5 kitchen renovation ideas to make your home look (even) better

If you’re looking for kitchen renovation ideas, you’ve come to the right place!

We’ve created plans for hundreds of kitchens over the last few years, so we understand that there’s no such thing as “one size fits all”. An excellent architect will design your kitchen renovation in order to maximise available light, open up the space, and even make sure that your appliances fit your cooking habits.

If you’re looking to jazz up an old kitchen, or start from scratch with an extension or conversion, here are a few of the most important elements to consider:

How do you like to cook?

Beyond kitchen basics, think about what sort of food you like to prepare and make your space fit your needs.

If you love to bake, maximise surface area by putting your appliances overhead, and consider investing in a cool marble countertop for prepping the flakiest pastry.

If you’re a particularly social chef, and love preparing food for friends, think about moving your hob onto an island. Your guests can sit around it enjoying wine and nibbles while you stay part of the party.

If you do one big shop, or like to prep for the week ahead, make sure your fridge is large enough to store everything and you have the space for this bulky appl

Bee. To maximise on space, we recommend having an alcove built in. fore you speak to an architect, take a moment to consider what works in your current set up, and what you’re just working around.

How much storage do you need?

The last thing your shiny new kitchen renovation needs is to be drowning in clutter! A building project can be a great opportunity to have a clear out, but it’s ok if minimalism isn’t your thing... there are loads of smart ways to manage the mess without making every meal a one-pot supper.

Choose cupboards with built-in, space saving solutions, such as fold out spice racks, or a slimline pull out pantry for all your staples. If you've got the space, you might even consider building in a walk-in store room.

Pots and pans are hard to stack and take up room. Think about hanging them overhead. You can even turn this into a design feature!

Check that you're really using all of your appliances (yes, even the juicer!). If you really need something large like a stand mixer, consider where this will go right from the start of the design process.

On a practical note: if you're particularly tall or short, you may want to store your essentials either lower or higher in your cabinets. Make sure to take into account any other chefs as well!

How many people are you feeding?

Whatever your space constraints, this is a good time to be realistic.

If you only host a big crowd once in a while, you could consider an extending table, but you’re unlikely to want to pull this out (or put it away) every morning.

If you’ve got a large family and eat most meals together, choose the size of your table first, and ask your architect to incorporate it's dimensions into their design.

What else is your kitchen used for?

Some people cook, most people eat, but you might also like to watch shows, play with your kids or host the occasional party.

Consider whether your kitchen is the social hub of your home, or if everyone really prefers to hang out in a room with a bigger TV. This can be a good opportunity to build in a cosy nook with a single comfy chair for reading and leave the sofa for the living room.

If you use your space for entertaining large groups, think about having doors that can open fully onto a patio in the summer, or a retractable dividing wall to separate off a ‘den’ space if the kids are watching TV.

Want to let in more light?

When designing a kitchen extension for your home, your architect should be able to explain what they’re doing to let in the most natural light possible.

Make sure a skylight is build as close to the existing wall as possible (rather than at the edge of the new extension), to flood the centre of the room with sunshine.

Think outside the box by accounting for the internal walls of your home. Depending on how much noise bleed you're happy with, is there an opportunity here to put in an open space or window to illuminate a shady corridor or dark living room?

Whatever your plans for your kitchen extension, we’re here to make them a reality. Book in a free consultation call today to chat with one of our friendly architects.