Planning a New Kitchen

With some careful planning, you can create your dream kitchen that will not only look great but also be practical. We look at everything, from choosing the right combination of units to upgrading your heating!

If you are planning a kitchen and need some help finding a local kitchen showroom, we can match you with the most suitable ones for your project.

1. Plan a practical layout Most kitchen layouts can adopt the working triangle which is a three-point guide for the placement of the sink, fridge and cooking areas. This rule of thumb works well and is about keeping the most-used areas of the kitchen in close enough proximity to each other. 3.6 metres to allow for plenty of room for food preparation between the appliances. When planning a kitchen, try and keep the working triangle away from areas of high footfall, particularly if you have young children running through the kitchen!

Keep the dishwasher near the sink and also make sure your bin is located close to the dishwasher too - this will make cleaning up much easier. Lastly, leave at least 30 cm either side of the cooker to allow for food preparation and a place to leave pots

2. Allow plenty of space between the units Allow at least 80 cm behind your cabinets so that you have enough room to comfortably open drawers and cupboard doors - ideally this would be more than 1 metre if you have a busy kitchen.

Carefully consider the proportions of your room when planning a kitchen. For example, don’t squash in a small island unit if you really don’t have the space - it won’t look right and will spoil your kitchen. There are plenty of great alternative to kitchen islands including a peninsula, placing the island against the wall or a butchers block which can be moved.

3. Do you have enough of the right kind of cupboards? It’s a great time to go through your kitchen cupboards and recycle things that are lurking about unused, so you are not filling your new kitchen with items you never use. Plan exactly what you need to have in your kitchen and make sure you incorporate enough cupboard space and also the right kind of cupboards and drawers. Wide drawers for pots and plates are so popular right now and look wonderful too.

Instead of having cabinets hung on the wall, consider having one wall with floor to ceiling cabinets and leave the rest of the wall space

Corner carousels are brilliant to gain easy access to the back of a corner unit and use what would be previously wasted space. Consider a larder or pantry which can range from a traditional freestanding larder to a narrow pull out larder integrated into a tall cupboard.

4. Carefully plan your lighting Lighting is so important in the kitchen and something that we often think about later in the process after choosing the kitchen. But you should draw up a lighting plan early on as carefully chosen lighting can really add to the look of your kitchen.

Pendant lights look great hanging over an island unit or dining table, but make sure they are not too large and end up dominating and obstruct your line of sight.

Most people incorporate spotlights but a common mistake is to include too few. Plan for the spotlights to be 1 metre apart and 1.5 metres away from the wall and put the lights on a dimmer switch so you can change the lighting throughout the day. If your kitchen is large, consider having your spotlights on 2-3 different circuits so you can light up separate zones in your kitchen.

LED strips are a great idea for underneath wall and floor cabinets and they create an ultra modern look. If you want a softer look go for down-lights under the cabinets which will brighten up dark corners. Lights under the cabinets create some mood lighting in the evening if you are entertaining friends and family.

5. Make the most of the natural light If you are extending your kitchen, then this is a great time to increase the natural light flooding into your home. With light from above bringing in up to 3 times as much light than a standard vertical window, incorporating a roof lantern or sky lights is a great idea. Of course, wonderful sliders and bi-folding doors will add to the light even more.

If you are not extending, make the most of your natural light. Keep wall cupboards away from the windows so they allow as much natural light to flood in, and think about swapping internal doors to be

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