Kitchen
Kitchen dimensions
The kitchen is the only room in a house designed around a sequence of tasks, which is why its clearances are the strictest in the building.
Short answer
The kitchen's controlling numbers are a 42 in (107 cm) work aisle for one cook and 48 in (122 cm) for two, a 36 in (91 cm) counter over a 24 in (61 cm) deep base cabinet, and 18 in (46 cm) from counter to the underside of the wall cabinets.
The numbers, at a glance
- Work aisle, one cook
- 42 in (107 cm)NKBA guideline
- Work aisle, two cooks
- 48 in (122 cm)
- Counter height
- 36 in (91 cm)
- Base cabinet depth
- 24 in (61 cm)25 in with the worktop overhang
- Counter to wall cabinet
- 18 in (46 cm)
- Landing beside the fridge
- 15 in (38 cm)
Most of the numbers in a kitchen come from one place: the National Kitchen and Bath Association's Kitchen and Bath Planning Guidelines, currently in its 2022 edition, which sets out 31 kitchen guidelines with an access standard attached to each. They are recommendations rather than code, but they are the closest thing the trade has to a shared standard, and where a page on this site quotes a figure as a guideline it names the number it comes from.
The rest come from the appliances, which have quietly standardised: 24 in (61 cm) for a dishwasher, 30 in (76 cm) for a range, 36 in (91 cm) for most fridges, or 60 cm for the European equivalents. A kitchen is a grid built to those modules, and the grid is what makes an inch matter here more than anywhere else in the house.
The five numbers to check before anything else#
- Aisle width. 42 in (107 cm) one cook, 48 in (122 cm) two cooks or a through route, 36 in (91 cm) is the walkway floor and nothing less is workable with a dishwasher door in it.
- Landing space. 15 in (38 cm) beside the fridge handle side, 12 in on one side of the cooktop and 15 in on the other, 15 in beside or above the microwave, 21 in (53 cm) of standing room in front of the dishwasher.
- Prep counter. At least 36 in (91 cm) of uninterrupted worktop next to the main sink. This is the number people cut first and regret longest.
- The 18 in backsplash gap. Below 15 in (38 cm) the worktop stops being usable for anything tall.
- Door swings. A dishwasher door is 24 in (61 cm) deep when open, an oven door 21 to 24 in, a fridge door swings a radius equal to its own width. Draw all three before you place the island.
| Layout | Minimum total width | Comfortable | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| One wall | 96 in (2.4 m) of run | 156 in (4.0 m) | Below 8 ft you lose prep space, not storage |
| Galley | 84 in (2.1 m) wall to wall | 96 in (2.4 m) | 24 + 36 + 24 in is the hard floor |
| L shape | 96 in (2.4 m) on the short leg | 120 in (3.0 m) | The blind corner costs about 9 cu ft |
| L plus island | 144 in (3.7 m) | 168 in (4.3 m) | 25 + 42 + 40 + 36 in is the arithmetic |
| U shape | 96 in (2.4 m) interior width | 108 in (2.7 m) | Below 96 in two people cannot both work |
In this section#
- Appliance sizes and the space around themFridge 30 to 36 in wide, range 30 in, dishwasher 24 in. Landing areas of 15 in, 12 in and 21 in, plus the door swings that break a plan.
- Counter height vs bar height vs table heightCounter 36 in takes a 24 to 26 in stool, bar 42 in takes a 30 in stool, table 30 in takes an 18 in chair. The 10 to 12 in rule explains all three.
- Galley, one-wall and L-shape kitchen widthsA galley needs 84 in (213 cm) wall to wall at the absolute minimum and 90 to 96 in (229 to 244 cm) to work. One-wall and L-shape minimums too.
- Kitchen counter and cabinet heights36 in (91 cm) is the standard counter height: a 34.5 in base cabinet plus a 1.5 in top. How to set it to your own elbow, plus baking and bar heights.
- Kitchen island clearances42 in (107 cm) is the minimum work aisle for one cook, 48 in (122 cm) for two. Island size, seating overhangs and the room width you need.
- The kitchen work triangle and the zone model that replaced itTriangle legs of 4 to 9 ft and a total under 26 ft, versus the five-zone model. Where the triangle still holds and where it measures the wrong journeys.
- Upper cabinet and backsplash heights18 in (46 cm) from counter to wall cabinets, bottoms at 54 in (137 cm) AFF. Cabinet heights of 30, 36 and 42 in against 8, 9 and 10 ft ceilings.