Adapting a Kitchen to Human Dimensions and Movement

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A kitchen is above all a place where work is done. Making that work efficient is the overall goal of good kitchen design. Yet, in most instances kitchen designs do not consider the physical characteristics of the people using the kitchen. Almost all kitchens are arranged and sized to the average person - countertops are a standard 36" above the finished floor, wall cabinets are 18" above the countertops, countertops are 25" deep, and so on.

Yet, these standards actually fit almost no one. Who is exactly average? Very few people. Moreover, people do not move around the same way. Physical limitations may restrict reach and range of motion. Bending, stooping and reaching are required to operate and do work in the typical kitchen. If you do not possess, for whatever reason, the full range of motion required, or if your range of motion is extraordinary, some adaptation may be needed to make your kitchen work best for you.

Even if you do not have limitations, how you move within the kitchen, access space for food and utensils, prepare and serve meals, and clean up are unique to you, and accommodating them is a primary criteria in good kitchen design. Are you a make-it-from-scratch cook or a fast-food microwave specialist? Or something in between. The kind of use you make of your kitchen must influence how it is arranged. Basic ergonomic design requirements dictate that you be able to reach everything you need, see what you are doing and move safely about the kitchen space in an efficient, economical manner.

Obviously, a kitchen built for a short person will not fit a tall person, and vice-versa. A customer in a wheel chair needs extensive modifications to make a kitchen work for him or her. The counter must be set at a height that keeps the user's back straight and upper torso erect. Otherwise fatigue sets in quickly. A cook top or range should be at a level that allows you to look down into pots and pans. Tipping pans to peer at the contents is dangerous, and removing hot pans from the range is only slightly less so. Cook tops are almost always set even with countertops, but there no good reason for this practice. It is merely traditional. It is often more convenient and safer to have the cooking surface slightly below the counter top. This is particularly true if children cook.

Careful planning of storage, appliance locations, lighting systems, along with ergonomics, results in the perfect fit between you and your kitchen. Without it the kitchen may meet every design criteria, yet be awkward or even dangerous for you to use.

The owners of this particular kitchen are both taller than average. One of them had a bad back. This precluded him from a lot of bending and stooping. The average counter height of 36" was too low for proper posture. Ideally, the counter top should at a height that permits a user to place his hands flat on the top with his forearms at a 45-degree angle. This is the most comfortable working posture for most people. In this case, a counter top height of 38" was required.

We did not want the base cabinets to appear "leggy" as would happen if the entire 2" was added to the bottom of the cases. So we raised the cases 1" by installing them on strips of plywood, and added a 1" spacer to the top of the cases which is concealed by moulding and by letting the counter top hang over a bit more than normal. Using these methods, the extra height of the base cabinets was hidden from all but the most astute observer. Only a careful examination reveals they are actually taller than normal. (The refrigerator gives it away, however. Notice in the photo above how much closer to the floor the bottom of the refrigerator is compared to the bottom of the adjoining base cabinet.)

A tall person hates to bend and stoop (actually everyone hates to bend and stoop, but tall people seem to hate it more), and a tall person with a bad back is incapable of doing much of it. This meant the extensive use of pullout shelves and baskets in lower cabinets for better access to items stored in those cabinets. It also meant we could make better use of upper cabinets for storage since tall people tend to have more reach. Rather than the standard 12" deep cabinets, we specified slightly deeper 13" cases. It's surprising how much more storage that extra inch provides. Instead of mounting the upper cabinets the standard 18" above the counter top, we lowered them to 15". This made the cotents of the wall cabinets even more accessible. (For more information on upper cabinet features and placement, see What we Can Learn from Commercial Kitchens.)

The work triangle (consisting of range, microwave, sink and refrigerator) was kept small to minimize the amount of walking required in typical food preparation. It contains a double sink with disposal, refrigerator and an easy-clean cook top, all within easy reach (a maximum of three steps) of each other. A microwave sits next to the cooktop (on the other side of the island in the photo above), just far enough from the cooktop that two people can use them without being in each other's way. Another good location for the microwave would have been suspended from the wall cabinets to the right of the sink.

The space we had to work with was limited and the kitchen is rather small. To make it seem larger we used a light color palette. The cabinets are natural (unstained) maple. This light wood has a muted figure and makes strong, beautiful cabinets. A sealer was used to bring out what little grain figure was available, but otherwise the natural color of the wood was left alone. The protective coating is a factory-applied catalyzed conversion varnish. This finish does not yellow over time ensuring the color of the cabinets will always stay like new. We also used lights in display alcoves to give the room more depth, making it seem larger. This technique is surprisingly effective. (Learn other ways of making a small space seem larger.)

This kitchen was windowless. The sole source of natural light was a window on the other side of the breakfast area. We had no opportunity to bring in natural light using a skylight or light tube because of the bathroom above the kitchen on the second floor. Consequently we had to rely on artificial lighting alone for adequate illumination.

General lighting recessed in the ceiling and task lighting under cabinets ensure that there is plenty of illumination. The lamps are "natural daylight" except the alcove lighting which is standard incandescent. Dimmer controls adjust each of three separate lighting systems: general lighting, task lighting, and lighting for the display alcoves. If we were doing this kitchen again today, we would probably add some indirect "cove" lighting on top of the wall cabinets to illuminate the ceiling over the cabinets. (See: Designing Efficient and Effective Kitchen Lighting.) Otherwise it's hard to force light back into the corners of the room. This would be on the general lighting circuit.

The counter top is a composite material that looks like marble. It looks enough like the actual stone that only a close examination reveals that it is really a composite solid surfacing material -- and a relatively inexpensive one at that. (Learn about the various counter top materials available for your kitchen at New and Traditional Countertop Choices.)

The flooring, an oversize, off-white Mexican-made ceramic tile, closely matches the figure and color of the countertops -- so close, in fact, that unless they are held side-by-side it is difficult to see a difference. The oversize tiles reduce the number of grout lines. To keep grout looking new, we used a medium brown-gray shade (the manufacturer calls it "taupe") that complements the rest of the kitchen and helps hide any eventual staining; and a latex additive to reduce cracking and separation. We laid the tile before placing the center island. The island is attached to the floor with a mastic rather than screws through holes in the tile so that in a future kitchen remodeling, the island could be removed leaving only a gap of one tile. This tile was omitted to run electrical service to the island. It could be replaced at any time with one of the several extra tiles we left with the owners for that purpose. Meantime, there is a use for this extra tile. See Tips and Tricks.

A kitchen that's a perfect fit can be achieved when plenty of time is taken to plan thoroughly for kitchen tasks designed around the ergonomics its users.

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For a case study of adapting a kitchen design to a limited budget, see Adapting a Kitchen to a Budget.

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