Galley Kitchens – What Are They?

Design in a kitchen context is about more then simply looking good; it’s about creating a space that is efficient in it’s function, in addition to having an eye pleasing form, and balancing the two of them in perfect harmony. There’s no one way to do this, of course- form and functionality are subjective and what works for one person won’t immediately work for another, so on and so forth. Baring that in mind, we’d like to highlight one particularly clever form of kitchen design that we think is, by far and away, exceedingly phenomenal in how well it blends both; that of the Galley Kitchen.

You will have seen plenty of Galley Kitchen’s before, even if you’re not immediately familiar with the name. A Galley Kitchen is a kitchen space wherein two parallel runs of units form a central walk-space, putting everything within immediate ease of access. You’ll find Galley Kitchens in narrow or small kitchens predominantly, but they work with more or less any kind of kitchen setup, even wider ones. Design ethic is also not a restrictive element; Galley Kitchens come in all shapes and forms, be they Shaker or Modern.

A few of you will be scratching your heads at this point, wondering what makes a kitchen that is far more intimate- and in some views, cramped- so desirable. Well, what you sacrifice in terms of social space, you stand to gain in functionality; as mentioned above, the design of a galley kitchen means that everything is within ease of access, and in narrower kitchens this means there’s far less ground to cover if you’re cooking anything time sensitive. If you’re smart, you can even plan a Galley Kitchen out so that the most essential items are contained within the same area, on either side. In fact, here’s an interesting bit of trivia for you; Galley Kitchens are favoured among man professional chefs entirely because of this reasoning. So, if you’re more focused on maximising your kitchen space for cooking prowess then you are turning said kitchen space into a social hub, then a Galley Kitchen might just be the thing you’re looking for!

As always, we offer further consultation on all kitchen design matters should require it. Simply head on over to our contact page to speak with our professional design staff directly, as they will be happy to field any and all questions you may have.