Top 20 Kitchen tips

Design details

1. To set the right tone, you need to decide the ambience of the room – bright and light or sultry and moody. All-white, chalk or pale grey never go out of fashion, and can make a small room seem super-spacious. Dark tones, meanwhile, make a strong impact, and have become a popular option for inner-city living.

2. Colour and texture need to harmonise in the kitchen, so it’s worth putting together your own mood board before the renovation begins. On white cardboard, stick on all the colour and surface swatches, including paint, tiles, veneer and flooring.

3. A burst of colour is a feast for the eyes in a kitchen. A splashback in coloured glass makes a style statement, while mosaic or ceramic tiles also add brilliance to the room.

4. It can be hard finding where to start when planning the design of your new kitchen.  Start the process by writing a list of features you like and dislike about your existing kitchen.  This will quickly help your new design take shape.

5. When putting together a kitchen layout, the classic ‘triangle’ is the core of the design. The main working areas – cooktop/oven, fridge and sink – have to be positioned at three sides of a triangle. This simple rule will make cooking and cleaning a breeze.

Building basics

6. A kitchen renovation can range from a one-day job to a two-week build, depending on the amount of work involved. Dirt, dust and noise is impossible to avoid, so consider moving in with family or friends during the messiest stages.

7. If you’re on a tight budget, a flat-pack kitchen is hard to beat. The latest ranges provide amazing flexibility – even the most awkwardly shaped kitchen can have every centimetre utilised. Easy instructions mean you can put together a brand new kitchen in one or two days. For more information, check out the Profile range at your local Masters Home Improvement store.

8. For busy homeowners, a kitchen company can make your life so much easier. They can guide you on the layout, the design, materials, appliances, as well as doing the demolition and installation. For a stress-free solution and to discover all of the options available, speak to the expert team at Masters Home Improvement about the Hafele Functionality kitchen range.

Cabinetry

9. For a quick, cost-saving fix-me-up, replacing doors and/or bench tops can transform your kitchen from clunky to couture.

10. For the height of style, why not lift a few centimetres on the benchtop? A tall cook spends a lot of time in the kitchen, so a high benchtop can help avoid an aching back. The standard benchtop height is approximately 900mm, but it can be lifted as high as 1000mm by adjusting your kickboards or bench top thickness.

11. If your cupboards and drawers are looking a little scruffy, an easy spruce-up is replacing old handles and knobs with the latest ranges. Everything from brass to stainless steel is on show at your local Masters Home Improvement store.

12. For an up-to-the-minute look, consider integrating the fridge and dishwasher within the new cabinetry. By enclosing the front of appliances to match the texture and colour scheme of the cabinets, a kitchen looks stream-lined and minimalistic.

Storage

13. Contemplate installing an island bench with built-in cupboards and drawers on both sides of the unit. This provides plenty of room to store small appliances, cookbooks and rarely used kitchenware, such as platters that only appear on Christmas day.

14. Replacing cupboards with drawers means it’s much easier to reach all kitchen items. Extra-deep drawers are perfect to store pots, pans and small appliances, while wide, shallow units are handy to store cutlery and utensils.

15. A corner cupboard used to be a space waster, but kitchen designers have solved this dilemma by maximising every square centimetre. Have a look at various corner options, such as lazy susans, bi-fold doors and dual-access doors.

16. When designing a kitchen layout, ensure that you include as much storage as possible. It’s easy to accumulate more items through the years, so a few extra drawers and cupboards never go astray.

Fine details

17. Don’t forget the little essentials as you design the layout. Take time to figure out where you’ll position lights, powerpoints and a phone jack.

18. To add atmosphere, a pendant light positioned over a benchtop can act as a focal point of the room. And if one is never enough – a large benchtop can accommodate two or three pendants for extra brilliance.

19. A hard-working cook doesn’t want guests to see an array of dirty pots and pans during a dinner party. To solve this problem, a small raised barrier at the end of the island bench can separate the kitchen area and the social zone, hiding any mess until it’s time to wash up.

20. One is the loneliest number when it comes to kitchen bins. Single, double or triple bins of varying capacities can be selected, making it easy to separate recycled and general items. And instead of having bins on show, they now slide or swivel out of hidden cupboards.

Source: Master’s Home Improvement