Kitchen - the Heart of the Home

You've bought a house, or you've lived in it a while and now you want to do up the kitchen.  Make it into the uber space that you have had in your minds eye for the last five years.  If you are organised you have even got a file of pictures from magazines with lovely lustful kitchens.  Well done!

But, the look of a kitchen is only half of the battle.  What should you consider when planing and designing this important and vital space?  A kitchen is not just a space to cook, it is often the heart of the home where so much else goes on.  Obviously, where you are in your lives will affect what your require:

• Single:  microwave, dishwasher, beer fridge!
• Recently married: cooking space, more storage and entertaining space.
• Young family: ahh now this is really where the kitchen comes into it's own and becomes the multi functional area of multifarious uses. Cooking, child playing, TV watching (surrogate baby sitter - don't knock it), entertaining, coffee mornings, computer area/office.  The kitchen becomes the hub - the place of primary plastic toys, the essential room.  At this stage you should get the best kitchen you can afford.
• Teenage/young adult family: The primary plastic toys have left the room, you may have allowed (the always used and difficult to part from the opposable thumbs of your teenagers) the XBox, Wii etc into the room.  Or you may have banned this box of engrossing interest to another room.  But the kitchen now has become family eating space, grown up entertaining, some light leisure activities, homework and office space.
• Empty Nesters:  The kitchen is now your space to do with what you wish - oh bliss oh joy.

So how does one room encompass all these functions and different needs?  Planning, thought and talking to an expert.  As I said before, what a kitchen looks like is only half of the job now you need to consider:

1. Storage - you can never, never have too much
2. Electrical requirements - think of future needs, not just what you require now.
3. Fridges - size (often limited by space), material and requirements of the family
4. Sinks - what kind, style, material
5. Worktops - constrained by cost, there are many different options
6. Flooring - what works best for you, what is warm, comfortable for children, easy to clean and looks good.
7. Units - there are some fantastic gadgets and gizmos around, some are useful, some are a waste of space.  I personally subscribe to the notion simple is best.
8. Planning - Always think of the ergonomics of the room - how best you can use the space with the least amount of walking.

Good advice can save you money. 

Good advice will get you the kitchen you want and one that will grow with you over time.  

Where should you go for good advice - an Interior Designer for unbiased advice or a good kitchen company with well trained staff.

Knife, Fork and Spoon by Tracey Kendall