An 8x10 kitchen is a galley whether you planned one or not: the room is 96 by 120 inches, two 25-inch counter runs on the facing long walls consume 50 of that width, and the 46 inches left over is a working aisle with four inches of margin over the 42-inch minimum. That single number is the whole design. Spend it on an island and you have 22 inches of aisle, which is narrower than a dishwasher door, so the 80 square feet go to counter, appliances and one clear lane down the middle.
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Works
Does not fit
Each one is drawn to the room’s real proportions.
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Furniture covers 55% of the floor. 45% stays clear for walking, doors and pulling out drawers.
Best for One cook who wants the shortest possible walk between sink, range and fridge
Wet on the left, hot and cold on the right. The left run carries an 18-inch counter, a 36-inch sink base and a 24-inch dishwasher, then 42 inches of clear landing; the right run carries a 36-inch fridge, 18 inches of landing, a 30-inch range and 36 inches of counter. The work triangle measures 6.0 ft from sink to range, 4.3 ft from range to fridge and 6.1 ft from fridge back to sink, a 16.9 ft total that sits comfortably inside the 13 to 26 ft band. The one honest flaw is the refrigerator: at 36 inches deep it projects 11 inches past the counters, so the aisle pinches to 35 inches right where you stand to unload groceries. Put it at the entry end, where the pinch happens before the cooking zone rather than in the middle of it.
Strengths
Tradeoffs
Check a piece against these before ordering it, not after.
| Between | Minimum | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Aisle between two facing counter runs | 42 in minimum, 46 in here | Forty-two inches is one body plus one open appliance door. Below it, the dishwasher door and the opposite cabinet touch. |
| Landing beside the range | 15 in on one side, 12 in on the other | You need somewhere to set a hot pan down without turning. Twelve inches is the width of a trivet plus a hand. |
| Landing beside the refrigerator | 15 in on the handle side | Groceries come out two hands at a time and have to land somewhere. Fifteen inches is a full paper bag. |
| Counter beside the sink | 24 in on one side, 18 in on the other | One side stacks dirty, the other drains clean. A dishwasher top counts as landing on the side it sits on. |
| In front of the refrigerator door | 36 in | A 36 in fridge door swings a 36 in arc and you stand outside it. At 35 in of aisle you open the door and step backwards into the opposite counter. |
Each one is filtered to the measurements above.
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Folded 16–20 in deep, opens to 36–40 in
A studio needs a dining surface for two without giving up floor space six days a week.
Shop this spec24–36 in long, mounted 16–20 in apart
Storage that costs zero floor area, which is the only kind a small room can spare.
Shop this spec2700–3000K warm white, 200–400 lumens per foot
Overhead kitchen lights put your own shadow on the counter you are cutting on.
Shop this specExpand 12–20 in; measure drawer interior depth first
A drawer without dividers holds roughly half of what the same drawer holds with them.
Shop this spec46 inches, which is what is left after two 25-inch counter runs. The minimum for one cook is 42 inches and the minimum for two is 48, so an 8-foot-wide galley works for one person and is four inches short for two.
No. An island needs 42 inches of clear aisle on every working side plus the island itself, which is 24 inches at the absolute minimum - 42 + 24 + 42 is 108 inches, and the room is 96 inches wide.
A two-run galley if you cook alone and want the shortest work triangle, a U-shape if you want the most storage. The galley gives about 20 linear feet of cabinet with a 16.9 ft work triangle; the U gives about 26 linear feet and adds two blind corners.
Roughly 20 linear feet in a galley and 26 in a U-shape, before appliances. Subtract 30 inches for the range, 24 for the dishwasher and 36 for the sink base and you are left with 12 to 18 feet of actual working surface.
At the entry end of a run, not in the middle. A standard-depth fridge is 36 inches deep against 25-inch counters, so it projects 11 inches into the aisle - at the end of the run that pinch happens before the cooking zone rather than inside it.
Yes, for one cook. Eighty square feet holds a full-size fridge, a 30-inch range, a dishwasher, a proper sink and about 20 linear feet of cabinet. What it does not hold is an island, a table with chairs on both sides, or a second person working at the same time.
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