Kitchen Design

How to Plan Your Kitchen Redesign

It isn’t hard to understand why kitchens are one of the most popular rooms to renovate in the home. Other than the bedroom, it’s the place where we often spend most of our time. It’s also where all the good stuff happens: eating, spending time with family, socialising with friends over a glass of wine. But for the same reasons planning a new kitchen can be a daunting task, with headaches around setting a budget, how to design a kitchen, and knowing how much kitchen fitters charge. When there’s so much at stake, it’s important to get it right when it comes to kitchen planning. Luckily, our experienced team have put together some kitchen planning tips to set you on the right track.

Planning

You may want to use your kitchen as the central living space in the home, but it’s also important that it’s practically designed. It can help to look at your current kitchen and note down how you use it and how you would like to use it differently. What’s great about your current kitchen? What’s annoying?

There is also one simple rule to follow when planning a kitchen: the kitchen triangle. The concept is that you should be able to move quickly and easily between the sink, the fridge, and the oven — three points that form a triangle. You should also make sure the fridge door opens onto the inside of the triangle, to ensure the most efficient use of space. Once you’ve got the triangle covered, the rest of the kitchen planning should be pretty straightforward.

You also need to consider not just the design of the kitchen itself, but what’s underneath. Does your new design call for new plumbing and electrics? For example, if you want an island with a sink then plumbing will need to be installed before the floor is laid.

If you want more in-depth kitchen planning tips, check out our Complete Guide to Planning Your Kitchen!

Inspiration

Above we stressed that when planning a new kitchen you need to think about your practical needs. But it’s also important when planning a kitchen to think about style and design. After all, this is your kitchen and it should embody your tastes. Whatever your tastes — cosy farmhouse, modern minimalist — there are loads of design ideas available online. In particular, you should check out visual websites like Pinterest, Instagram, and home design sites like The Spruce.

Costs — Budgeting

It’s crucial that you set a budget early so that your kitchen dreams are based in reality. Don’t worry if your budget isn’t huge — the most important thing is that you spend the money you do have on the most important aspects of the kitchen. For example, you should invest in the highest quality worktops you can afford, as these are the unsung heroes of the kitchen, used day in day out.

We have plenty more kitchen planning tips up our sleeves to get you the best possible kitchen your money can buy:

1. Pull-out storage beneath the counters is a cheaper alternative to wall units, and also helps to give your kitchen a spacious modern look.
          
2. Focus on the essentials — if your budget is tight, leave out the expensive 

coffee machine but definitely buy the best oven you can.
       

• Always budget in a 10% contingency! None of us have the gift of foresight and sometimes things don’t go exactly to plan.
  

How much do kitchen fitters charge?

The consensus seems to be that the average price of a new kitchen installation costs around £5000-6000. However, this will vary depending on whether the work also involves new plumbing and electrics, which would be the case with underfloor heating. You can also expect a free kitchen survey, where the kitchen suppliers will come out to your property to meet you and measure up the kitchen. It’s important at this stage to stick to your plan and not allow yourself to be roped into extra add ons! If you would like to find out more about how much our kitchen fitters charge, please check out this page of our website or give us a call on 01869 254 005.

Implementation

You may be a DIY maestro but in all likelihood once you are done planning a kitchen you are going to need the help of experienced professionals making that plan a reality. Any reputable service should be able to create a digital design of your new kitchen design, and once the work has been agreed on, they should be able to take out all your old units as well as build your new kitchen.

Calling in professionals to help

Perhaps you know how to design a kitchen, or perhaps you have had to bring in a professional kitchen designer to help you. The experience and expertise of a kitchen designer will mean that they have up-to-date knowledge of materials and trends.

Whatever you decide on the design, you will then need an experienced building service to make that design a reality. Bicester Property Interiors would be able to gather the right team for the job, from plumbers and plasterers to carpenters and electricians. Always check what is included in the costs — will the company help you through the whole process from start to finish?

You should also never receive a quote until the professionals have been to visit your property and assess the space.

Final design touches

It’s the little things in life that count. Remember to factor in final touches when planning a new kitchen. The paintwork, the cupboard knobs, the taps — these details are often the difference between a perfect kitchen and a merely satisfactory one.