the:

• Refrigerator – the cold storage work site
• Sink – the cleaning/preparation work site
• Cooking appliance – the cooking work site

These represent the three points of the kitchen work triangle. The idea is that if you place these too far away from each other you waste a lot of steps while preparing a meal. If they are too close to each other you feel cramped.

Kitchen Work Triangle Basics

• Each leg of the triangle should be between 4 and 9 feet
• The total of all three legs should be between 12 and 26 feet
• No obstructions (cabinets, islands, etc.) should intersect a leg of the work triangle
• Household traffic should not flow through the work triangle