| Since colonial days, the American kitchen has been | | | | room must be provided for work.The kitchen is a |
| thought of as the heart of the home. It is the first room | | | | workshop like any other,and should be laid out with |
| a family shares each day; it is not only the place | | | | efficiency in mind.You would not think of locating the |
| where meals are prepared, but also where they are | | | | table saw and a planer at opposite ends of a |
| often eaten. The kitchen is where children and adults | | | | workshop; the primary work centers of a kitchen--in |
| do their homework, and where they linger for | | | | most cases,the sink,refrigerator,and stove/cooking |
| conversation. Yet, although the role of the kitchen has | | | | area--are no different.Work triangles are one way to |
| not changed in three centuries, its appearance has. | | | | minimize the trips between the three. |
| Once, cooking was done by the central fireplace, and | | | | Arriving at an efficient layout for a kitchen in a |
| the larder was stored against the cold, north-facing | | | | confined space can be a challenge.Invariably, the size |
| wall. Today, a kitchen must be carefully planned to | | | | and location of your kitchen cabinets will have to be |
| meet the demands of a busy household,and to | | | | flexible enough to accommodate the location of |
| accommodate a battery of laborsaving devices. This | | | | appliances,utilities,windows,and doors. Drafting scale |
| chapter focuses on the work of today's | | | | floor plans and elevations can help you visualize your |
| kitchen-especially its cabinetry-introduces popular | | | | layout; Once you have settled on the placement of |
| designs, and outlines some basic principles that will help | | | | your cabinets, you can divide their runs into individual |
| you create a kitchen that meets your needs. | | | | cabinets and drawers. While most kitchen cabinets |
| A kitchen design often starts as a natural extension of | | | | adhere to basic dimensional standards inheight, their |
| the architectural style of a house. Just as trim, molding, | | | | width and number of doors can be fine tuned to reach |
| and furnishings can distinguish a home as being | | | | a visually well-balanced kitchen design. |
| Victorian or Colonial, cabinet doors, molding, and | | | | Accuracy is crucial when drafting floor plans and |
| hardware can define the style of a kitchen. For | | | | elevations.A site-referenced story pole tells you |
| example, Victorian is an opulent style marked by | | | | everything you need to know about a kitchen wall in |
| complex egg-and-dart molding, porcelain pulls, and | | | | precise detail, including the location and size of the |
| exposed hinges, while Shaker style is a model of | | | | cabinets. By using these small lengths of wood for |
| austerity, relying on simple, recessed frame-and-panel | | | | each wall and cabinet, you can proceed from floor |
| doors, an absence of molding,and the muted colors of | | | | plan to cutting list with a minimum of errors. From there |
| milk paint. | | | | to your dream kitchen it is only a few more careful |
| Whether you choose a traditional architectural style for | | | | steps. |
| your kitchen or a blend of severalstyles, adequate | | | | |