Do you have a U-shaped kitchen? If the fit-out was preceded by proper planning, your kitchen will be full of bespoke solutions, excellent storage capacity and plenty of worktop space. It’s a brilliant layout that offers a wealth of possibilities in terms of both functionality and design.
What is a U-shaped layout?
The key feature of the U-shaped layout is that the kitchen is arranged along three adjacent walls of the room. In the centre is the „entrance”, where – provided there is enough space – you can also incorporate a beautiful kitchen island. This gives you additional storage space and a worktop.
It’s definitely worth bearing in mind that, below a certain floor area, it’s not worth opting for a U-shaped layout, as the walkways will be very narrow and you won’t find spending time in the kitchen comfortable. In such cases, you’re better off considering an L-shaped layout – trust me, there’ll still be room for everything!
Create the perfect kitchen triangle!
The classic kitchen triangle refers to the trio of the fridge, the hob and the sink. The key is to ensure, when planning, that „work” in the kitchen is as efficient as possible. So these three main areas should be within easy reach of one another, and their positioning in relation to each other should be logical. In a U-shaped layout, this is incredibly straightforward to plan, as the kitchen effectively „surrounds” us, ensuring that everything is always within easy reach. If you have a very large room at your disposal, however, it’s worth giving more careful thought to where everything should go, as you’ll otherwise have to cover much greater distances within the kitchen.
A peninsula or an island would certainly come in handy
If we have enough space, a kitchen island is almost a must-have feature in a U-shaped kitchen. On the one hand, an extra worktop comes in very handy; on the other, it also provides additional storage space. What’s more, we can have breakfast and chat around it, and it can be very useful if we want to treat our kitchen as a communal space. If there isn’t enough space for a full island, consider the option of a peninsula, which, as well as being practical, can also serve as an excellent room divider in an open-plan space.
Amazing storage capacity
A U-shaped kitchen can accommodate plenty of kitchen cupboards, as three walls are entirely at our disposal for the layout. If there’s also a kitchen island, then we can really go to town on storage options. However, with a U-shaped layout, we should be careful not to cram all three walls full of closed, wall-mounted cupboards, as this can easily make the space feel like a warehouse. An overcrowded space makes the room feel cramped, and the end result won’t be particularly aesthetically pleasing. We can achieve a more airy effect by incorporating shelving units or, perhaps, kitchen cupboards with glass doors; indeed, one possible solution might be to leave out the entire top row of cupboards on one wall. Which solution is most suitable is always determined by the specific characteristics of the room in question.
We can also incorporate a few bespoke, additional solutions
As we’ll have plenty of storage space, a U-shaped kitchen, for example, can easily accommodate that long-desired wine rack, or any other extra feature we’ve always wanted. We can gather loads of ideas from social media platforms – Facebook, Pinterest – so let’s not be afraid to spend some time on this before we visit our kitchen designer.
