How to Find Your Ideal Kitchen Layout

The work triangle has guided kitchen layouts since the 1940s, and it still holds up as a starting point: keep the sink, range, and refrigerator a few steps apart and the room works. But it was built for one cook, and it says nothing about where the dishwasher opens, where people stand when they are not cooking, or whether the wall you want gone is holding up the floor above. Your ideal kitchen layout starts with how your household uses the room, then checks that plan against the triangle and the structure around it.