Worked room · 10 × 13 ft
Kitchen with the square footage but no working route
Ten by thirteen. Prep, pantry, landing, and the walk are all one strip.
A kitchen that measures generously and cooks badly. Everything that has to happen — chopping, unloading, setting down something hot, reaching the pantry, and walking through to the garden — happens on the same narrow field in front of one run of counter.
ReportedThose dimensions were declared for the example. They are not a tape in this room.
What Room Lab concluded
Buy nothing yet
moderateFunction · severepressure on its worst conditionFunction looks like the governing problem. Clear the primary walk — no money yet.
- Why
- Function is the primary friction at 86. Function scores 86. Multi-job capacity, storage vs. use, work/rest zoning. Movement at 70 is real, but it is not the thing a body hits first. Working counter run narrows the primary walk to 14" — 22" under the minimum. Addresses congestion and storage pile with a derived cause behind it. It costs nothing, takes about 30 minutes, and is undone in a minute.
- Caveat
- Unnamed: whether the peninsula is fixed to the floor; which circuit the counter outlets share.
- NextTest
- Remove anything that is not furniture from the walk, then look hard at Working counter run, which is what narrows it. Bags, mail, laundry, the chair that became a hook. What to watch: Tape the walk. It measures 14" now and must hold 36" with the door open.
This holds until: The “Clear the primary walk” step is complete and a second reading shows what changed.
Driven by Function score (86). Moderate — enough is scored to rank, and the top two are close or something is unnamed.
Where the walk narrows
The widest way through measures 14" at its tightest, against Working counter run. The minimum is 36".
- Pinched walk
- Hatched fails its clearance, or is causing friction
- Primary walk narrows to 14" beside Working counter run; it needs 36".
- Egress narrows to 0" beside Pantry cupboard; it needs 36".
- Primary walk ≥ 36" fails, with 14" because of Working counter run.
- Door landing ≥ 30" fails, with 10" because of Pantry cupboard.
- Kitchen work aisle ≥ 42" passes, with 53".
Pieces on this plan
- Working counter run1' 9" × 10' 6" · Unknown
- Peninsula2' 6" × 6' 6" · Unknown
- Pantry cupboard2' 3" × 2' 6" · Unknown
- Counter appliances1' 6" × 3' 6" · Unknown
- Bin on the walk1' × 1' 6" · Unknown
Free moves first
Clear the primary walk
Remove anything that is not furniture from the walk, then look hard at Working counter run, which is what narrows it. Bags, mail, laundry, the chair that became a hook.
How to tell it worked: A body walks it without turning the shoulders.
Empty the pile onto a table
One surface. Sort: leave the room / stay in the room / leave the house. Do not buy storage yet.
How to tell it worked: The walk does not grow a new pile in 48 hours.
Move one heavy thing across the room
Take the largest piece on the crowded side and put it on the empty one. Do not buy something for the empty side — that is the expensive version of the same fix and it adds footprint.
How to tell it worked: Both halves of the room hold something with weight.
Then one reversible test at a time
One reversible split
Place a folding screen, a tension curtain, or a planted trough on the line between the two jobs. Live with it for seven days. Do not also move the bed in the same week.
What to watch: Can you do job A without seeing job B? Time the walk around the split — it must not pinch 36 inches.
Move the largest piece once
Shift the sofa, island, or bed off the crossing. Live with painter's tape marking the old footprint. Do not buy a new piece this week.
What to watch: Primary path ≥ 36". Conversation or work still functions.
Not worth buying yet
- Another rug before the walk is clear. Rugs do not fix circulation. They hide it.
- Hardwired statement fixture. Electrical is a watch or professional review is required. Prove the path with plug-in light.
- Decorative storage cubes for the pile. A lid is not a sort. Empty the pile first.