The Heart of the Home: Creating the Kitchen of Your Dreams

The kitchen is the heart of the home, and with it being such a well-used room it’s no wonder there’s so much emphasis placed on it from a home decor point of view. Whether you want to make your life more functional or you want to boost the value of your home for when you sell it either now or later down the line, renovating the kitchen is a smart move. Here are some of the ways you can update the space.

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Clear Out The Old and Decide on the Layout

First things first is to clear out the old to make way for the new. Turn off the plumbing and electrics and remove all of the old appliances, units, and worktops. Now is the time to decide on the layout too, if you want to go open plan or make the space larger it’s a case of removing or moving walls around. You could go with fully open plan, or perhaps an archway if the wall you want to remove is load-bearing and therefore difficult/ expensive to move.

Chat With a Kitchen Designer

There’s a lot more that goes into a good kitchen design than you might realize. The main concept to keep in mind is the ‘working triangle’- this keeps you in the middle of the fridge, the oven, and the sink. Doing this allows you to cook and move around the kitchen in the most efficient way. If you have a specific idea of how you want your kitchen laid out, be sure to speak to a kitchen designer before going ahead. They will be able to let you know if there’s something like this that you’re overlooking.

Choose Your Units and Appliances

The most fun part about your kitchen renovation is choosing how you want it to look. Will you go for traditional or super modern? Will you invest in added extras like a wine fridge, soft close drawers, and a boiling water tap? You could check out different loan details if you find the cost is more than you can afford, it’s worth spending the extra now rather than having to go back on yourself later down the line. Work out what color and material you choose for your counters- something like marble and granite will always be in style and are hard-wearing too. A good tip, if you want your kitchen to stay looking good for years to come, is to avoid anything that’s too ‘trendy’ and make the necessary repairs. It’s not to say you can’t go with a modern kitchen, but colors and patterns that are in fashion now are likely to fade long before you’re due for a kitchen update. Something to bear in mind when you’re deciding.

Have New Flooring Fitted

Tiles are a great option for kitchen floors, they last many years and are easy to clean. Once your kitchen is fitted you can go about deciding the material, style, and color you want. If your kitchen itself has blown the budget, cheaper options like vinyl tiles are also good- although these will need replacing much sooner. The flooring is the perfect finishing touch, be sure it complements the units

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Don’t Overlook Lighting

Finally, lighting is a major component to get right. A good tip to avoid dark areas is to use spotlights that illuminate the space more evenly. You could go a step further and have cool LED strip lights installed along kickboards and under the cupboard units too.