How to Design a Ergonomic Kitchen [Expert Ideas]
Every homemaker spends a chunk of her time in the kitchen. Kitchen is the most functional part of the house. It needs to be carefully designed. Kitchen ergonomics comes into play to make the kitchen a comfortable place to work ..
The word ergonomics has Greek origin-‘ergon’ means ‘work’ and ‘nomos’ means laws. It is the science of designing the environment for comfortable working. Kitchen ergonomics is all about minimizing the movements and stress we have to go through while cooking. While designing your kitchen you need to keep in mind the heights of various surfaces, distances and placement of items to make your space functional, efficient and enable effortless cooking.
Kitchen ergonomics can be applied in the following aspects
Kitchen is broadly classified into five different zones. The kitchen ergonomics revolve around these five zones. You can have a flexible work zone by organizing the different zonesto work at ease.
- Consumables food
- Non-consumable food
- Cleaning Area
- Preparation zone
- Cooking zone
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The concept of kitchen work triangle plays a major role in kitchen ergonomics. The distance at which you arrange the hob, sink and fridge needs to be taken into consideration. You need to minimize walking back and forth between these areas to save energy and time. For optimum efficiency the kitchen work triangle distance needs to be kept at a minimum.
The next important aspect is having enough free countertop space for food preparation.A good kitchen layout and uninterrupted work flow space improves the efficiency of kitchen.
Your storage of kitchen items based on the daily requirement should be within easy reach. By segregating the items into cabinets at different levels you can avoid unnecessary bending, kneeling and stretching. This segregation highly influences the general comfort of cooking process.
- Daily used items- closer to countertop level
- Rarely/seldom used items-topmost or bottom row of cabinets
- Frequently used items-should be placed in between
For base level units more drawers with full extension are better than cupboards with shelves. By doing this you can avoid a lot of bending that strains your back.
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Working counters should be at a minimum height of 90 cm. If you’re shorter or taller than average, you need to adapt the counter height accordingly. You can also go in for different countertop heights depending on the purpose.
Be it traditional, classic or contemporary kitchen good kitchen ergonomics is the integral part. You can transform your kitchen into a comfortable working place by incorporating the right design and planning. A well thought and planned kitchen is always inviting and a marvelous place to be in.
