Kitchen Planning Guide, Guideline 23, Countertop Frontage

Guideline 23 Small Kitchens

Small kitchens - under 150 sq. ft. - allow at least 132" of usable countertop frontage

Guideline 23 Large Kitchens

Large kitchens - over 150 sq. ft. - allow at least 198" of usable countertop frontage. (Fig. 2)

Guideline 23 Clarification

Counters must be a minimum of 16" deep, and wall cabinets must be at least 15" above their surface for counter to be included in total frontage measurement. (Measure only countertop frontage, do not count corner space.) (Fig. 3)

Guideline 23 Clarification

If an appliance garage/storage cabinet extends to the counter, there must be 16" of clear space in front of this cabinet for the area to be counted as usable countertop frontage. (Fig. 4)

Guidelines used by permission from the National Kitchen & Bath Association