PLANNING A ROOM Keeping kitchen designs in step with the times

For many, busy lifestyles mean the kitchen is getting more use.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
Anyone who has ever built or remodeled a home knows that the most expensive room to construct and outfit is the kitchen. Along with extensive plumbing and electrical systems, there are cabinets, countertops and appliances.
The kitchen has also become the place where the family comes together, and the entertainment center, where partygoers always seem to group.
Is it any wonder, then, that so much focus in home design is on this room? Do it right and it makes the entire home function and flow. Do it wrong and you have a recipe for disaster, an unwelcome, unworkable tangle, a wasted space that wastes your time every day.
To help you and professionals do it right there are "rules" -- guidelines -- to designing a kitchen.
RULE 1 -- THE TRIANGLE
Most kitchen designers start with the basic "work triangle," also known as the "golden triangle."
In a kitchen, imagine a triangle with its three points representing the locations of the refrigerator, cooking area and sink. In this efficient kitchen arrangement you would only have to pivot from one part of the triangle to another to avoid unnecessary movement while preparing meals.
How big is this triangle? Generally the total length of the triangle's "legs" -- the combined distance between its three points -- should be 12 to 26 feet. These are figures that can vary quite a bit depending on the designer you're talking to, the size of the house for which the kitchen is being designed, and other factors.
This rough rule leaves a lot of leeway. Basic kitchen designs allow a broad range of configurations, such as a U shape or the compact galley kitchen. Which shape is best for your needs?
RULE 2 -- HEED NEEDS
Triangle theories are good on paper, but how do real-world designers begin their kitchen planning?
Barbara McLane of By Design Kitchens Etc. said she first talks -- and listens to -- her client.
"The triangle is a logical start to design," she said.
But other factors also have to be considered. Among those factors is the client's lifestyle and particular needs.
"The whole family often wants to be in the kitchen," McLane said. "Many times its members are involved in cooking or preparing meals. It's a social activity."
So care in design should be given to allow sufficient space for a variety of family members, she said.
"Kitchens are also very much for entertaining," McLane said. "People are staying home much more and entertain their friends more."
When McLane designed the kitchen for this year's Philharmonic House of Design, she took into account the family's desire to entertain, and also the client's interest in doing some serious cooking.
She configured the kitchen in a long galley shape, with an island dividing the space. And she installed two of everything -- two SubZero refrigerators, two heavy-duty dishwashers -- a state-of-the-art setup.
"I used two sinks on the island ... so two people could engage in preparation," said McLane.
RULE 3 -- BE PRACTICAL
Kathleen Tish, who is a certified kitchen designer with her own firm, said she believes in the traditional triangle of kitchen design though she works hard at communicating with her client about how a kitchen will be used.
"Most important is that a kitchen should be functional," Tish said. "In using the work triangle, I try to create work space on either side of the cooking surface and sink."
Tish also has her own rules on making sure there is enough elbow room.
"I make sure there are sufficient aisles around the kitchen, areas where people walk that are a minimum of 36 inches," she said. "I try for 48 inches, but that's not always possible."
RULE 4 -- NEW TRIANGLES
"A lot more homes are being designed with kitchens and dining areas in one big room," said Sandra Rodriguez, a certified kitchen designer with L & amp;S Interiors of Anaheim. "Partly because of this, I view many kitchens I design as having more than one triangle."
One of those triangles involves what Rodriguez calls the "cleaning area," a place where people can do dishes and empty the dishwasher, without interfering with the cooking areas.
"I call another triangle the cooking area," she said. "A lot of times my kitchens also are split into a main food preparation area and a helpers' area."
A helpers' area? This is a place where those pitching in with preparation can help by tossing a salad or preparing dessert.
All three designers said the most important rule was to understand the needs of those who will use the kitchen.
"I sit down with a client and try to understand the family, what their schedules are like, do they have outside cooking help, do the children help with food preparation?"
This kind of discussion -- which every designer has -- has turned up a significant lifestyle trend that greatly influences kitchen design today.
"There are simply more people using the kitchen than ever before," Rodriguez said. "You have more of the family in the kitchen at the same time. Everyone is helping to prepare a meal, getting their own meal, kids are doing homework, everyone is socializing."
This participation in the kitchen has increased "tremendously" in the past five years or so, said Rodriguez, and has greatly affected kitchen design.
"We have to design a kitchen to be more more usable by different people and for more people to use it," Rodriguez said.