Galley, one-wall and L-shape kitchen widths

The galley: one addition, three answers#

Wall to wall, a galley is 24 + aisle + 24.

Wall to wall	Aisle	Suits	Verdict
84 in (7 ft / 213 cm)	36 in (91 cm)	One person, no appliance opened while another passes	The floor. Circulation only
90 in (7 ft 6 in / 229 cm)	42 in (107 cm)	One cook working	NKBA guideline 6 satisfied
96 in (8 ft / 244 cm)	48 in (122 cm)	Two cooks, or a through route	Comfortable
108 in (9 ft / 274 cm)	60 in (152 cm)	Wheelchair turning space	The upper useful limit
120 in (10 ft / 305 cm)	72 in (183 cm)	Nothing	Convert to an L plus an island

A galley longer than about 144 in (12 ft) loses in walking what it gained in efficiency. Break the run: put the fridge and pantry at one end as a separate consumables zone, as in the work triangle and zone model.

The one-wall kitchen, added up honestly#

Laying the appliances and their required landing areas out end to end:

Element	Width	Source
Refrigerator	36 in (91 cm)	Standard full-size
Landing, handle side	15 in (38 cm)	NKBA guideline 16
Sink cabinet	30 in (76 cm)	Double bowl or large single
Prep counter	36 in (91 cm)	NKBA guideline 12
Cooking surface	30 in (76 cm)	Standard range or hob
Landing beside the hob	15 in (38 cm)	NKBA guideline 17
Total	162 in (13 ft 6 in / 4.1 m)

That run has nothing missing. To get under it, use NKBA guideline 24, which counts two overlapping landing areas as the larger plus 12 in (30 cm) rather than adding them in full. With a 24 in (61 cm) fridge, a 24 in single-bowl sink and a 24 in two-zone hob, a workable one-wall kitchen compresses to 96 in (8 ft / 2.4 m). Below that you have a kitchenette: a hob you cannot use at the same time as the board.

Room depth is 25 in (64 cm) of counter plus a 42 in (107 cm) aisle, so 67 in (170 cm) against a blank wall, or 84 in (213 cm) if the opposite wall carries a table or a route. This is why the one-wall plan is the default in an open-plan flat: the second run has been replaced by the living room.

The L-shape and the corner it creates#

An L wants legs of 96 to 144 in (8 to 12 ft), with 72 in (183 cm) as the shortest leg that can carry a sink and a prep counter. Put the sink or the hob roughly a third of the way along the longer leg so the corner does not sit between two work centres, which is what NKBA guideline 4 warns against. The corner itself is the cost of the layout.

Corner solution	Face width needed	Volume recovered	Cost in inches
Dead corner with filler panel	3 in (8 cm) filler	0 per cent	Cheapest, loses all 9 cu ft
Blind corner with a plain door	36 in (91 cm) blind side	about 40 per cent	Rear zone unreachable
Carousel or half-moon carousel	36 x 36 in (91 x 91 cm)	about 70 per cent	A 32 in (81 cm) circle in a 33 in (84 cm) square loses roughly 21 per cent of plan area to the corners
Blind corner pull-out mechanism	36 to 39 in (91 to 99 cm) blind side	70 to 80 per cent	Highest cost, needs 3 in (8 cm) of filler to swing
Diagonal corner cabinet	36 x 36 in (91 x 91 cm)	about 80 per cent	Loses about 2.5 sq ft (0.23 m2) of worktop to the diagonal
Corner drawers	36 x 36 in (91 x 91 cm)	about 65 per cent	Bespoke, and the drawer fronts meet at a mitre that must be perfect

Whatever you choose, allow the 3 in (8 cm) corner filler. Without it a drawer beside the corner cannot open past the adjacent door or handle, and you find out after the stone is templated.

U-shapes and peninsulas#

A U works when the interior clear width is 60 to 96 in (152 to 244 cm). At 60 in a single cook pivots between three runs without a step, which is the whole appeal. At 96 in you can add a small island of 30 in (76 cm) depth if you keep both aisles at 42 in (107 cm), and 96 = 42 + 30 + 24 does not leave you the second aisle, so in practice the island belongs at 108 in (274 cm) and above. That arithmetic is set out fully in kitchen island clearances.

A peninsula is a U with one leg unsupported at its end. Its numbers:

• 42 in (107 cm) work aisle on the working side, as for an island.
• 36 in (91 cm) minimum from the peninsula end to the facing wall, and 42 in (107 cm) if that gap is the only way in or out. Below 36 in it reads as a doorway, and walkway widths apply.
• 44 in (112 cm) behind stools where people pass, 36 in (91 cm) where they do not.
• The peninsula return needs a 3 in (8 cm) filler at the junction with the main run, same as any inside corner.

Layout against minimum footprint#

Layout	Absolute minimum room	Comfortable	The dimension that decides it
Kitchenette, one wall	72 x 67 in (1.8 x 1.7 m)	n/a	Run length
One-wall	96 x 67 in (2.4 x 1.7 m)	162 x 84 in (4.1 x 2.1 m)	Run length
Galley	84 x 96 in (2.1 x 2.4 m)	96 x 132 in (2.4 x 3.4 m)	Wall to wall width
L-shape	96 x 96 in (2.4 x 2.4 m)	132 x 144 in (3.4 x 3.7 m)	Shorter leg
U-shape	96 x 96 in (2.4 x 2.4 m)	120 x 144 in (3.0 x 3.7 m)	Interior clear width
L-shape plus island	156 x 132 in (4.0 x 3.4 m)	180 x 156 in (4.6 x 4.0 m)	Room width across the island
Two-cook galley	96 x 120 in (2.4 x 3.0 m)	108 x 144 in (2.7 x 3.7 m)	Aisle at 48 in

What to do when the room will not give you the number#

Take the inches in this order, stopping as soon as it fits:

1. Reduce cabinet depth on one side only. A 21 in (53 cm) or 18 in (46 cm) run on the non-working side buys 3 to 6 in of aisle and costs little, since that side is usually tall storage.
2. Delete the handles. Push-to-open or a routed grip rail returns 1.5 in (4 cm) per side, in the zone where you actually collide.
3. Move the fridge out of the run. A full-size fridge is 36 in (91 cm) of wall and 33 in (84 cm) deep. In a tight galley it belongs at the end wall, the hall or the utility room.
4. Trade the second run for tall storage. One 24 in (61 cm) run with proper landings plus a wall of full-height cupboards beats two cramped runs.
5. Change the aisle only last. Everything above is cheaper and less annoying than living with 36 in between two working faces.