Five Kitchen Layout Mistakes We See Every Month

A kitchen can look perfect on the day it is finished and still be frustrating to use for the next fifteen years. These are the layout mistakes that come up most often. Every one of them is cheap to fix on paper and expensive to fix once the cabinets are built.

Ignoring the work triangle

The sink, the hob and the fridge are the three points you move between most. Too far apart and you walk all day. Too close and two people cannot cook at once. The old rule still holds: keep each side of the triangle a comfortable walk, and keep the main walkway out of it.

No space to put things down

You need a clear stretch of worktop next to each of those three points: beside the hob for a hot pan, beside the fridge for shopping bags, beside the sink for dishes. A tall cabinet or a wall right next to the hob is one of the most common problems.

Doors that clash

A fridge door that cannot open fully against a wall. A dishwasher that blocks the drawer next to it when open. An oven door that hits the island. These are drawing problems. We check every door swing and appliance size on the plan before anything is ordered.

Weak ventilation

Cooking in the UAE often means strong spices and high heat. A hood that recirculates air instead of ducting it outside, or a duct with too many bends, leaves smells and grease in the room. Plan the hood and its duct route with the ceiling, not after it.

Too few sockets, poor light

Kettle, coffee machine, blender, toaster, chargers. Most kitchens need more worktop sockets than they get. And a single ceiling light puts your own shadow on the worktop; lights under the wall cabinets fix that.

How we plan a kitchen

Our designers and joiners work as one team, so the drawing, the cabinets and the plumbing and electrical points all come from the same plan. See our kitchen fit-out service.