People consider the kitchen to be the heart of the home for a good reason. Regardless of how big or small your kitchen might be, everyone seems to congregate within the kitchen when they want to get together. A kitchen can also serve a multitude of functions. Besides being a place in which you can cook and prepare food, it’s also a great dining area and a place to communicate with your friends over coffee.
Before you can fall in love with your house, you need to make sure that you have the kitchen of your dreams. We’re currently about half way through doing our kitchen – it was a bit expensive for us to replace the whole kitchen when we moved it, and although it’s a cheap one, it wasn’t in bad condition so just wasn’t worth a whole new one. Instead, we resprayed it in a colour that suited us more. We’ve also taken out the integrated fridge and replaced it with a freestanding American style fridge freezer (which I reviewed here, if you want to laugh at my awkwardness!!) and are using the leftover space from the fridge as a larder. We’ve also literally just had a new floor put in today – yay! That’s what you can see in the picture here, but we’re still wanting replace the tiles and eventually a new worktop.
So ours isn’t yet complete but is well on the way! Here are some tips to help you to create the kitchen you’ve always wanted.
Start with a plan
A good kitchen renovation needs to start with a comprehensive plan. Sit down in your kitchen, sketch out a plan of your space, and think about what you can reasonably do with what’s in front of you. Look at features that might restrict you, such as pillars or doors. If you’re interested in installing an island, make sure that you have enough space to walk around it!
Think about storage
Storage is one of the most important things you can have in a kitchen. Without it, you’ll be constantly tripping over pots, pans, and other dangerous items. Think about how you want to display or store your utensils, and make sure you consider everything from cabinets to wall space as places to add drawers, shelves, and other types of storage.
Remember to focus on light
The right light is crucial to a good kitchen space. You need it to make sure that you stay safe when you’re chopping up food or slaving over a hot stove. Ideally, you should opt for under-counter lighting that will provide you with plenty of illumination when you’re reading recipe books and dealing with tasks in the kitchen – Ben installed some really simple LED strip lighting tape under ours which works really well.
Install shutters
If you want to make sure your kitchen looks instantly timeless without having to worry about spending a huge amount of money, try installing some café window shutters like these. These shutters look incredible in any kitchen, and they give you a dose of extra privacy when you don’t want people peering in on you whilst you’re baking.
Make it personal
What fun is renovating a kitchen if you don’t put a little bit of your own style into the proceedings? Make sure that something in your kitchen shows off your unique personality, whether it’s a piece of art on the wall or a collection of mugs that are displayed on the corner of a cabinet. Your personal style will make sure that you stay deeply in love with your kitchen for years to come.
Enjoy your kitchen!
The kitchen is one of the most valuable places to renovate in your home. After all, everybody loves a good kitchen. These tips will help ensure you make the right choices for your re-styling solution so you won’t have to break out the paint pots again any time soon.
