May 26, 2026

Galley for rooms under about 12m², L-shape for most family kitchens between 12 and 18m², U-shape when you want maximum storage and have at least 2.4m between the runs, and island only when you have 18m² and 3.6m of clear width. Those four cover almost every British kitchen.

The layout is the single decision that most affects how a kitchen works, and it is largely dictated by the room rather than by taste.

Galley

8 to 12m², eight to eleven units. Two runs facing each other. Everything within one step, which is why professional kitchens use it.

It needs at least 1,000mm between the runs, and 1,200mm is much better if two people cook. Below 900mm you cannot open opposite doors at once, which becomes irritating within a week.

Its reputation as a compromise is undeserved. A well-planned galley is more efficient than most large kitchens.

L-shape

12 to 18m², eleven to fifteen units. The default for a side return or a knocked-through terrace, and the layout we build most often.

Watch the corner. A standard corner unit swallows storage and gives back very little, so it is worth spending on a decent corner solution or planning the run so the corner falls somewhere useful, such as under a sink.

Leaves one wall free for a table, a dresser, or nothing at all, which is often the best use of it.

U-shape

14 to 22m², fifteen to nineteen units. The most storage per square metre of any layout, by a clear margin.

It needs 2.4m between the two parallel runs to feel comfortable. Below that the room closes in. It also creates two corners rather than one, so the corner question matters twice.

Best in a squarer room. In a long thin room it forces a very deep, dark middle.

Island

18 to 26m², eighteen to twenty-four units plus the island. The conversational layout, and the one everybody asks for.

It needs 3.6m of clear width minimum. Genuinely minimum. Below that it stops being a feature and becomes something you walk around.

How to choose in five minutes

• Measure the room and work out the area.
• Note the position of the window, the door, and the waste pipe.
• Under 12m², plan a galley and stop worrying about it.
• 12 to 18m², an L-shape unless the room is square, in which case consider a U.
• Over 18m² with 3.6m of width, an island earns its place.

The rule underneath all of it

Sink, hob and fridge should form a comfortable triangle with no leg longer than about 2.7m, and nothing should cross a walkway. If a layout breaks that, it will annoy you every day regardless of how it looks.