A galley kitchen layout is one of the most easy-to-use kitchen layouts. It is great if you have a small space to work with, as it has such a compact design. Although there are pros and cons to this type of kitchen layout, there are some clever ways to ensure that you have used the space efficiently and created a beautiful room in your home.
A galley kitchen is ideally between 3.5-5m long and 2.4m across. This ensures there is enough room between the cabinetry runs along each side so you can use the space efficiently. Many galley kitchens are walkways to another part of the house or the garden. This is important to consider, as the kitchen’s layout can help make this work well for everyone in the space.
As an interior designer, here are my top tips for the perfect galley kitchen layout.
Galley Kitchen Layout
Work out how you will use the space
When designing your galley kitchen layout, the first step is to determine how you will best use the space. You should think of your kitchen as three different zones: food preparation, cooking, and cleaning. Your oven and hob will need to be in the cooking zone, while the sink and dishwasher will need to be in the cleaning zone. The preparation zone is where food is stored and prepared, consisting of your pantry and countertop space. If you are renovating your kitchen, keeping appliances in the same place is usually cheaper, as you can use the same power and drainage.
Be sure to consider the type of storage
Once you have decided on the layout of your galley kitchen and where all of your appliances will go, the next thing to consider is the type of storage you would like to use in the room. As a galley kitchen is such a narrow room with limited space, having both base cabinets and wall-hung storage is a must. It is also a great idea to hide your fridge/freezer with built-in cabinetry that matches the rest of the room. This will help to make the room feel bigger as your eye will not get stuck on the fridge as it takes in the room. Open shelves are also an excellent idea for a galley kitchen, as they will still provide much-needed storage but will make the room feel more open than wall-hung cabinetry, which can make the room feel narrower than it is.
Think about the finishes you want to use
The next step is picking the finishes you want to use in your kitchen. This is where you will start to put your style into the room. You could use a bold pattern on the floor or splashback. A checkerboard floor will give a more traditional look or herringbone tile if you would like a more modern style. This is also an excellent time to pick the type of cabinetry you would like to use. It is better to keep the same style of cabinetry throughout the whole room, especially in a small space. This will help to make the room look more cohesive and, in turn, feel bigger.
Related Post | 11 beautiful types of tiles to use around your home
Choose a beautiful colour scheme
When working with a small space, such as a galley kitchen, picking a colour scheme that will not overwhelm it is essential. While there is a temptation to paint everything white to make it feel bigger, this will result in the kitchen feeling very cold. It is better to include a colour on the base units and then use a lighter colour on the walls and upper cabinetry. This will help to make the space feel more open. If you are feeling really bold and want a more stylish kitchen, then a bold colour on your cabinet is the way to go. A bright colour in a small space will make a big impact, so it is best to balance that with more muted or lighter colours on the wall.
Related Post | 15 Interior colour combinations to give your home a designer look
Make sure you consider your lighting
One thing that is always important to consider in any kitchen is the lighting. It can make the room easy and comfortable to use or make life tricky as you struggle to see what you are doing. You will want lighting that not only creates a welcoming atmosphere in the room but also task lighting that will ensure you will be able to see everything clearly. This can easily be achieved by adding under-cabinet lighting to your wall-hung cabinets. By doing this, you will be able to light the worktop you are using without any shadows getting in the way.
If you have added open shelves into your design, add wall lights to illuminate the display, making them more of a focal point within the room. A feature ceiling pendant is another way to add a focal point to the room. It will also help to make use of any height you have in the space and draw the eye upwards as you enter.
Galley Kitchen Layouts
Here are 3 different layouts of a 3.5m x 2.5m galley kitchen to inspire you.
This layout will give you a lot of worktop space (shown in light green) to use as a preparation area. By centring the cooker (shown in pink) on one wall, you will gain a large amount of space on both sides. Placing the pantry and fridge/freezer (shown in dark green) on either side of the entrance will make the room feel bigger as both taller cabinets are at one end, but this can result in the space feeling a little cramped as you walk in. Creating a focal point of the window to draw attention can help with this.
To maximise the amount of worktop space you have in the kitchen, you can join the two sides of your galley kitchen to create a U-shaped kitchen. This is the ideal place to put the sink (shown in purple), as the window above means you keep all upper cabinet space. As there is not enough room next to the sink, the dishwasher will have to be around the corner, but this still leaves an entire side of the kitchen open for the preparation area along with both sides of the cooker.
In this third layout option, the pantry and fridge/freezer have been moved to the other end of the room. This means the room will feel more open as you enter, but the window will have to be smaller to accommodate the appliances. As there is now less light, the room may feel smaller. The sink and cooker are now closer to the entrance. Removing the door and having just an archway as an entrance would be better so the door swing is not getting in the way of anyone trying to use the kitchen.
This post has been all about galley kitchen layouts and how to use them in your house to create the best space for you and your family.
Other posts you may like
6 of the best kitchen layout ideas to make your home work for you
Kitchen plants | The 11 best plants that will flourish in your kitchen
