How to Arrange Kitchen Cabinets for Optimal Functionality

Whether you go it alone, DIY-style, or hire a kitchen designer to create your kitchen cabinet design, one thing’s for sure: the anticipation of having a brand-new kitchen is exciting.

However, while these are exciting times, it’s easy to get carried away by the process and overlook one of the most important elements of a kitchen: its functionality.

With so many online kitchen design apps, including our very own 3D Kitchen Planner, at your disposal, designing a kitchen has never been easier. But there can be a downside. While these apps make it easy to organise kitchen cabinets to fit your space, they generally won’t tell you how to arrange your kitchen cabinets for optimal functionality. That’s where this article comes in handy.

Today, we’ll empower you with all the knowledge needed to ensure your kitchen cabinet design is both stylish and functional.

Always Put Functionality First

When it comes to arranging your kitchen cabinet design, the most important thing to keep in mind is functionality. You want your kitchen to be a space where you can easily find what you need and prepare meals without feeling cramped or bogged down. It shouldn’t be an obstacle course or a game of hide and seek where you have to open every cupboard to find what you’re looking for. Rather, it should be a coherent space that makes sense and makes your life easier.

To achieve this, start by assessing your needs. Ask yourself how you use your kitchen and what you need to be able to do in order to make meal prep as efficient as possible.

Once you have a good understanding of your needs, it’s time to start planning your kitchen cabinet design.

Here are a few tips:

Place the fridge near the kitchen entry

The fridge is one of the most essential appliances in the kitchen, so it makes sense to position it in a spot that will make it easy to use. By placing the fridge near the kitchen entry, you can easily grab ingredients as you need them. This will also help keep the rest of your kitchen organised, as you won’t have to move around as much to get what you need.

So if you’re looking for a more functional kitchen cabinet layout, be sure to give some thought to where you position your fridge in your design. It could make all the difference.

To know how much space to leave for your fridge, you first have to know the size of your fridge. If you’re keeping your existing fridge, it’s as simple as measuring the width and allowing around 100m per side. However, if you’re planning to get a new fridge to go along with your new kitchen, it pays to purchase your fridge before you start designing to ensure a custom fit.

Position the cooktop near the sink

Another important consideration when arranging your kitchen cabinets is the placement of your cooktop. If possible, position the cooktop near the sink. This will make it easy to transfer food from the sink to the cooktop and vice versa. It will also make it easier to keep your kitchen tidy as you won’t have to walk as far with dirty dishes.

Of course, this isn’t always possible, depending on the design of your kitchen. But if you have the option, it’s definitely worth considering.

Ross’s Discount Home Centre offers various kitchen base cabinets to house cooktops, including our popular Base Three(3) Drawer Pot Draw 80cm cabinet and Base Two(2) Drawer Pot Drawer 80cm cabinet. Either cabinet would make an excellent addition to any kitchen design.

Create a work triangle

When planning your kitchen cabinet design, creating a work triangle is also a good idea. This is simply an imaginary triangle that connects the three most used appliances in your kitchen: the fridge, the stovetop and the sink.

Connecting these three appliances creates a more efficient workflow in your kitchen, which is what this article is all about. For example, you can easily transfer food from the fridge to the stovetop or from the stovetop to the sink without having to walk too far.

Of course, not all kitchens are the same, so there’s no perfect work triangle. But if you can create a work triangle that works for your kitchen, it will definitely help make your space more functional.

Put the cooktop and oven near the fridge to make it easy to transfer food

If you can’t create a work triangle, then another good tip is to position the cooktop and oven near the fridge. This will make it easy to transfer food from the fridge to the cooktop or oven, which is a key part of many meal prep tasks.

You generally have three options when arranging an oven in a kitchen cabinet design. If it’s a freestanding oven, you only need to allow adequate room between benchtops and cabinets for the oven to fit snuggly. However, if you have a wall oven, you can either house it in a base cabinet or choose our Microwave and Wall Oven Cupboard, which provides the added functionality of also housing your microwave.

Position the pantry near the fridge and cooktop

Another important thing to consider when arranging your kitchen cabinets is the position of the pantry. If possible, position the pantry near the fridge and cooktop. This will make it easy to grab ingredients as you need them for meal prep.

Ross’s Discount Home Centre’s kitchen cabinet range offers various panties, including single and double-door panties and handy pantry toppers that sit on the benchtop to provide more storage space. View our panty range to find the perfect cabinet for your kitchen design.

If you have a dishwasher, place it close to the sink

This is one tip that I personally could have heard when planning my last kitchen renovation. I thought I had designed the perfect kitchen until someone pointed out to me that my dishwasher was under the island bench and my sink was on the back wall. Epic fail.

