Parts of a Kitchen – Cabinets, Countertop and Appliances

All 15 parts on the diagram

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The back wall 10

Countertop (worktop) A flat surface on which food can be prepared. One countertop usually covers a whole run of base cabinets. Countertop is mainly American; worktop is the British word.
Base cabinets Floor cabinets, built in. Several in a row are covered by one countertop.
Wall cabinets Cabinets mounted on the wall over the countertop. Shelves sit behind the doors.
Drawers A box without a top that slides in and out of furniture.
Backsplash (splashback) A wall area of hard material, often tile, behind a countertop. It protects the wall and wipes clean. Backsplash is American. Splashback is British.
Sink A bowl fixed in place for washing dishes or hands. Connected pipes bring water and carry it away.
Faucet (tap) A device that controls the flow of water from a pipe. Faucet is the American word; tap is the British one.
Dishwasher A machine that washes dirty plates, cups and forks. It fits under the countertop, in the run of base cabinets.
Cooktop (hob) The surface on which pans are heated. Here it is set into the countertop on its own. British English calls it a hob.
Range hood (extractor) A cover with a fan inside, fixed above the cooking surface. It removes steam, smoke and cooking smells. Also called an extractor hood.

Tall units and island 5

Refrigerator (fridge) Kitchen equipment that uses electricity to keep food at a cold temperature. Fridge is the short name.
Pantry A large cupboard, or a small room, where food is kept.
Microwave An electric oven that cooks or heats food quickly. It uses waves of energy.
Oven A box-shaped space with a door where food is baked or roasted. It can be the lower part of a range or, as here, a separate appliance built into a cabinet.
Island A piece of furniture placed in the middle of a kitchen. It has a countertop and cupboard space.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two independent sources use it for this part: Wikipedia, text only (Kitchen, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitchen; Kitchen cabinet, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitchen_cabinet; Kitchen hood, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitchen_hood; Countertop, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countertop); the Cambridge Dictionary, a learner's dictionary that marks British and American words (worktop, countertop, backsplash, splashback, tap, faucet, hob, cooker, range, range hood, extractor hood, oven, microwave, dishwasher, refrigerator, sink, drawer, pantry, island, breakfast bar; https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/); the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Housing Act Design Manual, chapter 7, Usable Kitchens (base cabinets, countertop, sink, faucet, dishwasher, range, cooktop, oven, refrigerator, pantry, island), https://www.huduser.gov/portal/publications/pdf/fairhousing/fairch7.pdf; and a 1959 retailer's kitchen planning book for base cabinets, wall cabinets, drawers and faucet, https://archive.org/details/KitchenPlanningBook. Hints and detail lines are in our own words. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's kitchen, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

A fitted kitchen is built from a few kinds of unit. The first drawing names the back wall, from wall cabinets down to base cabinets; the second names the tall units and the island. British names are in brackets.

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How a fitted kitchen goes together

Base cabinets stand on the floor, and one countertop runs across the top of them. Wall cabinets hang above, and the backsplash covers the wall in between. In this kitchen the sink, the cooktop and the dishwasher are set into the base run. A cooktop with a separate oven does the job of a range, which has the cooking surface and the oven in one appliance. The range hood over the cooktop has a fan that removes steam, smoke and smells. The tall units hold the refrigerator, a pantry for food, and the oven with a microwave above it. The island stands in the middle of the room with its own countertop.

In British English the countertop is a worktop, the faucet a tap, the cooktop a hob and the backsplash a splashback. Either name is accepted.
A range is called a cooker in Britain. This kitchen shows its two halves apart, as a cooktop and a wall oven.

Questions and answers

What are the main parts of a kitchen?

The fixed units and the appliances. Units: base cabinets, wall cabinets, a countertop and a backsplash, often a pantry and an island. Appliances and fittings: a sink and faucet, a cooktop and oven or a range, a range hood, a dishwasher, a microwave, a refrigerator.

What is the difference between a range and a cooktop?

A cooktop is only the cooking surface, set into the countertop. A range has the cooking surface on top and usually an oven below, in one appliance. British English calls a range a cooker and a cooktop a hob.

What is the wall behind a kitchen counter called?

The backsplash, or splashback in British English: an area of hard material, often tile, that covers the wall behind the countertop so it is protected and easy to clean.

What is a kitchen island?

A piece of furniture with a countertop and cupboard space that stands in the middle of the kitchen. A long, narrow surface where people sit on high stools to eat is called a breakfast bar.