Plan kitchen workflow to suit needs, writes Robyn Welsh.
In days gone by, when our expectations - and our choice of kitchen appliances - were much simpler, it was the power of one that defined how we worked the space in our kitchens. One kitchen, one stove, one fridge, one sink and one person made up the scene in a typical kitchen in which family meals were put together at each day's end.
A lucky cook would have worked in a kitchen designed along the principles of the "work triangle" - a concept that defined the pathway between the fridge, the sink and the stove for maximum efficiency. It worked for kitchens of all shapes, doing away with the frustration of having every appliance along one wall and back-tracking to complete the simplest of tasks.
This "work triangle" concept dates back to the US in the 1940s. By the 50s it was in common enough use for researchers to confirm that the best kitchens were indeed those created along the principle.
Fast-forward to today's larger family homes and we're expecting much more from our open-plan kitchens, scullery preparation/storage areas, wall ovens, steam ovens, microwave ovens, fridges, fridge/freezers and our other lifestyle appliances.