Redesigning your Kitchen
The September List
Today I want to take you through the top factors to consider, when redesigning your kitchen! As some of us begin to wind down for a little holiday time, we start to re-evaluate our homes and think about the September list! “What?”, I hear you say “is the September list?” Every September, with the summer over and the kids back at school, a large percentage of us are determined to start some of those home projects, in time for the big C, Christmas! The most common choice for the home project is the re-designing your kitchen! Check out my instagram for some inspiration for your home projects!
The high street kitchen retailers
Many home owners kick off their project with a visit to one or two of the big high street retailers. In many ways this makes sense, they are experts at kitchen layouts and style options. Obviously prices and quality range hugely, so do your research, ask for recommendations and decide how important the quality and longevity of your kitchen is.
Samples are key, even if that means paying a small amount for them. You want to get your samples home and bash it around as much as you can. Kitchen doors, carcasses and work tops take a lot of hammering so you need to be confident that it won’t chip, scratch or dent at the first hurdle.
The other reason for the samples is to test out the different colours and materials you want to combine, before you invest in the whole kitchen. It is not uncommon for me to get a phone call mid kitchen-renovation from a prospective client, who hates their kitchen now it’s been installed and is desperate for me to make it better! Invest the time in samples of every element you want to include and this reduces those risks.
Redesigning your kitchen
The common mistake I see, is many home owners assume using a high street kitchen retailer means they will design the whole space. They don’t need to think about it, it will all be taken care of! Retailer’s jobs are to sell kitchens, cabinets, work tops, appliances etc. Therefore they will want you to use as much of your space, for their kitchen. The more kitchen they sell, the more money they make! It is down to you to decide how you want to use the whole space.
The pros of using an interior designer
This is why it is incredibly valuable to use an interior designer. When we work with clients, we begin by evaluating what is important to our clients and how they want the space to work. For example: there is no use designing an all singing, all dancing kitchen if my clients actually don’t really cook but would prefer a large sociable seating area instead. These are the first decisions to make, drill down into your room layout before you seek a retailer’s advice. Then you can be strong about how the room is partitioned for different zones.
When we design kitchens, we design for our clients needs. If our client dreams of a high quality, bespoke kitchen, then we design the units and have them made by our carpenters. Not only does that mean that each cabinet is individually made for its owners requirements, but surprisingly it is also more cost effective. We then source all the other requirements separately, not under one retailer’s roof. This means far greater control over quality and budget.
Equally some designs require the kitchen to play more of a supporting role in the room. We then use our in depth knowledge to source very cost effective units, allowing us to use the budget in other areas.
The point is that by using an interior designer you have more flexibly with the design. We will stretch your budget and focus it on what’s important to you. We also consider all the elements of the space and manage the project for you, saving you from many sleepless nights.
If you would like to chat to us in regards to your kitchen renovation, then please get in touch!