Our 10 Top Tips For Designing Your Dream Kitchen

2 Layout

You don’t want to fluff this up because it can make or break your kitchen. In the 30+ years that we’ve been in the kitchen and bathroom design business, deciding on the layout is what takes our customers the longest. That’s because there’s more to deciding on where to place your cupboards and kitchen appliances than meets the eye. Think about the space you have and how you want to use it. If you have a big room then an island in the centre with a hob makes a good focal point, as well as providing extra seating for the family and a place that people will always want to hang out at parties.  Smaller rooms benefit from Galley or ‘L’ Shaped kitchens, and there are many space-saving solutions on offer.

Kitchen storage and appliance placement is an important aspect of your kitchen design. Does your new kitchen have everything where you need it to be? For example, are you walking miles to your fridge to get the milk out every time you want to make a cup of tea? Or are you lugging plates through the kitchen to fill up the dishwasher?

Space around your kitchen appliances and cupboards is important not only so you can move around freely, but also to avoid any accidents or injuries. Think, panhandles being accidentally knocked off, and trip hazards caused by open drawers, or the dishwasher being left open.

4 Kitchen Units & Storage

With so much choice we understand that it can be hard choosing your kitchen cabinets, however, we say that it’s good to think about what style units will go with your property. For example, if you’ve just had an ultra-modern extension built, then a traditional country-style kitchen will look a little odd, as will space-age, high-gloss, handless, curved units, look out of place in a thatched cottage.

Storage is another very important factor because otherwise where will you put everything? The last thing you want is to use valuable space on your countertop to store crockery that could be stored in a cupboard, especially if you don't have a large worktop area. You’ll need to think about how you can store bulky items, like pots and pans and oven dishes. Deep drawers are good for this, as are cupboards that have a pull-out organiser.   And, it’s often the little things that you’ll forget about, like salt, pepper, and spice pots. If you have space, a spinning spice rack or a bespoke spice rack built into a kitchen unit is ideal.

6 Taps

There are some very stylish taps out there, but when choosing one make sure it’s functional and practical too. This might sound boring, but you want a kitchen tap that’s easy to use and not a challenge like something out of the Krypton Factor.

Choose levers instead of traditional handles for a modern look. Pull-out spray kitchen taps are brilliant for washing plates, pots, and pans, as well as washing fruit and vegetables.

8 Lighting

Food prep and cooking in a dimly lit kitchen can be hazardous. The bottom line is when you’re cooking you want to be able to see what you’re doing. So, ceiling spotlights, under-cabinet lights, and cooker hood lights will light up your kitchen so you can whip up whatever culinary delight you fancy, without chopping your fingers off. However, when you’ve got friends over, sat around that island that we mentioned earlier, you probably won’t want bright spotlights on your face like you’re a contestant on Mastermind. So, opt for dimmable pendant lights, LED colour changing lights, or the very on-trend Edison industrial style lights, to create the perfect ambiance.

10  Flooring

Choosing the right kitchen flooring will instantly tie together the whole room. It should compliment the kitchen units, worktops, and colour of the room as well as being durable to withstand the amount of traffic it’s likely to see.

Tile is very durable but yet cold underfoot, so you may want to consider under-floor heating.

Laminate and Vinyl are popular choices because they’re stylish and easy to maintain.

LVT (Luxury Vinyl Tile) is hardwearing, waterproof, slip-resistant and comes in a wide range of gorgeous styles and patterns. LVT mimics the natural beauty of stone, slate, marble, and wood, so you can add the wow factor to your kitchen without paying the hefty price tag!