You want your dishwasher to be next to your sink not only because you can easily wash off dishes as you place them into the dishwasher but because that is where the plumbing is that will facilitate water to the dishwasher. Not to mention, you do not want to have to carry dirty dishes across your kitchen to place them into the dishwasher.

So if you’re planning a kitchen renovation, be sure to give some thought to where you position your dishwasher. It can make a big difference in how functional your kitchen is.

When planning your kitchen cabinet design, you’ll want to keep a free space under your benchtop, around 600mm wide, to house your dishwasher.

Make use of corner cabinets

Corner cabinets are often one of the most underutilised spaces in a kitchen. But if you take the time to plan your kitchen cabinet design carefully, you can make use of this space and create a more functional kitchen.

One way to do this is to add corner cabinets with rotating shelves. This way, you can easily access items that are stored in the back of the cabinet without having to remove everything from the shelves.

Another way to make use of corner cabinets is to add a lazy susan. This is a turntable that you can spin around to reach items that are stored in the back of the cabinet. Lazy susans are great for storing things like spices and condiments.

You could also add a pull-out corner cabinet. This is a cabinet that has shelves that pull out so you can easily reach items that are stored in the back. Pull-out corner cabinets are great for storing things like pots and pans.

At Ross’s Discount Home Centre, we offer the Corner Base Cupboard 90cm Left Hand Hinged and Corner Base Cupboard 90cm Right Hand Hinged to accommodate left and right opening corners. These corner cabinets feature a shelf, making it easy to add a lazy susan to further increase functionality.

Use up all your floor space

Kitchen cabinets don’t have to be a set width of 45cm or 60cm. If, after arranging your kitchen cabinets, you find that they don’t quite reach from wall to wall, find a cabinet to fit the space.

You can never have too much storage space in a kitchen, so it makes sense to maximise the space you have. Look for narrow cabinets like our Base Shelf Unit 15cm or our Base Unit Left Hand Hinged Single Door 20cm or Base Unit Right Hand Hinged Single Door 20cm cabinets. These narrow cabinets can help your kitchen cabinets fit your space better whilst providing valuable storage space.

Place often-used items like pots, pans, and utensils within easy reach

Of course, when planning your kitchen cabinet design, you’ll also want to ensure that often-used items like pots, pans, and utensils are within easy reach. This will make cooking and meal prep a breeze.

Our Base Cupboard Four(4) Drawer 45cm and Base Cupboard Four(4) Drawer 60cm, and our Base Three(3) Drawer Pot Draw 80cm and Base Two(2) Drawer Pot Drawer 80cm cabinets are ideal in this respect. Our drawer cabinets mean you can easily access cutlery and utensils, while our pot drawers offer ample storage space for pots and pans. And because these are base cabinets, accessing big and heavy pots and pans is safer and more convenient.

Get Creative with Your Kitchen Cabinet Design

Once you’ve planned out the basics of your kitchen cabinet design, it’s time to have some fun! Get creative with the layout and take advantage of empty wall space by hanging pots and pans or displaying pretty dishware.

Consider installing floating shelves to store cookbooks or display decorative items if you have high ceilings. And if you really want to go all out, add some task lighting under your cabinets to make meal prep even easier.

No matter how you arrange your kitchen cabinets, remember to keep functionality top of mind, and you’ll be sure to end up with a design you love.

If you’re unsure where to start, our in-store kitchen designer, Fiona, is always on hand to help you plan your Ross’s Discount Home Centre kitchen. Fiona has years of experience in kitchen design and can help you create a stylish and functional kitchen. Call our store on (08) 9378 2233 to book your free kitchen design consultation.

Conclusion

When designing your kitchen cabinets, it’s important to keep functionality top of mind. In this blog post, we’ve outlined some tips for arranging your kitchen cabinets for optimal useability. We’ve also provided ideas for narrowing down your search when looking for the perfect cabinet to fit your space. So, whether you’re starting from scratch or simply renovating an existing kitchen, these tips will help you create a functional and stylish space that meets all your needs.

Ross’s Discount Home Centre is the place to go for kitchen cabinets in Perth. We have an expensive range of pre-assembled cabinets in various styles and configurations to help you design the best possible kitchen for your space. You’ll find everything you need, from base cabinets and wall cabinets to pantries and drawers, to create a functional and stylish kitchen. We also have a range of affordable laminate and stone benchtops, splashback tiles, kitchen sinks, kitchen taps, and appliances. We have everything you need to complete your new kitchen!

So why not visit our store today and speak to our in-house kitchen designer, Fiona? Fiona is always on hand to help, so don’t hesitate to give us a call today!