Kitchen Design Tips: Creating a Functional Cooking + Baking Zone

Shandra McCracken
Dec 8
5 min read

A calm, efficient kitchen begins with thoughtful design. Learn cooking and baking zone design ideas, practical storage tips, and layout solutions that make daily life easier.

Cooking and baking zone design with stainless steel wall ovens, gas cooktop, white cabinetry, and under-cabinet lighting in a modern kitchen.

I think this part of the kitchen is one of the most important.

All of your preparation hits the heat here, and there are a few things you need to go right. You need your range or cooktop to heat properly, your hood vent to pull moisture and strong aromas up and out of your house, your oven to bake evenly, and enough surrounding space to support your prepped food as it moves from uncooked to cooked and stays warm.

So, let’s chat about what a kitchen is like when it doesn’t meet the standard and how to create one that does.

Kitchens that fail the cooking and baking zone design challenge

My first issue with a kitchen cooking zone that doesn’t hit the mark is the vent hood. Have you worked in a kitchen where the vent hood is as loud as having your windows open while driving down a highway? That’s a big bummer for me. Cooking and baking lose their calm joy for me if an incredibly loud vent hood shhhhhhhhhh covers up the music or movie I typically have on in the background.

A second bummer is if the appliances cannot hold up their end of the kitchen deal. I don’t think it’s too much to require a gas burner to light on at least the third click, or an oven to consistently heat each time I pop in a pan of my favorite Neiman-Marcus chocolate chip cookies. The excuse, it’s just the charm of the kitchen, can last only so long before I begin googling “top gas stoves” and scrolling through features and reviews.

The final straw has to be when the space on either side of the range is nearly nonexistent. I want to be able to bring the pan of my dredged and floured chicken tenderloins over to the left side of the cooktop while a glass 9x13 pan awaits my freshly pan-fried chicken, crispy and golden, ready for keeping warm. I also want space for my spices, oils, and butter; otherwise, I’m taking my attention off the fire, and that’s not ideal.

A kitchen that’s built for cooking and baking bliss

Beyond the grievances I listed, each person might have a slightly different concept of what it would take for a kitchen to meet your cooking and baking standards. Some of you are quite the baker, and double convection wall ovens are a must. I see you. Others saute like a champ, flicking that pan with mastered ease, and wouldn’t think of touching a non-gas range or cooktop. (I’m truly impressed … and leave that to you! It scares me.) Besides knowing that you will need reliable appliances, the exact appliances you would choose depend on how often you use them and to what extent professional/commercial-grade appliances meet your requirements.

So, let’s list the nitty-gritty of what makes a sigh-worthy cooking zone:

Work Triangle: Each leg of the pathway between the stove, sink, and refrigerator should be no more than 11.5 feet, with the total pathway length under 15 feet.
Landing Space: 36-48 inches of countertop landing space beside the range or cooktop, with a minimum of 18 inches on both sides.
Vent Hoods: Not only should you not skimp on CFMs, but you also need to follow the codes for the stove you have chosen and always vent outside of your house.
Wall Ovens: Should be installed within waist-to-shoulder height.
Sink: The sink and faucet should handle your cooking and baking tasks. So, think about your baking sheet sizes, cast-iron Dutch ovens and pans, etc., so you can choose the type of sink material, faucet arc, and the sprayer location that would work best for you.
Refrigerator: You know how you like to keep food, so think about shelving, water features, and organizing bins that would meet your needs in the kitchen.
Organization Considerations: Deep drawers beneath a cooktop, utensil storage, oil storage, spices storage, mixer lift, appliance garage, baking sheet organizer, cookbook storage, etc.

Where everything finds its place

I wanted to put the storage bullet point last because it deserves its own section.

I love a deep drawer to house my pots and pans. I can almost hear Julia Child exclaiming, ‘Oh dear!’ while clutching her copper pots meant only for display over islands. I am of the mindset that the less left out in a kitchen, the better. I prefer aesthetically placed wooden cutting boards with tiny battery-operated lamps and a favorite cookbook displayed, while the rest of the countertop area is shiny and bare. (I didn’t say it happens …)

Another neat organizational feature to consider is slim pull-out cabinets for utensils, oils, and spices. They typically flank the range on either side. Or, if you prefer seeing uniform jars of spices nested neatly onto stadium seating in a shallow drawer, let’s do it. Niche shelving on either side of the range has also caught my eye for slim jars of infused oils and most-used seasonings. I don’t believe you can go wrong with any of these methods.

Speaking to the bakers now, are you someone who has multiple pins of a mixer lift in your dream kitchen board? There are spring-loaded base cabinet lifts and a slide-out mixer base hidden away in an appliance garage. Personally, I don’t always bake in the same space, depending on how many of us are cooking and baking in the kitchen at one time, so I ideally prefer ours (and yes, we have multiple) in an appliance garage or on a shelf in the nearby pantry.

Lastly, a few thoughtful storage details can make cooking and baking feel effortless: baking sheet dividers, cookbook shelving, and a convenient spot for cooling racks. Add shallow drawers for cutting boards, another for knives that rest securely in their own slots, a built-in paper towel holder, and adjustable dividers with soft-close slides. These features often end up being the unsung heroes of a kitchen.

Where it all comes together

These are the kitchen-defining features that deserve attention during a remodel. Otherwise, even the prettiest backsplash can’t make up for extra steps in an ill-planned layout.

Take some time to scroll through Pinterest for ideas you might not have seen before, or talk through options with your designer and builder. Once the bones of your kitchen are set, you’ll feel yourself relax into the finishing stage.

If you’re beginning to plan your own remodel, we’d love to help you create a kitchen that feels balanced, practical, and timeless. Reach out to Dovetail Contracting to start the conversation; we’ll walk you through what matters most in your kitchen so it truly works for you.