As a new homeowner, you may get overwhelmed when you try to think about different kitchen design ideas. You may have once asked, “Can I put my stove next to my sink?”
When cooking, you may need to wash one ingredient after another or other utensils. For this reason, having a sink near your stove might sound like an excellent idea.
But is it okay to do so? Let’s find out more from this post.
So, Can I Put My Stove Next To My Sink?
A question that people often asked around. Let’s begin.
Placing Your Sink Next To Stove
You can set your stove beside the sink. However, it’s essential to avoid placing them too close together. Ensure that there’s enough room between them to help you cook without struggling. Here’s what you should think about.
You will need to rinse your vegetables at the sink, chop them, and cook them on the kitchen stove. For this reason, you need to have a counter space between the sink and the stove that you can use for chopping.
Otherwise, you will have to take them somewhere else and chop them. If the two elements are close together, your kitchen becomes overcrowded.
Things You Need To Know
You can place the sink and stove parallel to each other. However, there are some mistakes that people make while doing this. Below are some tips to help you as you organize your kitchen.
Never Let Them Face Each Other
As much as placing a stove and a sink near each other may make things easier for you, never allow them to face each other. Doing this may cause a clash between the water from the sink and fire from the stove.
As a result, this affects the wellbeing of those using the kitchen. If you already have a stove facing the sink, try to put a potted plant or wood beside it to make the situation better.
Stove and water drainage hole
You might have a water drainage hole below your stove to help in cleaning. However, this doesn’t seem right because it can cause gastrointestinal issues on the person who regularly uses the kitchen.
Trash management space
Most people forget that they will need some space to put unwanted leftovers while cooking or after cooking. There are some things that you will need to throw away after washing your vegetables like potato peels. You can place a trash can near your exterior doors that you can quickly dispose of the trash off.
Lighting
As you work on the placement of your sink and stove in the kitchen, you shouldn’t forget about the light. Lighting is crucial as it helps you make accurate measurements of ingredients and chop the right size of vegetables.
Proper lighting is also crucial for safety reasons because you will be dealing with fire and sharp objects. Ensure that you have enough light.
Placing the dishwasher and the sink
While you will be putting the sink and the stove near each other, the same applies to the dishwasher. Remember, you will be cleaning some utensils in the dishwasher.
Sometimes you may transfer some dishes from the sink to the dishwasher after rinsing in the sink. The dishwasher should, therefore, be near the sink.
Ventilation
Have you thought about getting something to help you have fresh air circulation as you cook? Most people forget about ventilation. You need proper ventilation in your kitchen since it may get too hot and stuffy. Otherwise, you will end up smelling the food that you cooked some days ago when it’s already consumed.
Besides that, too much heat generated in your kitchen can cause the temperature to go up. As a result, this may make your refrigerator use more energy than usual, leading to high electricity bills.
Height of the cooking surface and the sink
As you place your stove and the sink, remember to consider the height of the cooking surface. It shouldn’t be too low or too high. The stovetop should be level with that of the counter. This is necessary so that heat from the cooktop won’t damage the counter after some time of using it.
Consider choosing your kitchen appliances before choosing the measurements of your kitchen cabinet.
Counter space of the sink
Your sink needs enough counter space on all the sides and not one side alone. This helps you have spaces to place your dishes and pots. You can have somewhere to put them while they are dirty and another area to place the dish rack.
Storage
As you plan to work on your sink and stove placement, remember to work on the storage. Where will you be storing your appliance and cookware?
Remember, you shouldn’t walk from room to room to get something that’s not available in the kitchen. You might want to install enough cabinets and kitchen drawers to keep the kitchen appliances needed.
Where Should You Place Your Sink And Stove?
When placing your sink and stove, avoid placing them on the corner. This also answers the question of the ideal distance of a kitchen sink to be placed at the corner of the counter. Put 16 inches between the sink and the corner of the counter so that they can have enough elbow room.
One side of the oven should have at least 15-18 inches of the counter. It would help if you placed your stove in the southeast or northwest direction of your home. But try to ensure that your kitchen isn’t constructed in the north, southeast, or northeast direction of your home.
It would help if you placed all the objects like stoves or gas in the southeast area of your kitchen. How you organize your kitchen is crucial to help you navigate easily while cooking. The sink and the stove are the most common areas that you frequently use while cooking.
Conclusion
To answer the question of “can I put my stove next to my sink?” we can conclude that it’s okay to do that. The most important thing is observing that there should be space between them.
You should also ensure that your sink has enough counter space on both sides to place the utensils and even chop off some stuff. Finally, you need to have a trash can near the sink to place what you don’t need anymore.
Now find out if it is ok to put your stove next to the fridge.