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Sink Area
Often the sink is placed in front of a window, but this is not necessary. The main rule here is that you should provide at least 18" to 24" of counter space on both sides of the sink. The sink base cabinet is usually 30" to 36" wide. The dishwasher should be located directly to the right or left of the sink. The dishwasher is almost always 24" wide and you should provide at least 12" of cabinet to the other side of it. See illustration below.
Stove Area
The stove should be located where it will be easy to run a duct from the hood to the outside. If there is a floor above, this means running the duct up through the ceiling space to an outside wall. If the stove is on an outside wall this will be less expensive. Most residential stoves are 30" wide but commercial stoves can be much wider. Allow a minimum of 18" to 24" of counter space on both sides of the stove if possible. See illustration below.
Refrigerator Area
A standard residential single door refrigerator is approximately 30" wide. A double door refrigerator is usually 36" wide. Check the specific dimensions of your refrigerator since there are lots of sizes. A single door type can usually be ordered with either a right or left swing. Make sure the swing is convenient to the main area of the kitchen. Again, provide a minimum of 18" to 24" of counter space to at least one side of the refrigerator. Often it is located at the end of a counter rather than in the middle. See illustration below.
General
Kitchen cabinets are usually made in modular widths of 3" increments. The smallest standard cabinet is usually 12" wide. That means cabinets come in the following standard widths: 12", 15", 18", 21", 24", 27", 30", 33", and 36". Cabinets are fastened together in a line to build up the proper length on a given wall. Base cabinets are 24" deep by 34-1/2" high and upper cabinets are 12" deep by 12", 15", 18", 21", 24", 27", 30"+ high. Most often a 30" high upper cabinet is used. There are variations and fillers can be used to make up small dimensional discrepancies in a given room.
When planning a kitchen it is usually best to plan everything on a 3" grid so that the cabinets can be planned accordingly.
Lower Cabinets
When planning your kitchen, start by laying out your base cabinets following the "rules of thumb" above. When choosing the size of cabinets, think about the cabinet door sizes. Doors are usually 12", 15", 18", and 21". 12" is fairly narrow and 21" is the maximum width practical door. Base cabinets usually have a single or double drawer at the top and doors below. Alternatively a base cabinet can have 4 drawers in a stack. Sink base cabinets have no drawer. Get the literature on the specific cabinet style that you want to use and look at the drawings of the cabinets and choices of dimensions. Some standard generic base cabinets are shown below but these should only be used as a guideline.
Upper Cabinets
The standard upper cabinet height is 30" but there are lots of other sizes available. Upper cabinets are 12" deep and are usually set 18" above the counter. This means that the top of the cabinet will be 84" above the floor (7 feet). Since a normal room ceiling height is 8 feet or more, you can either leave the space above the cabinet empty, use full height upper cabinets, or fill it in with a "soffit" made out of wood boards and trim or gypsum board to give it a more finished look. See examples in the links in chapter 5. When you plan the upper cabinets think about matching up door widths with the adjacent cabinets if possible, although this is not necessary. Again, get the literature on the specific style of cabinet that you want, and look at the specific choices. Some generic standard upper cabinets are shown below.
Corner Cabinets
Corners can be a little tricky. Two main choices for base cabinets are to use a 36" by 36" with turn table shelving built in, or to use a 24" by 36" with a "blind" corner. There are other options but these two are illustrated below.
Often upper cabinets turn corners by using a 12" by 24" cabinet with a "blind" corner. See illustration below.
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