What Makes a Good Kitchen Design?

The colour and style are personal matters but:

If you plan to move house in the next few years, it may be worth being a little conservative – the kitchen is a major selling point and an outlandish style may put off potential buyers.

Take into account the natural light of the room, you do not want the room to be too dark.

Remember that the kitchen is a working room, you may want to avoid pure white or other light, plain colours as they can easily discolour unevenly in a kitchen.

Although there are many different widths of units available, you do not need to use them all. Try to use one door/drawer width along a run with just one ‘odd’ size installed at one end of the run to fill the space.

Kitchen design is a sea of opportunity filled with the potential for you to be extremely creative. Colour schemes, wallpaper and other aesthetic additions will make up the kitchen design portion. This is where you will be able to be as creative as you possibly can.

How to Plan Your Kitchen

Planning your kitchen layout – Choosing and positioning kitchen wall/floor units.

There are three stages to planning a kitchen:

• Measuring up and noting the position of the existing services, windows and doors.
• Working out the plan to get the appliances, work tops and cupboards where you want them.
• Deciding on any changes to the services (electricity, water, drains) you need.

The following is intended to help you with the actual planning, but they are only suggestions and will not be practical in all situations, you will often have to compromise. The golden rule is – keep it simple – and remember that the kitchen is one of the main selling points for a house.

The principal activity zones in the kitchen are generally recognized as being – food preparation, cooking and serving, and finally washing up. Each activity zone needs to include the worktop(s) and appliances required for that activity, also the zone will require the storage space for the utensils, ingredient etc. required for it.

In addition to the three zones, it is important to arrange the appliances and worktops in the correct order i.e. worktop – appliance – worktop. A work triangle is formed between the three zones (as shown in the diagrams below). For the greatest efficiency the total length of the three sides of the triangle should be between 3600mm and 6600mm, and as far as possible, the work triangle should be uninterrupted by through traffic.

Kitchen Design Layout

In any layout the sink, preparation area and hob should never be too far apart and the fridge should be near the entrance. This all will effect where you put your basic equipment (fridge, hob, microwave and sink) and where the service points for water, electricity and gas will be. Keep the existing service points in mind in kitchens as rewiring and re-plumbing will take a lot of time and money. When you draw a plan try to place the sink, preparation area and hob first. Then draw 3 lines to connect the three areas. This will usually result in a triangular shape. The smaller the triangle, the shorter the walking distance will be between the three main working areas. If this walking distance looks too big, try to put the three areas closer together. Another important point of consideration is that sinks will often be placed against an outside wall under the window. This will make the plumbing easier, but also gives daylight where you need it most.

Design your kitchen free of charge

Using our kitchen design service will save you up to 50% off the studio price of rigid kitchen units which are factory built to order. Our professional designers will provide you with a FREE kitchen design and quotation.

Our experienced designers have the flair to produce the kitchen you want by combining imagination, an eye for design and a sense of individuality. The styles we are offering here cater for your lifestyle, whether your home is traditional or contemporary, but we never forget functionality. There is such a big range of fitted kitchen units it allows us to tailor a workable, stylish design to suit your needs.

We take note of your preferences, apply our design skills and produce an unrivalled kitchen design with a standard of quality intended for those who demand the very best.

Our kitchen design service is able to offer customers an excellent 3-D IMAGING SERVICE which makes it much easier to imagine what your new layout will look like once installed.

What we need from you First Interiors Kitchens want the opportunity to provide you with a FREE design and we will guide you through the simple process. All you need to do is complete the form at the ‘Request a Quote’ link. The Design Pack provided includes a questionnaire and graph paper which we will send you or you can print it off. Once we have received the completed questionnaire we will contact you to discuss the project.

You can also email us at email or use our ‘online chat’ if you have any questions.

This is a very easy way to order your new kitchen, they are the highest quality available.

Kitchens design service – Our kitchen design team will provide high quality, 3 dimensional colour pictures of our suggested layouts and a detailed floor plan. Alternatively provide us with previously drawn plans from another kitchen design company. If you are happy with these plans then we can quote directly from them or we can redesign as required.

Measurements:

1. Start from one point and measure clockwise around the room. Note sizes on a line drawing not necessarily to scale.
2. Locate doors and windows measuring from the fascia boards.
3. Show the position of radiators or any other permanent fixtures.
4. Note location of existing gas/electrical points, sink and appliances.
5. Note the preferred position of new appliances.
6. Make notes regarding your existing kitchen and changes that would make the room easier to work in.

We need the following information which is included in the Design Pack questionnaire at Design pack order form:

1. What is the main reason you are changing your kitchen?
2. Have you pictures that show the look you are hoping to achieve?
3. Are you left or right handed?
4. Do you intend to eat in the room and if so how many people and is it the main eating area or for snacks?
5. Do you entertain in the room?
6. Do you prefer any specific scheme?
7. What is you door, worktop and handle choice?
8. Advise us of any design features you would like eg breakfast bar.
9. List all new appliances required.
10. List all existing appliances to be included.
11. Do you want any display or feature units?
12. Do you have any special storage requirements?
13. What small appliances are to be sitting on the kitchens worktops?
14. What requirements do you have for a sink and tap?
15. Anything else you consider relevant.

You can send this information by post to:

First Interiors
Watch Close
Spon Street
Coventry
Warwickshire
CV1 3LN

E-mail: sales@firstinteriors.eu

To speak to a designer: Tel:02476 100800

A new kitchen usually requires new appliances, sinks and worktops. These can be bought from our sister sites which you can find at First Interiors. Not only will you save a considerable amount of money but you will also be buying the best quality and from a long established, reputable business with many years experience to put at your disposal.

Our kitchens are delivered nationwide, direct from the factory. Our normal delivery period is 4 to 6 weeks.