The sink, trash and dishwasher have an important linear relationship. The design of a kitchen should take the sequence of meal cleanup into consideration. Most households clear, rinse and place dishes into the dishwasher in that order. Subsequently, the kitchen design should locate the trash, sink and dishwasher in a linear order with the trash being closest to the dining room table (or breakfast nook).

Kitchen ergonomics should address more than just cooking. How the home owners enter the home and unload their groceries is an important, and often overlooked, design consideration. Locating the refrigerator and pantry near the entry of the kitchen (and preferably near some countertop) makes a kitchen work much more smoothly in general.

Kitchens are complicated design puzzles and while we don’t always hit all 5 of these principles with each kitchen, all 5 play an important role in the design process. The kitchen designs below show a range of possibilities all using these 5 principles as a departure point.

Magnolia Kitchen

Work Triangle: 25’

Materials: Quarter-sawn walnut veneer cabinets with Blum hardware and Dekkor 18000 Wide Pedestal D series pulls. Kashmir White granite countertops w/ non-directional stainless steel backsplash and Kohler Riverby sink. Solid oak floors w/ light gray stain.

Appliances: Sub-Zero built-in refrigerator, Wolf 6-burner cooktop, Vent-a-hood, KitchenAid wall