Patrick Sutton has designed many residential kitchens and worked with chefs in designing restaurant kitchens. He says consumers can learn from how commercial kitchens are laid out to accommodate food storage, preparation of ingredients, cooking, plating, dish washing and trash removal.
Here are some of the issues he has considered in his practice and in his own kitchen redo:
Consider the flow. When you are plotting where the appliances and sink will be, go through the scenarios of how you – and others – will be using your kitchen.
Store equipment near where you’ll use it. In the Suttons’ kitchen, pots and pans are stored in deep drawers under the cooktop.
Create a realistic recycling center. The Suttons installed two drawers in the center island that are fitted with four trash containers. They use one for general trash, two for recycling and one for kitchen laundry.
Install open shelving. In a professional kitchen, stacks of plates are usually at hand so chefs can see their choices. Sutton says using some open shelving opens up a small kitchen and makes plates, mugs and glasses easily accessible.
Washington Post