Kitchen is not a separate space from the overall flat and kitchen layouts should be treated as organic parts of the whole design.
That’s what architects do – they design the whole space, not just kitchen layouts.
In this blog post, we will see how design solutions that look strange at first, can actually work for the overall space!

Kitchen layout for a long narrow space

This is one of the strangest layout solutions I’ve seen: a kitchen directly connected to a space with hot tube and armchairs.
In this apartment, the bathroom serves as a central hub. To the front, there’s the living room, flanked on one side by the kitchen and on the other by the office. At the back, a space featuring a hot tub spans the façade, doubling as a balcony that shifts between social and private uses depending on the occasion. The surrounding rooms are integrated around the bathroom, promoting a seamless circular flow within the social areas of the apartment. Curtains are strategically placed to ensure privacy when needed.
As for the kitchen layout itself: the space is quite narrow and there’s only a one-wall kitchen with additional shelves on the opposite side.
Small kitchen with multiple access points to the rest of the flat

The kitchen is located near the center of the floor plan, adjacent to the living area and the dining room, forming a cohesive social zone. It’s also in close proximity to the entrance, providing practical access for bringing in groceries and other supplies without traversing the entire apartment.
Multiple access points might limit the amount of usable space. However, this layout solution has its reasoning:
In this house where a couple and their small child live, the kitchen was at the center of their living image.
The kitchen was placed at the center of the house so that when one stands at the kitchen counter, one can see into the dining room, desk space, and bedrooms.
In addition, to avoid a dead end at the back of the kitchen, a path to the living room was provided. A plan with circulation flow provides a sense of expansiveness to a small residence.
Unusual kitchen layout in a small space

I like the unusual solucion of the kitchen layout: it starts with a sink that appears to be rotated 90 degrees to what we usually see in majority of kitchen solutions.
I also love how the architect uses the top of the cabinets that are oriented towards living room as countertops.
Overall, I think this flat layout is a very unique solution for an old building refurbishment.
Turn your back to the window while cooking

What we generally see in kitchen layouts is that the cabinets are placed against the window and usually the sink is located right at the window.
However, this layout shows that the creativity of an architect can make unusual things work nicely.
In this floor plan, the kitchen “island” happens to be at a distance from the facade wall with windows.
I assume, this is because according to the program the client wanted a walk-in pantry. If the architect put the cabinets right against the wall, then there would be no space left for the pantry door.
The direct connection of the pantry to the bathroom is a strange solution, but given the space of this flat I think the architect still made the best decisions.
A Perfect layout for small space

I love this solution for several reasons:
First of all, there is a clear separation between sleeping space and daily activities space.
Secondly, I love how the architect uses spaces at the large windows: the reading nook and the dining table.
Thirdly, I love how the kitchen is positioned within the flat, and I like the galley kitchen layout that has been chosen for this space.
kitchen wrapped around the bathroom

This is also quite an unusual layout solution that works. If you check the full project images, you will see that it’s a quite tiny space that needed creative thinking.


While there are certain aspects of this layout that I love, there are several things that I don’t like.
I love the connection of the kitchen with the “garden” and I hate that the entrance to the bathroom is through the kitchen.
Conclusion
These layouts show that architects can find creative unconventional solutions that might look strange at first but in reality, they can work.