KITCHEN DESIGN – WELCOME TO THE FIRST INTERIORS ONLINE GUIDE

Kitchen design is often seen as a complicated task best left to the kitchen design professionals. However, here at First Interiors we believe that our customers should be well informed and have access to the right information. The most important part of any kitchen design is the one part that cannot be replaced – you the customer. After all, you are going to be using and living with your kitchens every day, so the overall kitchen design is paramount to your needs.

• Tips and Guidelines for buying and planning your kitchens
• We offer a comprehensive service and advice for kitchen design
• Information regarding warranties, deliveries and ordering
• Downloadable guides to help plan and order your kitchen
• Information on the construction of our kitchens
• Guidelines on some of the accessories available
• This section guides you through the many worktop options
• Appliances are a vital component
• Guidelines for sinks and taps
• Help and advice on the installation for DIY

Kitchen design is often seen as a complicated task best left to the professionals. However, here at First Interiors Kitchens we believe that our customers should be well informed and have access to the right information. The most important part of any layout is the one part that cannot be replaced – you the customer. After all, you are going to be using and living with your kitchens every day, so the overall layout is paramount to your needs.

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 affect 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.

4. 3D Imaging Service

A combination of units corresponding to your requirements is loaded into our 3-D software, along with the dimensions of the room. The result is a 3-D image of your completed design, with windows, doors, worktops and appliances visible.

Although the image will give you a very real impression of your finished kitchen, it should be noted that it is a computer generated image and therefore items such as appliances, worktops and housing specifications may not be identical to the finished article. Also the decor is only to give an impression. We will, however, endeavour to make the images as realistic as possible.

The First Interiors 3-D images can be generated from any angle of the room, to give a variety of views. This serves to enhance your impression of your new layout. Try clicking on the thumbnail images to the left to see a larger and more accurate version of the image.

The First Interiors 3-D imaging is free and all part of our service to our customers.

5. 
   How To Plan Your Own Kitchen Layout

Designing a new kitchen layout – remember there are no absolute rules, after all it is your kitchen but…

1. First of all, list the floor/wall mounted appliances you want to include in your kitchen – see choice of appliances below for the most likely ones you will want to include:
   • Likely appliances required in a kitchen
   • Cooker or Hob and Oven
   • Extractor hood for cooker/hob
   • Washing machine
   • Dish washer
   • Tumble dryer
   • Fridge/freezer
   • Room air extractor

1. Measure your kitchen at floor level and at about 900mm from the floor – use the smaller measurement for your floor plan.
2. Draw a scale plan, using squared paper makes things easier.
3. Mark on the plan the services as they currently exist – hot and cold water, drains, electric points, gas points, any existing extractor vents in the walls.
4. Cut out paper or card scale footprints for each appliance and sink you want to include. Write the name of each appliance on its respective piece of paper/card.
5. Most kitchens need three ‘work areas’. Preparation, cooking and washing-up, each area should include all the appliances required and a suitable sized work area around it.
6. Roughly position the scale footprints of the appliances in their most logical position with respect to the existing position of the services. Do not worry if you need more services, it just indicated that you will need to add some.
7. Look at the free area between the appliances and decide how many base units you need or can fit. Cut out paper/card footprints for these units.
8. Position the base unit footprints on your plan.
9. You now need to think if there is enough work top surface around each work zone – a lot of the appliances are sized to fit under work surfaces so you should not lose too much.
10. Try to avoid having work surfaces less than 1 metre in length.
11. If you cannot fit in all the appliances or base units you have select or you think the room is already too full, ask yourself if you can relocate any appliance in another room – i.e. move the washing machine to the garage.
12. Think how you can rearrange the kitchen to make it easier to use, begin to think about relocating the position of the existing services. Remember that in addition to the floor mounted appliances, you will also need electric points for the smaller, moveable appliances which you get out of the cupboard each time you want to use them. All services and window/doors can be repositioned – it is just that additional work is involved; the rough order from easiest to most difficult is – electricity, gas, water supplies, drains (above floor), blocking up doors/windows, drains below floor and moving doors/windows. But remember that you may need professional assistance to move doors/windows and you will need a registered gas fitter to move a gas point.
    Bearing all this in mind, ‘play’ with the layout to achieve your dream kitchen – then look at any relocation of services required – are you happy with the amount of work involved?
    You will often find that you have to compromise.
13. When you are happy with a basic floor arrangement, think about the wall area and where you can fit wall units, these tend to be needed in the food preparation area. Try and keep the wall units inline with the base units below them. You should now be in the position to list:
    • The number and style of floor units you require.
    • The number and style of wall units you require.
    • The appliances to be fitted.
    • The work you need to do to add or reposition the services.
    • Choosing and positioning wall/floor units.
    • Try to keep the doors on wall units in vertical line with the drawers/doors on base units.
    • Where wall units are mounted above floor level cupboards, have the doors opening the same way.
    • Do not fit wall units above or immediately to the side of gas hobs/cookers.