Where Should Your Kitchen Work Triangle Be? 4 Questions To Answer

One of the most important components of a well-designed kitchen is the work triangle. This triangle — composed of the stove, refrigerator, and sink at each of the three points — makes your kitchen comfortable and efficient. 

But where should you place your work triangle? There are many factors to help you decide, but here are a few that you may not have yet considered.

Where Are the Connections?

The work triangle needs water and electricity connections in the right places. Where are your existing outlets and pipes? Have you budgeted for moving any of these? If not, you may be limited in where you can place at least one of the points on the triangle. So plan ahead. 

How Big Is the Triangle?

A good work triangle is compact and straightforward. Make your triangle too large or obtuse, and you'll waste steps, time, and effort to use it. However, it should also be comfortable to maneuver around in. 

Walk around your potential work triangles to get a sense of how comfortable they look and feel. Large kitchens tend to have larger triangles, for instance, but you can shrink them by adding or rearranging an island. 

Where Does Traffic Pass?

How will traffic flow in, out, and around your kitchen? And how will this impact the work triangle? For example, if your kitchen serves as a pass-through with two doors, will people walk through your work triangle on their way somewhere? This design will lead to conflict, frustration, and interruption. 

Instead of accepting these interruptions, redirect traffic flow outside the work triangle. For example, you might simply move an island closer to the other triangle points so that foot traffic moves to the other side. 

What Will You Look At?

Finally, what will you look at while using each point in the triangle? Many kitchens place a window above the sink, which helps bring light to the work area and gives a pleasant view. But would you rather place the sink facing outward toward an open floor plan? This allows them to interact with others more easily. 

On the other hand, some homeowners place the stove in this position, hoping to engage with friends and family while cooking. But will you really spend that long standing at the stove? Analyze how you use each point of the triangle and what you want to get out of it. 

Where to Start

Where and what size should your work triangle be? Find out by meeting with a kitchen renovation service in your local area today.