How to Remodel Your Kitchen into a Universal Design

Male: For many, the modern kitchen is the most important room in the house. A hub around which home life revolves. Some are designed exclusively for cooking. Others include areas for eating and entertaining as well. The best kitchens all have one thing in common, good design. And good design isn’t about aesthetics. It’s about good workflow, good lighting, and good storage. Female: I’m asking for a really functional space, very streamline and easy to work in. Male: Whether open galley or shaped like an L or a U, a kitchen’s workflow depends on how efficiently the sink, the stove and the refrigerator interrelate. In the 1950s, Cornel University developed the triangle as a way of conceptualizing this relationship, three points connected by three legs that add up to about 20 feet, longer and there’s a necessary movement. Shorter and the kitchen becomes cramped. The beauty of the triangle is that it’s universal. It can be apply to any space. Female: Lighting is an area that is frequently overlooked in kitchen design and this is a big mistake. Lights relate to your ability to work well in a kitchen. Male: There are three types of lighting. General lighting, the lights you turn on when you walk through the room. Task lighting which illuminates specific work areas such as the sink or countertops and accent or ambient lighting. The goal is to balance general and task lighting in a way that illuminates that room without creating harsh shadows or blaring hot spots. And use accents to set mood and tone. Female: I love the kitchen, you really get a sense of light, space, beauty out of it. Male: Storage is a key component to good kitchen design too but less how much as how well. Female: The ideal situation is to go create the storage in the right position, the right place. you don’t want to walk around the kitchen and put things in different places. Male: There are three basic principles to follow. Put unused space to work by using wall mounted utensil rods or a lazy susan for example. Maison plus or everything in its place which means using proper containers for proper storage. Lastly, store according to frequency of use, seasonal and specialty items should be kept up and out of the way. Everything else should go where it’s easy to reach. Male: I love the fact that now I can keep my pots and my pans and I can pull the drawer out. Male: The idea behind universal design is that all rooms, products and environments should be flexible and easy to use for everyone regardless of age or ability. While the concept was originally intended to help the disabled, everyone can benefit from having to do a little less lifting, reaching, pulling and straining. In the kitchen, universal design means replacing drawer knobs with U shaped holes varying the height of countertops or using adjustable height work surfaces and choosing appliances with easy to read front mounted control panels.