The kitchen is the heart of your home, so it needs careful and thoughtful treatment. Spend some time thinking about what you want to do before you actually do anything.
The small fixtures
These features – drawer and cupboard handles, the kitchen roll dispenser and so on – can say a lot. If they’re cheap and flimsy then this will make your home feel less trustworthy and reliable to viewers. If you don’t have a huge budget, this is one of the cheaper and more effective improvements you can make.
Your floor
If you’re re-doing your floor, opt for larger tiles as you’ll see less grouting and it’ll make the floor seem larger. You might think dark tiles will show up less dirt, but they can also make the room seem smaller, so try to strike a balance with the colour.
Your lighting
Forget the overhead fluorescents and introduce some LED lights – strips and singles – to bring in variety and mood to your kitchen. It’s best to design your light scheme when you’ve sorted out your whole outlay so that you can have a small spotlight over the veg-chopping area and some dimmable, colour-changing lights in the relaxation area, for example.
You could also look at your doors and windows to see how they could be used to bring in more natural light, whether this is by a regular cleaning schedule or by ditching those manky old blinds.
Your cabinets
These are kind of the stars of the show in many ways. You need to get the best quality doors and hinges that you can, because they will be tested by viewers! Aim for wood veneer over MDF or particle board for the insides of the cupboards, too.
If your ceilings are high, install cabinets that go all the way up to the ceiling as this will enhance the height, as well as give you more storage room while leaving some wall space free for bookshelves or little nooks. You should also make sure that worktops and islands don’t dominate the floorspace – keep things proportional.
Your worktops
Take your time here, as your worktops are something of a statement – white marble is old-world and elegant, whereas bamboo is warm and modern. Then there’s all the other options to look at, too. Visit a few showrooms before you settle on your choice.
