A kitchen is the most complex part of a home. It may be large or small, frugal or expansive. It is where the home user spends more working time than any other. And it is where it is easy to make design mistakes that can make a home, or parts of it, inefficient and unduly expensive. The following list covers a number of the considerations that should go into the final decisions about kitchen design layout and implementation.

Sometimes you'll want to compromise because an item simply won't fit with the plan you really want and sometimes because you've got your own pet idea that's counter to the item in the list. The decisions are a very personal thing with you and your house will reflect that.

DO carefully consider the kitchen layout in terms of traffic, both within the kitchen and between the kitchen and the rest of the house - there should be no through traffic where people are working. Look at the work areas and add to those another consideration, people collecting dirty dishes from the eating area and carrying them to the sink and dishwasher. This eating area may be on an island, on a peninsula or a table in an adjacent breakfast nook.

Consider cabinet access carefully. You may want a walk-in pantry and, if you have room, go for it. And do take a hard look at using pullout shelves in cabinets wherever you can. They just make it so much easier in accessing whatever is stored in them. 

*Some people feel that a dishwasher it should be on the right-hand side of the sink and others that it should be on the same side as the disposal. Do it either way but do not separate them. While there isn't as much rinsing of dishes needed before they go into the dishwasher as there was a few years ago, it's hard to imagine loading a dishwasher where nothing gets a preliminary rinse or scrubbing. When they're wet and there's a separation between dishwasher and sink, it means extra attention to keep from dripping on the floor. And most of us would like to be able to scrape the dishes into the sink and then not have to take steps to reach the dishwasher.

Think about some extras in your kitchen that may make it a bit more user friendly - things that can express your personality in terms of some of your likes.

Such extras could include:

• Instant hot water. A special tap on the sink that has water at around 190° F which is great for making hot drinks like tea and chocolate avoiding the stove top or the microwave oven.
• A pot filler. This water tap mounts in the wall behind the stove top and gives you a way to directly fill pots that are on the stove so that you don't have to carry them or water across the kitchen from sink.
• A wine rack or racks. These can be cooled storage spaces that keep white wines at one temperature and reds at a warmer on. They are convenient and look impressive. Remember lighting. It should be substantial and not an afterthought. Can-type floodlights work fine, whether in a flat or a sloped ceiling. Don't forget the kitchen sink, it deserves a light of its own and do consider what you can put under cabinets over the counter work areas. There are unobtrusive lights that make a much more enjoyable workplace. DON'T forget switches and outlets. You decide what to have and where they should go, don't leave it solely to the electrician. He might or might not give you what you want if you don't speak up. He will know about codes and be sure that your ideas are OK in that respect. It's worth taking the time to plan ahead.