Floorell’s Easy Guide to Planning your Kitchen

The kitchen is the heart of the home. It’s often a place where all the family congregate at least once a day. Most of us start our day there and it’s used for all sorts of activities. Eating, reading, arguing, children’s activities at the table, entertaining and much more. That’s why it’s so important that it serves you (and your family) well. Whether you’re having your whole kitchen re-done or just re-organising here’s our guide to helping you make sure your kitchen is an organised, safe and flexible environment to be in.

Before we start here’s a few pics of my favourite kitchens:

Recreate this look with Ivory Travertine Unfilled and Brushed from only £ 26.00 per m2 inc VAT. It’s great for larger open plan kitchens.

Recreate this look with Ivory Travertine Honed and Filled from £25.00 per m2 inc VAT. Works well for smaller, more compact areas - and Tommy certainly liked our prices!

Let’s begin…

It is true what they say - 3 is the magic number - especially when it comes to planning your kitchen. Following 3 easy stages could help you get the kitchen you dream of.

1. First and foremost you need to carefully measure your room so you know what size you’re working with.  I suggest you draw a plan on some graph paper. Include all wall plans as well as a floor plan. it helps to note where you’re lights, electrical sockets and water pipes are if you’re just re-planning a kitchen. All kitchen units are made in metric sizes so measure in mm, it will save your lots of hassle later on. Measure everything. From the floor to the ceiling for wall elevations, size of windows, doors, radiators, boilers etc. The more detail you put in the more accurate your kitchen will fit.

2. Think about where you want all your appliance to go- in accordance with your electrical/ water supplies. Are you having internal fridge/ freezers or do you have to plan for them separately? Try and imagine working in your kitchen and plan it around your day - for example it makes sense to have the dishwasher next to the sink so you can just pop plates in it once you have rinsed them. Draw it all on your plan making sure you add there exact measurements to scale.  Things you need to think about are - where you store your food, where you prepare your food, where you cook your food, where you eat your food and where you wash it all up. Break it down into those key areas and you’ll soon have your plan ready. Think about lighting as well- is there sufficient light from the window or do you need to make it bigger? Do you want spotlights underneath top cupboards so they light up your work top?

3. Find your perfect kitchen. There’s lots of on-line retailers who sell kitchens at cost price, but I do suggest you visit a showroom first. Local DIY stores are great as well and you can see the kitchens in situe. Many offer the full package of installation and planning. Or if you feel like tackling the job yourself, just ask them lots of questions to make your life a little easier. You may find it cheaper to hunt around and source your appliances and cupboards yourself - if you have the time. If you intend on using your own appliances make sure you have measured them exactly and incorporated them into your plan.

Other top tips…

• Don’t plan for a door to be opposite the cooking area- accidents do happen. Cooking with hot pans and banging doors don’t work well together. Have space on either side of the cooker to put down hot pans. In fact, make sure all doors that go into the kitchen are hinged to open outwards. Check that they don’t have to be safety doors as well.
• Obviously don’t position cooker near a fridge or window. Make sure they have a vent and extractor fitted as well.
• If you’re keeping existing appliances make sure they fit under your new worktop- you would have measure dit all already so I’m sure you won’t have that problem.
• Fridges and freezers don’t really do corners as you won’t be able to open the doors properly. There’s nothing worse than trying to clean your fridge properly and not being able to get the trays out as you can’t open the door enough (based on bad experiences!)
• Position tall units on the end of a run of units.
• Don’t forget to leave room for your light switches.
• Think about if you want a sink with a drainer to the left or right- it will effect your layout.
• Don’t forget all the little extras- waste disposal systems are all the rage and are a great way to reduce waste.

And don’t forget, if you want fantastic tiles for walls or floors then visit our website at www.floorell.co.uk