Looking for a kitchen layout, with space for multiple cooks and onlookers? Consider the versatile L-shape, a two-walled setup that tucks neatly into a corner while remaining open to the surrounding space. The L-shaped kitchen works especially well in lofts and open-living setups where it's often wrapped around an island or dining table. Here's a look at some favorite examples:
Above: A diagram illustrates how the ergonomic kitchen work triangle (stove, refrigerator and sink) can work in an L-shaped kitchen. Image via Archway Construction.
Above: Shelves run across the short leg of this L-shaped kitchen, providing open storage for artwork and ceramics. Image via Obumex.
Above: A streamlined fireplace and island face an expansive L-shaped kitchen in a New York brownstone by architecture firm O'neill Rose, a member of the Remodelista Architect/Design Directory. A window wall at the far end provides storage and separates the working kitchen from the breakfast room. See how O'neill Rose rebuilt the house behind a landmarked 19th century facade in A Brownstone for the 21st Century. Photograph by Michael Moran.
Above: Danish illustrator Nynne Rosenvinge's L-shaped kitchen in Copenhagen is a study in black and white with disciplined pops of color. Image via Femina.
Above: A marble-topped island is the focus of this L-shaped kitchen with subway-tiled walls. Image via Kitchen Lab Design.
Above: Butcher block counters and a Dinesen Heart Oak Floor complement a wooden dining table in an otherwise rigorously white L-shaped kitchen in Copenhagen. Image via Archilovers.
Above: Black cabinets with concrete countertops anchor a light and airy—and enviably tall-ceilinged—L-shaped kitchen in Rotterdam. Image from Fantastic Frank via April and May.
Above: Plywood cabinets form an inviting L-shaped kitchen in a Melbourne apartment by architect Clare Cousins. Like to create something similar? See our Steal This Look and tour the full apartment in An Artful Makeover with Plywood.
Above: L-shaped kitchens are often seen in farm-style country kitchens with much-used dining tables. Image via Lonny Magazine on Flickr.
Above: The Brooklyn Home Company created an L-shaped country kitchen with a long wood table and open shelving in a Brooklyn townhouse apartment.
Above: London photographer Abi Campbell's L-shaped kitchen has a Carrara-marble counter and Plain English cabinets that end in a glass-doored pantry. See more details, including the pantry layout, in a Photographer's Kitchen in London. Inspired? See Kitchen Confidential: 10 Ways to Achieve the Plain English Look. Photograph by Matt Clayton.
We'll be examining kitchen layouts all week. So far we've looked at The U-Shaped Kitchen and Kitchen Islands Gone Glamorous. If you've got your eye on a wood floor for your kitchen, see The World's Most Beautiful Wood Floors. For advice on all sorts of remodeling issues, dip into our Remodeling 101 archive.