10 Amazing Wet And Dry Kitchen Ideas To Spruce Up Your Home
The kitchen is just an important part of a home as a living room or bedroom is, if not more. After all, it is where all the cooking and meal preparation takes place so everyone in your family can have delicious food whenever they want.
As the world of interior design continues to evolve, many different design styles have been devised for kitchens to make them as functional and aesthetically appealing as possible. One such design idea that not only looks beautiful but also helps greatly to improve efficiency in the kitchen is the separation of its wet and dry areas.
For those who don’t know, a wet kitchen is considered the part of the kitchen where the main cooking and washing parts of meal preparations take place. On the other hand, the dry kitchen is the space that is reserved for lighter tasks such as cutting, chopping, and other types of preparations.
Read on to find more information about these two distinct sections of a kitchen, their pros and cons, and some great inspirational ideas to help you design your own wet and dry kitchens.
Wet kitchen
The wet kitchen is that part of the kitchen where most of the messy work gets done during cooking and meal prep. This can include washing and cutting fish and meat, and frying and cooking things with a strong odor. These are the tasks that are bound to cause spills and splashes, so designating separate areas for them allows you to limit the space where the mess will be created. This part of the kitchen includes the sink and the faucet along with the stove. There is also an exhaust outlet in this area to keep the strong odor out. There is less free counter space in the wet kitchen.
Moreover, since the wet kitchen gets more messy, it needs to be cleaned and maintained more than the rest of the kitchen. Therefore, the materials used for the counters, backsplash, and floors are chosen accordingly which will facilitate convenient cleaning and maintenance. Ceramic or porcelain tiles are a good choice for backsplash tiles and floors whereas laminated cabinets are also appropriate for the wet kitchen since they can easily be wiped clean.
Dry kitchen
As opposed to the wet kitchen, the dry kitchen is the light kitchen. It is where the less messy stuff and light preparations go on. Making breakfast, heating meals in the microwave oven, making shakes and smoothies, and chopping up fruits and vegetables are some of the tasks that you can do in the dry kitchen.
The dry kitchen comprises separate counters or workstations that may even include a smaller sink and faucet that is used only for light washing of utensils or hands. The dry kitchen is also used as a communal place where the kitchen island and stools may be placed for the family members to sit together and engage in light conversation. If you’re looking for kitchen island designs, check out this article. Often, kitchen appliances such as the coffee maker, microwave oven, blender, and other similar appliances are placed in the dry kitchen.
Since a dry kitchen does not experience too much messy traffic, it needs not to be cleaned that frequently. Consequently, you can also choose the flooring accordingly. For example, you may want to place a rug or mat in that area because you know that there won’t be any wet floors to take care of.
Separating the wet and dry kitchens helps you improve your efficiency and productivity since there are defined workstations for different kinds of tasks. However, usually, both these types of kitchens are in close proximity to each other so you can seamlessly move from one part of the kitchen to the other and share the appliances and items that may be in the other part.
Inspirational ideas for wet and dry kitchen
There are many variations of wet and dry kitchens that you can incorporate into your home. Some can be materialized even in a small place whereas others require a larger space to work with. Below are some of the inspirations of wet and dry kitchens taken from the design portfolios by Swiss Interior.
The L-shaped wet/dry kitchen
This is the kind of kitchen layout that you can adopt in a closed or open-style concept. The arrangement of kitchen counters is an L-shaped pattern which lets you allocate separate spaces for the wet and dry areas. In an open-concept kitchen, one part of the counter acting as the dry kitchen can be intertwined with another counter, bar, or table to use it as a dining space. Alternatively, you can just place stools or chairs with the dry counter if you have less space.
As can be seen in the upcoming picture, the main layout comprises an L-shaped counter. One side of the kitchen countertop has the sink, faucet, and stove on it is the wet kitchen. On the other hand, the other counter is the dry kitchen and it being immediately next to the dining table helps it to be even more functional and convenient.
PASIR RIS DRIVE 10, RESALE HDB
L-shaped kitchen with a twist
Another variation of the L-shaped kitchen that can be used as a dry and wet kitchen is the one that somehow conceals the overall mess of the kitchen. As was seen in the previous portfolio, the open-concept kitchen allows everyone to see everything, so even if you had separated the messy and less messy areas, the whole space is still visible from the surroundings.
An intelligent twist to such a design so as to reduce the overall visibility of the kitchen is shown in the following image. In this kitchen, a similar L-shaped counter is used to separate the wet and dry areas. The wet counter has the sink and stove above which are the shelves and the exhaust. However, the dry counter beside it has a small vertical partition that hides the counter contents behind it. In this way, not only are there separate areas for the dry and wet tasks in the kitchen, the visible mess is concealed to some extent from the rest of the home despite it being an open-concept design.
BLK 63 TELOK BLANGAH - 3-ROOM HDB RESALE
Parallel counter kitchen
One variation of a kitchen that has separate areas for light and heavy cooking includes the kitchen counters that are designed in a parallel formation. This is a more functional design as everything you need is almost at arm’s length. If you are working in the wet kitchen, and need something from the dry part, you literally just have to turn around and grab whatever you want.
Consider the following portfolio image where we can see one set of counters that acts as the wet kitchen. It has a sink, stove, and a few basic utensils in that area. Behind that counter is the parallel island that acts as the dry kitchen. Notice how the counter also has several sets of drawers that make it an even more functional element.
