5 Tips to Make Your Kitchen the Successful Heart of Your Home.

Your kitchen is one of the most important rooms in your home. It’s not just where you prepare and store food. It’s also where friends and family tend to gather, and where a lot of life happens. Have you noticed how it’s always the most crowded place at a party?

But kitchens are also one of the most expensive rooms to build. And they’re often where the worst budget blowouts happen. Here are our top tips for making sure the kitchen you build works for you, without breaking the bank.

1. Have a realistic budget, and stick to it.

With kitchen budgets, the sky is the limit. Most people start of with a wish list that involves top-of-the-line appliances, and expensive surfaces and finishes. Unless money’s not an issue for you, you’ll probably have to make compromises.

2. Know how you use the kitchen

Ask yourself some basic questions, and answer honestly. How much cooking do you do? How many people need to be in and around the kitchen at once? If you have a busy family, where the kids are forever opening the fridge or raiding the pantry, you’ll need to factor this in. For example, you’ll need to think about where to place the fridge, and make sure it doesn’t block the space when it’s open.

3. Don’t under-estimate the number of power points you need

Our modern, high-tech lifestyles mean we need a lot of powerpoints in the kitchen. How many appliances will you need plugged in at any time? Don’t forget the dishwasher, fridge, microwave, coffee machine, and so on. In our experience, people often budget for too few powerpoints, and then get a nasty shock (budget-wise, not electrical!) when they need to add more.

4. Think carefully about storage

Be careful that you don’t stint on storage. It can be hard to build in later. And you don’t want your precious bench space covered in appliances. Think too about those strangely shaped appliances, pots or platters that need to be stored. There are many innovative storage options, but you need to think this through and discuss it well in advance of your kitchen build.

5. Decide on the quality of benches and cabinets you want

If you want marble benchtops, or the latest design of kitchen cabinets, you must expect to pay more for them. Here again, the sky’s the limit. So you’ll need to know your bottom line, the look and feel you want, and what you can get for your money. We can give you options that will help you choose what’s right for you.