Standard Dimensions to Design Your Kitchen

by Devna Tiwari | February 18, 2024 | 5 mins read

Standard kitchen dimensions, check out kitchen dimensions to design your dream kitchen

Here’s our take on the standard dimensions to help you design your kitchen. Let’s get started with!

Over the last few years, kitchens have grown from carpenter made (or civil kitchens) with basic cabinetry and countertops to extraordinarily sleek and functional modular kitchen designs.

While modular kitchens are extremely functional and modern, if not designed and planned properly, can spoil your cooking experience. Right dimensions play an important role in designing a functional kitchen as they help you place every element in the correct place and direction.

While engineers have spent several years perfecting the right standard dimensions to design a kitchen our team of designers at Design Cafe have mastered the art of designing ergonomic kitchens with the right dimensions. A well designed kitchen with proper dimensions helps avoid unnatural postures and gives you a hassle-free cooking experience.

Today we bring you the right standard dimensions to design your kitchen. But before we get to that you must know about the golden triangle rule and how important it is to incorporate while designing your kitchen.

Infographic about kitchen tops

The Golden Triangle Rule

The golden triangle rule says that the preparation slab (sink), the storage unit (refrigerator), cooking range, (stove), must be installed within a gap of four-nine feet. The sink, stove, and refrigerator are the focal points of the kitchen and therefore need to be placed strategically. It is wise to place your stove and refrigerator opposite each other with the sink in the centre — forming a tentative triangle. Consider little details like putting your frequently used appliances closer to the refrigerator to make this golden triangle far more user-friendly. Do remember, segregate and bundle everything as per the functionality.

Know about golden triangle rule: slab, storage unit and cooking range while designing your kitchen
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Dimensions For Countertop And Sink

Your kitchen countertop and sink are the busiest sections of any kitchen. This is where all the cooking and washing happens. Hence, it’s essential that both these elements are placed rightly. The height of your kitchen countertop can vary depending on the height of the person who will be using it. The thumb rule of designing Indian kitchens is that there should be a gap of four inches between your elbow and the countertop. The sink is approximately equal height as the countertop height for apparent reasons. The perfect depth of a sink is about 56 centimeters. The depth of the countertop and the lower cabinets should be two feet. It may vary depending on the size of the gas stove or other appliances that are installed over or around it.

Standard dimensions of countertop and sink are:

Height: 72 centimeters

Width: 60 – 90 – 100 – 120 centimeters

With A Depth: 56 centimeters

Check out kitchen sink dimensions and kitchen counter dimensions

Dimensions For Wall Cabinets

Typically wall cabinets are installed according to the user’s height to avoid unnecessary bending and stretching to take out utensils while you are prepare food. Wall cabinets are usually used for everyday ingredients, appliances and dishes. Hence, the ideal depth for the wall cabinets is about 32 centimeters to ensure you don’t bump into shutters while you are cooking!

The standard dimensions for wall cabinets are:

Height: anywhere between 30 – 90 centimeters

Width: 40 – 90 centimeters

Depth of 32 centimeters

Standard kitchen dimensions for wall cabinets to design your kitchen
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Dimensions For Base Cabinets

In modular kitchen designs, base cabinets are installed to store large  containers and vessels. Contrary to its primary function storage, base cabinets additionally play a significant role in easy accessibility in your kitchen. Considering almost every member of the family uses base kitchen cabinets, its dimensions must be as follows: 

Height: 36 – 85 centimeters

Width: 15 – 120 centimeters

 Depth: 41 – 56 centimeters

Dimensions for modular kitchen base cabinets to store large containers and vessels

Dimensions For Kitchen Island

A kitchen island is typically used as an extra workstation and adds to the functionality of the golden triangle in modern kitchens. It can also act as a casual breakfast counter while in certain cases it works as a storage and hob unit too. Before you design your modular kitchen, dig deep into the functions you want your kitchen island to focus on to increase the functionality of your cooking space. Kitchen islands do not have standard dimensions. It is not a one-size, fits in all feature. However, as a rule of thumb, a kitchen island must not use more than 10 percent of the overall space in your kitchen layout. This translates to a maximum breadth x length of 3.5 feet x 4 feet. An island larger than this will dominate your kitchen and make it challenging to move around freely.

Kitchen island dimensions to design your modern kitchen by using golden triangle rule

Dimensions For Backsplashes

Backsplashes have become a popular means to add aesthetics to modular kitchen designs. It is usually made of easy-to-clean materials as they are extremely prone to get dirty. A backsplash rests between the countertop and wall cabinets to protect your walls from getting dirty. The ideal height of a backsplash should be about 60 centimeters.

Kitchen dimensions for backsplashes, height should be 60 centimeters

And it’s a wrap!

We hope these dimensions help you design a perfect kitchen for yourself.

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Devna Tiwari is a content writer at Design Cafe's home interiors blog.

Devna Tiwari

Devna Tiwari is a content writer at DesignCafe and comes with four years of experience. She walks undeterred, heads up against all odds and sits down to write about them. When she is not out there capturing every moment to permanence or trying out new restaurants, she is busy planning her next voyage. She is also the author of the book The Surrogate Girlfriend.

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