Starting your kitchen journey
As the saying goes, your kitchen is the heart of the home – the place where your family comes together to cook, dine, relax, and socialise. This arguably makes it the most important room in your house, so its design deserves careful planning and meticulous attention to detail.
At The Kitchen Workshop our designers will be there to guide you through the entire process of planning your kitchen, with the passion and industry experience needed to help bring your kitchen vision flawlessly to life. However, there are several careful considerations you can make before or whilst working with us, to make sure your finished kitchen is everything you have been dreaming of.
GETTING STARTED
Designing the most important room in your home requires careful planning. So, before you do anything else there are some key questions to ask yourself. As you do so keep a record of your ideas so you can refer back to them as your project progresses.
THE HOW AND WHEN
The first consideration to make before delving into your kitchen plans, is how and when you will be using your space. In many households, kitchens are no longer solely used for cooking and food preparation, with the room becoming the social hub of the home- where the family gather to relax, socialise, dine, and entertain.
If you form a list of ways your kitchen is used at the present, and ways you would like to use the space after the upcoming renovation, this can help you and us to form a clear idea of what your kitchen design needs to complement your everyday life perfectly.
KEY AREAS OF THE ROOM
There are 4 vital zones that will create a natural and efficient flow to your kitchen; cooking, food preparation, sink and storage. However, increasingly kitchens are used for all types of activities. Do you need a room that can cope with the rigours of a busy family? Are you going to dine in your kitchen? If so, plan enough room for a dining table or alternatively a breakfast bar is a great place to congregate. You may be a keen cook and if you’re cooking for a large family a range cooker may figure in your plans along with plenty of worksurface space You may want to turn your kitchen into an open- plan design in which case an area to relax, and room for a sofa and TV may be important. Ultimately, it’s your kitchen, and the most important thing is how you and your family are going to use the space. Design the space and features (must have items) around the activities that will take place in your kitchen, and most of all ensure you match your kitchen to your lifestyle.
FINER DETAILS
As it becomes clear the demands you will be placing on your new kitchen, it’s time to consider the finer details you would like to incorporate into your design. From a practical perspective, you need to consider the appliances, worksurfaces, storage solutions, sink and tap – both in terms of appearance and functionality.
You may already have a look and style in mind for your space, but it would be a great idea to collect inspiration from magazines, websites, brochures, and social media, so that you can present these to us when expressing your wishes.
Or who not create a Pinterest board which you can then share with us.
MAIN FEATURES AND STORAGE
After deciding how you want to use your kitchen, it will be clearer what designer features could be introduced to improve the functionality and the aesthetic of your space.
From clever storage solutions to store away kitchen essentials, to a feature island with integrated seating for family dining, to an impressive wine cooler or American fridge freezer- writing down your feature requirements in terms of priority will help your Second Nature retailer understand what you’re looking for from your dream kitchen.
[link to storage]
BUDGET
With a kitchen the cost of key elements such as appliances, units and worksurfaces can vary dramatically. For instance, appliances may account for a considerable percentage of the total cost of the kitchen, however if branded top-end ovens, hobs, and extractors are specified this percentage can escalate dramatically to become the most expensive element of the project. Similarly, the choice of worksurface materials and door style/material may increase the budget substantially.
It’s important to enter the design process with a figure in mind that you’d like to stick to, as this will help us to make considered suggestions that equally suit your budget, style, and functional requirements.
LAYOUT
As a rule of thumb this will be dictated by the existing dimensions of your room, or you may be lucky enough to be planning to extend. If you have the luxury of extending the room, then you may want to consider an open-plan kitchen to seamlessly link through to a living area.
There are many factors to account for when deciding on the best kitchen layout for the dimensions you have. It is a decision that needs careful consideration, as the perfect layout will help to maximise and complement your space, whilst making time in your kitchen enjoyable.
Whatever the shape there are clever design options that will ensure you can make the most of the space available to you. Even in a tight space a clever designer can still work miracles.
Our designers will talk you through the options for your individual space, but if you would like to help to process along, it could be helpful to sketch how you see the layout working, considering the features and appliances you’d like the design to include.
[link to layout]
DESIGN ADVICE
Take plenty of time to consider these important points to compile a good brief, which will be essential to take the project forward. There’s no better way to get the most from your ideas than taking advice from a Second Nature expert to create a design that’s perfectly suited to your requirements. Take along your notes, pictures, room dimensions and budget expectations, so your designer understands your individual requirements. Better still, if you go to the ‘my perfect kitchen’ section of the website we’ll walk you through these simple steps and at the end you’ll be able to download a summary of all the things your kitchen designer needs to know. With this and tailor-made brief. your designer will be able to pull together all the elements to create a layout that’s right for you and your lifestyle.
LIGHTING
Lighting is no longer just a kitchen accessory, it’s a necessity, offering benefits for both the practicality and aesthetic appeal of your kitchen design.
To plan lighting effectively, you will need to consider the times you use your kitchen the most, the areas you will need the best visibility- such as food preparation areas and in dark cupboards- and whether you want to use a combination of functional, task lighting and mood/ambience lighting.
