planning it now this is the most
important stage you're going to have to
live with this kitchen for many years to
come
so it's importantly it suits your
lifestyle and even your future lifestyle
like a growing family for instance to
make it easy we've broken it down into
three stages research the practicalities
of planning and join a plan now research
sounds really obvious but it's vital
maybe you should ask yourself two
questions and remember to jot down the
answers question one is what do you like
about your current kitchen what works
and what would you keep and then
question two what do you hate about your
current kitchen what really drives you
mad maybe it's really dingy there's not
enough lighting maybe there's not enough
storage or the fridge is too far away
from the oven when you've written down
the answer to these two questions it
will help you to crystallize what you
want from a new kitchen now my top tip
is that if you've just bought a house
don't rush out and buy a new kitchen
straight away live with the old kitchen
first for a few months and find out what
it is that you do and you don't like
about the kitchen before you change it
now I don't know how you lot get your
creative juices flowing or you J but
personally on the kitchen front I like
to get some magazines ripped lots of
pictures out and it's it's important
look through the styles the colors the
layouts find what you really really like
get the pictures and keep them so you
can show them for the design consultant
or you builder to get the perfect look
also pop into your local B&Q store and
visit our kitchen section where you'll
find loads of inspiration don't forget
also to pick up a brochure on our
kitchens
and on our appliances you can get a full
picture of what we do the other thing of
course to consider is budget you're
going to have an idea of what you want
to spend but don't forget it's so
important it's not just the buying the
kitchen but also the installation if
you're a little bit worried about budget
go in and talk to one of the design
consultants get them to give you a bit
of a steer because you'd be amazed
actually just how much you might be able
to afford
we're now going to talk a little bit
about the practicalities of planning
your kitchen and we want you to think
about three things
layout lighting and storage now lay out
what are things to consider where do the
doors come into the kitchen you don't
want to put the fridge right behind the
door for example and then think about
the electrical sockets where do you want
your toaster or your kettle do you want
the TV in the kitchen you might want to
put the sink underneath a window so that
when you're washing up you're not
staring at a blank wall and of course
you're going to need to check that your
plumbing can reach the same applies with
electrics these can all be easily moved
but you will need to plan ahead and then
consult either you're being cue designer
or your builder now one tried-and-tested
method for planning a kitchen is to put
the oven the fridge and the sink in what
we call the working triangle now this
will give you easy access to all these
three appliances when you're cooking or
preparing food another thing that
everybody always leaves to the last
minute you really should get right at
the start is the lighting think about
task lighting say for example an under
cabinet light so when you're chopping
and preparing food you can see what
you're doing
at the end of a long hard day maybe
you'd like to dim the lights
so think about ambient lighting and
finally we need to think about storage
especially in smaller kitchens why not
come in store have a look at our
brochure to see some really handy
storage solutions like this spice and
bottle rack and just remember if you are
moving plumbing and electrics to factor
this into your budget at the beginning
or in the planning stage of the project
so to visualize your ideas and get your
plan across to your being cue design
consultant or to your builder it's best
to get everything down on paper don't
panic it doesn't have to be perfect you
can get a piece of paper and just make a
rough outline and start plotting where
you like things to be starting in one
corner of the room taking your time just
measure each wall individually and then
plot that onto your paper it's also
really useful to mark the positions of
doors windows and any existing plumbing
or electrical sockets remember this is
only a guide now if you would prefer you
could always take your measurements in
store where one of our design
consultants will do the rest don't
forget to take your list of what you do
and you don't like about your current
kitchen along with your mood board any
swatches and sources of inspiration
remember your design consultant is not a
mind-reader and the more information you
can give them about your dream kitchen
the closer you'll get to achieving it
now with all that information they will
produce a 3d image of your kitchen to
help see if all your practical and
design considerations have been taken
care of for more information on our
planning services go to DIY comm or
visitors in-store
you