Most kitchens have three major areas where the majority of things happen, the sink, the stove and the refrigerator. The “work triangle” is set up between these three areas. According to the National Kitchen and Bath Association, the sum of the three sides of the triangle between those areas should not exceed 26 feet and each side needs to be between 4 and 9 feet long. You don’t want the three so close together that your kitchen feels cramped as you prepare food. On the other hand, you don’t want them so far apart that it makes any task that takes you from one point to another to be needlessly taxing.

One other important guideline is that there should not be any major traffic patterns that go through the triangle. Imagine yourself working in the kitchen and having to weave around people as they walk through your kitchen work area.

The biggest key when you consider your kitchen, particularly if you are planning an upgrade is how does the kitchen work with your lifestyle? For the most part, according to kitchens.com, the triangle is built around the idea of one person and three major areas for preparing food.

Note that if you share cooking duties with someone, that will mean changing things up to accommodate that. Also, if you add more workspaces to your kitchen, there may need to be more than just three points to consider.

The bottom line is that you consider function in the kitchen as the main driving force. Making a kitchen look great is easy enough to do with so many options in appliances, countertops, and sinks. However, your kitchen could be beyond stunning and still impossible to deal with, if it isn’t designed with practical function in mind.

You need to strike the right balance on function and beauty and this will give you a kitchen that you will enjoy for years.