8 Kitchen Renovation Mistakes to Avoid

For those that are regular visitors to our news/blog section, you will know that we love to help out our customers with everything and anything to do with their new kitchen worktops.

 

For those of you who are new to the blog, you may be wondering….why are you helping use with cabinet door handles when you sell worktops?  The answer is simple.  We want our customers to get the very best kitchen they can do – worktops and all.  So we write these blog posts to help give you advise on the good, the bad, the ugly and this week….what to avoid.

1 – Going it alone

If you are thinking of doing all the electrica, the plumbing, the tiling, the painting and the fitting of the kitchen yourself just to save a few pounds – then don’t.  Doing this will more often than not land you in trouble.  Obviously if you are a professional tradesman then bash on and have fun.  But if you have never done these things before, we advise that on this occasion, you get someone to help you out.  The kitchen is one of the most used rooms in the house and you do not want to mess it up.

 

2 – Overlooking how much storage you need

If you are a family of four and you all like cereal then you might be thinking you need a space for cereal.  But then if you and your kids like variety beyond Bran Flakes every morning then the space for 4 boxes of cereal may actually need to be big enough for 5, 6 or more boxes.  The same goes for juice, tins of tomatoes and more.  Life is a lot easier if you have more storage space than less.

 

3 – Forgetting the flow of a meal

What do you mean the flow of a meal?  Well let us tell you.  It starts with a fridge full of the fresh ingredients you need for dinner.  Do you want to have to carry them all across the kitchen to the nearest workspace?  No.  You want to put them right next to the fridge.  So then you chop the vegetables, the chicken etc.  Do you then want to have to carry them all across the kitchen to the stove?  No.  You want it right next to the work surface.  Then when the meal is ready, do you want to carry pots of hot pasta water across the kitchen to drain it down the sink?  No…..you see where we are going.  Having a kitchen laid out to FLOW with its core focus of making food (and then sadly cleaning the plates) makes life a lot easier.

 

4 – The worktop battle

Ahh here we are – kitchen worktops.  So you have your new kitchen laid out.  But where does the bread bin go?  And the kettle, the toaster, the coffee machine, the space rack, the cook books, the salt, the pepper and so on.  And is there still any actual worktop space left to prepare the meal?  Don’t flood the kitchen with trinkets.

 

5 – High foot traffic leads to high wear

So when the call goes out to the rest of the family that dinner is ready, you get an onslaught of hungry bodies flooding into the kitchen looking to fill their stomachs.  This can lead to knocks on cabinet doors, scuffs against walls and more.  Remember where the main ‘wear and tear’ of the kitchen comes from.  It isn’t always from the kitchen knife and chopping board.

 

6 – Don’t forget to stick to the budget.

You would be amazed how many people buy a whole kitchen and then forget about the cabinet door handles.  Or the floor, or the cooker or something.  Kitchens can be complicated to purchase for and it is easy to loose track of budget.  Keep an eye on it now and always.

 

7 – Fitting round pegs into square holes

If you pick a kitchen, get it made and fitted THEN try to find a fridge freezer that fits – you may be in for a shock.  Try to pick your appliances first, or at very least lock down the dimensions that you need to get them to fit properly.

 

8 – Forgetting the BIG PICTURE

We all want a nice looking kitchen and too many people fall into the trap of what they see kitchens being used for in the movies.  Sitting there i your crystal clean kitchen sipping wine after the kids have gone to bed.  But be honest – will that really happen?  Will it be crystal clean?  Do you need a specific breakfast bar for coffee with friends when you always go out for coffee?  The big picture is this.  Your kitchen is for cooking meals and eating meals.  It might be used for school homework and the occasional board game night.  Remember the BIG PICTURE of what you are getting a new kitchen for.