A kitchen can look great in a rendering and still feel cramped the day you cook in it. Nine times out of ten the culprit is a handful of dimensions: an aisle that's a few inches too tight, no place to set a hot pan next to the range, or stools that don't fit under the island. The good news is that the industry has well-tested starting points for all of these. Know them, and you can plan with confidence.
Good to know
These are starting points
The numbers below are common standards and widely used guidelines, not building code. Your local code, your appliances and your own height all matter. Always check appliance spec sheets before you lock a plan.
Aisles and walkways
Think about two kinds of space. A work aisle is where someone is actively cooking: between the sink run and the island, or between the range and the opposite counter. A walkway is a path people use to get somewhere else, like the route from the back door to the dining room.
- Work aisle, one cook
- 42 in
- Common minimum between counter edges
- Work aisle, two cooks
- 48 in
- Lets people pass behind each other
- Walkway (no cooking)
- 36 in
- Minimum for a comfortable path
- Dishwasher door open
- about 24–27 in
- Leave room to stand beside it
Measure aisles from countertop edge to countertop edge, not from cabinet boxes. Also check what happens when doors open: a dishwasher and an oven facing each other across a 42 in aisle will collide if both are open at once.
Cabinet and countertop heights
- Standard counter height
- 36 in
- Base cabinet plus countertop
- Bar-height counter
- 42 in
- Pairs with bar stools (about 30 in seat)
- Base cabinet box height
- 34½ in
- Before the countertop goes on
- Toe kick height
- about 4 in
- Recessed about 3 in
- Counter-to-wall-cabinet gap
- 18 in
- Typical backsplash height
- Wall cabinet heights
- 30, 36 or 42 in
- Chosen to suit the ceiling
Tip
Match seats to surfaces
Counter-height stools (about 24–26 in seat) go with 36 in counters. Bar stools (about 29–31 in seat) go with 42 in counters. Mix them up and knees hit the underside or feet dangle.
Depths
- Base cabinet depth
- 24 in
- Countertop depth
- about 25–25½ in
- Overhangs the doors slightly
- Wall cabinet depth
- 12 in
- Some lines offer 13–15 in
- Island seating overhang
- 12–15 in
- Per seat, 24 in of width
That small countertop overhang is not decoration. It sends drips past the door fronts instead of down them, which protects the cabinet faces and edges over the years.
Landing and prep space
Every hot spot in the kitchen needs somewhere to set things down. Designers call this landing space. Leave too little and the counter beside the range ends up permanently crowded.
- Main prep zone: aim for about 36 in of clear, continuous counter, ideally between the sink and the range.
- Beside the range or cooktop: at least 12 in on one side, more on the other if you can.
- Beside the sink: at least 18 in on one side for dirty dishes, with room for a drying area on the other.
- Next to the refrigerator: around 15 in on the handle side for groceries.
- Near the microwave: a spot to set hot bowls, just above or beside it.
The work triangle (and what replaced it)
The classic work triangle links the sink, range and refrigerator. The idea is simple: those three stations get the most traffic, so keep them a few steps apart without anything blocking the path between them. A common rule of thumb is that each leg runs roughly 4 to 9 feet and the total stays under about 26 feet.
Today many designers think in zones instead: prep, cooking, cleanup, storage and serving. That works better for large kitchens, two-cook households and islands with a second sink. The goal is the same either way: short trips, no traffic through the cook's path.
Myth vs. fact
Myth: bigger is always easier to work in
A huge kitchen with the fridge on one wall and the range 14 feet away is tiring to cook in. Past a point, extra floor space only adds steps. Tight, well-placed zones often beat raw square footage.
Put the numbers to work
Start with an accurate measurement of your room (the measuring guide walks you through it), then sketch the fixed items: windows, doors, plumbing and the range location. Drop in the aisle widths first, then the landing spaces. The cabinets fill in around them. You can test different layouts quickly in the Prontto planner and see how the clearances feel before anything is ordered.