Room to Move:
Kitchen Clearances
by Nancy Thomas
Cozy kitchens are warm and
charming, and evoke emotional
responses similar to those elicited by a
crackling fire in mid-winter. But
coziness is not always welcome;
particularly if it means opening the
dishwasher into someone's hind
quarters or two people colliding while
trying to reach a pot that's boiling
over. These sort of problems arise
when we fail to follow the
fundamental rules of layout and
clearances. This month, we'll look at
the basic clearances to keep in mind
when designing a kitchen.
First, let's look at counter surface
areas. In general, a range or cooktop
should have at least 12 inches of
counter on each side. This is mainly
for safety: a place