Kitchen Layouts: An L-Shaped vs. U-Shaped Design

A kitchen happens to be the only place in the house where you see the most traffic. Especially in India, where we still have joint families, the number of people working in the same kitchen is sometimes unbelievable. In some of the more modern households, we see a small dining space in the kitchens where family members tend to gather for breakfast or for high tea.

Therefore, when you’re planning the layout of a new kitchen or revamping your existing kitchen, it becomes necessary to thoroughly research all your options.

These days, you find a number of modern, more recent layouts like the Island, Peninsula, and Galley in the modular kitchen in Trivandrum, Ahmedabad, and so on. But, the classic layouts - the U- and the L-shaped ones - they just never get old. The benefits that these layouts offer are diverse from each other, except for one important similarity - the working triangle. This one trait is what makes these classic designs into a timeless success. It is the carefully designed working triangle - the optimally distanced sink from the fridge from the oven from the sink - that makes it super-efficient to work in the kitchen.

	L-shaped Kitchen	U-shaped Kitchen
An Overview	Just like the name suggests, an L-shaped kitchen is shaped in the form of the letter “L”, with two walls - one, nearly twice the length of the other - intersecting to give you that shape.	A U-shaped kitchen has three walls that come together, giving you a layout similar to the letter “U”.
Why Choose This Layout?	●       It is an awesome space saver, especially if you have a smaller kitchen. ●       If you'd like to have a breakfast nook, it will work well within this layout. ●       This layout usually offers 2 entrances/exits; that makes it easy to access the kitchen from inside as well as outside. ●       It is an ideal layout for a kitchen with an open design.	●       If you have a large kitchen, this would prove a better layout for you. ●       This design brings the working triangle closer together; that makes it quite ideal for people who love to cook. ●       It is a versatile kitchen layout. If you’d like to renovate later, you could easily replace the third wall with an island.
Decor Tip	Contrary to what most people feel, dark colours do work for smaller kitchens. You can use darker cabinets and also floor tiles, provided that you choose lighter colours for the walls and cabinet tops.	U-shaped kitchens give your space to be more creative. So, you can dare to be different while working with this layout. One example is going for double bowl sink instead of one, because it is more efficient than the latter, and because of you clearly have the space for it!