When looking at organising your new dream kitchen, we advise these six simple steps to ensure that when it is installed, you have exactly what you want, and how you want it.
1. Engage
Engage with a kitchen designer early in the project. This will ensure that any structural works are all planned in advance to suit your kitchen requirements. If you are extending the room, and planning your kitchen around it, then any areas such as doorways and windows are installed in the correct position, allowing your kitchen to flow around it. Any structural work that is to be carried out can be discussed with your designer, meaning they can account for services such as electrics and plumbing. Engaging early will avoid disappointment and costly mistakes.
2. Plan
Plan what you would like and where. Kitchens have a ‘working triangle’, allowing the flow of the room to be focussed around the fridge, hob/oven and sink. These areas should have a non-obstructed, clear path for safety, and ease of use. The key elements of the kitchen, these areas need to be sensibly arranged to ensure smooth manoeuvring between them. Free movement will make any time you spend in the kitchen a pleasure.
3. Lighting
Lighting should always be part of the early planning process. Many customers forget about lighting until the last, but it should be accounted for from the beginning. Once you have started to create your plan and decided where the key elements are to be placed, consider where you would like lighting and what type of lighting. With the inclusion of islands, breakfast bars or expansion of a room, there is an opportunity to redefine the ambience of the space. Halogen spotlights and under cupboard lights can be mixed or contrasted. Your breakfast island could have one large statement pendant light or three smaller pendants for a softer feel.
4. Storage
Storage is a requirement of every dream kitchen, and the whole room must work intelligently. If you have found the flow interrupted due to obstacles, incorrect placements of elements then now you have a chance to replot the whole. When it comes to storage there are so many available options including floor to ceiling cupboards that accentuate the height of your room. When it comes to utilising the height, pull-down racks or drawer boxes mean that no space is wasted, and the ease of use will ensure that daily use products are easily accessible. Corners can be an awkward area, so we would recommend the Lemans as an invaluable addition for those difficult corner units.
5. Flooring
Flooring is another area that might need to be replaced when you are changing the look of a room, and in a hardworking kitchen it is worth investing in a hardworking floor. It needs to look beautiful, but it also needs to remain looking beautiful as time, and feet create flaws. We recommend engaging with your kitchen designer early in the process to ensure you’re your chosen flooring is considered and the right one for you and your family. We recommend the Karndean floor for durability and beauty. Offering many range and colours.
6. Worktops
Worktops can be a difficult decision with so much to choose from. The best advice we can give in the first instance is to spend as much as you can afford, as they will get the most wear. Solid tops like Quartz and Granite are more expensive but by far the hardest wearing. Other options like Timber and Corian need a little more looking after and occasional maintenance. If budget allows, we would recommend a Quartz, such as Silestone or Dekton as it is by far the most durable option, very easy to clean, needs very little care and looks stunning.
For more advice and help on how to create your dream kitchen, please contact us here to make an appointment.