Kitchen Layout Guide: The Work Triangle, Layout Types and Clearances
Kitchens are the most expensive room in the house to change, so they're worth planning carefully on screen first. This guide covers the principles kitchen designers use and how to check them in your own space.
The work triangle
The classic work triangle connects the three places you go to most: the sink, the cooktop and the fridge. The widely used guideline is:
- Each side of the triangle should be between about 1.2 m and 2.7 m (4–9 ft).
- The three sides should add up to between about 4 m and 7.9 m (13–26 ft).
- No major walkway should cut through the triangle, and nothing taller than the bench (like a tall pantry) should block a side.
Too small and two people bump into each other. Too large and you're walking laps carrying hot pans. Many modern kitchens think in zones instead (prep, cooking, cleaning, storage), but the triangle is still a useful sanity check.
The six common layouts
One-wall (single-line)
Everything along one wall. It suits studios and narrow rooms. Put the sink in the middle with the fridge and cooktop at either end, and aim for at least 2.4 m of run. There's no true triangle, so keep the run under about 4.5 m.
Galley (parallel)
Two facing runs. It's very efficient for one cook. Keep the aisle at 1,000–1,200 mm and put the sink and cooktop on opposite sides, slightly offset, so the triangle is a narrow one.
L-shaped
Two adjoining walls. It's flexible and works well in open-plan rooms. Keep the corner for storage (a blind corner or carousel) rather than an appliance.
U-shaped
Three walls. It gives you the most bench and storage, but it needs at least about 2.4 m between the facing runs to be comfortable. Narrower than that and it becomes a cramped galley with a dead end.
Island
An L or one-wall layout plus a freestanding island. It needs a room at least about 3.6 m wide for a modest island with proper aisles on both sides.
Peninsula
Like an island but attached at one end. It's a good compromise where an island won't fit, and it gives you a breakfast bar.
Key dimensions
| Element | Typical size |
|---|---|
| Benchtop height | 900 mm (36 in) is common; adjust to the cook's height (roughly elbow height minus 100–150 mm) |
| Base cabinet depth | 580–600 mm, with the benchtop 600–650 mm deep |
| Wall cabinet depth | 300–350 mm |
| Gap between bench and wall cabinets | 450–600 mm; check your rangehood's minimum height above the cooktop |
| Aisle, one cook | 1,000–1,100 mm |
| Aisle, two cooks / behind seating | 1,200 mm or more |
| Island minimum | about 1,200 × 600 mm; 900 mm+ deep if people sit at it |
| Breakfast-bar seat | about 600 mm of width per stool, plus 300–400 mm of knee overhang |
Landing space
"Landing space" is clear bench next to each appliance, where you put things down. Good targets:
- Beside the fridge (handle side): about 400 mm, for unloading groceries.
- Either side of the cooktop: 300–400 mm minimum on one side and more on the other. Never put a cooktop right at the end of a run or against a tall cupboard.
- Either side of the sink: 600 mm on one side for dirty dishes and 450 mm on the other for the drying rack.
Check the doors
Lay out the appliances in the plan and imagine every door open at once: dishwasher, oven, fridge, corner cupboard. A dishwasher right next to the sink is ideal, but it shouldn't sit at 90° to a drawer stack so that one blocks the other. A fridge in a corner needs about 100 mm of side clearance on the hinge side for the door to open past 90° and let the crisper drawers out.
Plan your kitchen in the browser
Load the Kitchen sample and resize the room to match yours. The Furniture tab's kitchen category has a fridge, stove, sink, dishwasher, island and cabinets at realistic sizes. Use Floor Plan view to measure your work triangle with the arrow-key nudge (each press moves 0.1 m), then orbit around in 3D to check sight lines from the living area.
Try this in 3D: Open the Kitchen sample