BLK 438A BUKIT BATOK AVE 8 4 ROOM, HDB BTO
Parallel kitchen island and counter with dining table
In this beautiful dry and wet kitchen outlook, we can see a much longer kitchen island that is of equal length to that of the wet kitchen counter. The wet kitchen has all the necessary elements like stove, sink, shelves, and a few appliances. The dry kitchen island provides ample counter space for chopping and meal preps along with it being a communal place. This is achieved by placing kitchen stools on one side of the island.
Also notice a dining table that is quite near to the dry kitchen countertop. The close proximity of these counter spaces allows you to access both counters easily. This table adds more seating space for more people.
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A U-shaped dry/wet kitchen
When you think about a wet and dry kitchen, often only two sets of counters are involved. A more functional approach to creating wet and dry areas in your kitchen comprises three counters instead of two. There is a separate counter for the sink, a separate one for the stove, and a completely separate one that acts as the dry kitchen. This is achieved through a U-shaped configuration of the counters.
Notice in the following image how this layout creates designated areas for wet and dry kitchens. This way, if a person is washing the dishes, he doesn’t get in the way of the other person who is cooking at the other counter or chopping vegetables at the dry counter. All counters have their respective lower shelves and cabinets that provide storage for the relevant items of those counters. Notice that although in the picture below, glass is installed on the two walls but you may opt for an open-concept layout for this type of kitchen.
SWISS FEATURED PROJECT: SANTORINI 3 BEDDER CONDOMINIUM
A unique wet/dry kitchen layout
An interesting adaptation of a wet/dry kitchen that looks like a normal kitchen at first glance is described in the next portfolio image. In this kitchen, the counters take up the place along one wall but this wall is not straight. It curves at two sections to define invisible barriers on the counter, clearly defining the dry and wet areas.
Check out the image below in which the first part of the counter has the stove and appliances, making it the wet kitchen. The next counter, hence, is the dry kitchen followed by the sink, thus giving a traditional kitchen a new spin of wet and dry kitchen.
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A closed space wet/dry kitchen
Almost all the wet/dry kitchen ideas discussed above are the ones that are created in an open-concept design. However, this does not mean that you cannot have a wet and dry kitchen in a traditionally 4-walled kitchen. The main idea is to separate the counters that are reserved for heavier and lighter cooking tasks, and this can also be achieved in a walled kitchen.
Consider the following portfolio design where two parallel counters are designed in a way so that they serve different purposes. One counter has the sink and stove, thus it is the wet kitchen side while the other counter is left clean and decluttered where you can do all the chopping and other lighter tasks. There is also an attached smaller room which you can call a scullery kitchen where you can store all the pantry items. You can even install a small sink and stove here to create a smaller, designated wet kitchen.
BLK 313C SUMANG LINK 5ROOM HDB RESALE
A right-angled island kitchen style
As people try to create unique outlooks for their homes, they like to explore options that add a touch of uniqueness to the kitchen. Designating wet and dry kitchen areas is one such way but to add an even more different twist to this design, add in a kitchen island that is at right angle to the wet kitchen. Normally, in kitchens, you see islands that are parallel to the wet kitchen counter, but in this case, it is at a right angle.
As can be viewed in the next picture, a longer, rectangular island is the dry kitchen where you can easily relax and converse with a family member as you indulge in light meal preparations. All the heavy work is done at the wet kitchen counter. Naturally, this kind of a kitchen can only be designed if you have a larger room available but this can definitely add a unique twist to your kitchen.
315A PUNGGOL WAY 4-ROOM HDB BTO
A square wet/dry kitchen design
Often the kitchen is designed in a rectangular space and the counters are installed length-wise. If you have a square-shaped room for the kitchen, you can create an amazing open-concept kitchen with separate wet and dry areas.
As an inspiration, check out the following portfolio design. Here, we can see that the wet kitchen is designed on the left side with the counter comprising the stove, washing area, basic utensils, and plenty of related storage cabinets. At the back wall is the space where the refrigerator and other kitchen appliances are placed. This can be thought of as a sharing buffer between the wet kitchen and the dry kitchen.
In the center-front is the kitchen island or the dry kitchen. It has storage drawers on one side and sitting stools on the other. Thus, this layout boasts a beautiful, airy, and spacious dry and wet kitchen with improved efficiency and functionality.
157 YUNG LOH ROAD, 4 ROOM RESALE HDB
Kitchen island with an L-shaped counter
Yet another twist to a normal kitchen island style is a kitchen that has an L-shaped counter. This complete counter is basically the wet kitchen with the stove on one side and the sink on the other. This counter is sandwiched between the full-length storage cabinets that house the kitchen appliances along with the cabinets. In the center of the kitchen is the island that acts as the dry kitchen. You can even have a small sink on this island to do light washing tasks. This is also a functional arrangement since it allows you to easily access the appliances and switch between the wet and dry kitchens while still keeping these areas separate.
YISHUN BLK 419 5 ROOM HDB RESALE
These above-mentioned design ideas can be a great inspiration for you to help you design a wet and dry kitchen at your home. It doesn’t matter if you have a large or small place; you are bound to find some ideas that can help you create those areas in that amount of space.
Swiss Interior is a recommended interior designer in Singapore with expertise in HDB interior design and Condo interior design. You can contact us and get advice and inspiration from our professional and experienced consultants.