BUYING A NEW KITCHEN

Form Before Function

For many people a new kitchen is one of the single biggest investments they will make in their lifetime and equally a well designed and constructed kitchen will bring many years of pleasure. The kitchen is the heart and soul of a home and if it is not well laid-out and there’s not enough bench tops or cabinets, it will irritate you on a daily basis!

It is easy to be seduced by the look of the vogue kitchens in the glossy magazines and yes, they are certainly helpful when it comes to determining the style of your new kitchen. Ultimately however, the key to a great kitchen is the practicality of the design; this determines how easy the kitchen is to use, how much bench top and usable storage space you will have and how easy it is to tidy and keep clean.

When planning your new kitchen it is a good idea to look very carefully at your existing kitchen. The more you can determine exactly what works in your kitchen and what you like and dislike about it, will give you a much clearer view of what you want in your new kitchen.
Points to consider
Is there enough bench top space?
Is the food preparation area alongside the sink too limited?
Is the layout of your current kitchen suitable, ensuring that the fridge, sink, cook top and oven are within reasonable proximity of each other and have a suitable amount of adjacent bench space? Is there sufficient storage space in your current kitchen?
How will the kitchen function with more than one person using it at any one time? Sometimes physical space limitations will mean that multiple use will be a problem, however in most cases careful design will ensure the best possible use of available space.
The placement of the microwave should be convenient to the work area.
Ideally, the dishwasher should be close to the cabinets where crockery, cutlery are stored, which should, in turn, be adjacent to the meals area.
Similarly, the refrigerator should be close to both the food preparation area and the cabinets where crockery is kept. Because of their size, refrigerators are placed at one end of the kitchen, resulting in unnecessary trips back and forth across the kitchen.

Consider your storage needs. A trend nowadays is to opt for a greater number of drawers in kitchens, as drawers generally provide a more efficient use of space and are easier to access.

Your shopping and eating habits will determine your food storage requirements. Do you tend to buy grocery items in bulk or are you a frequent visitor to the supermarket? Do you tend to cook meals which are more complex and require large number of pantry items? Do you have sufficient space to install a walk in pantry? If not then you need to ensure that the pantry is easily accessible and has enough storage areas for small items. Pull out racks are a good idea for pantries and deep cabinets. Pantry shelves should be at least 30cms deep and 30cm high to accommodate cereal boxes. Higher shelves will enable you to store larger items more easily, but can result in a less efficient use of space.

Kitchen lighting is another important consideration. It’s important to bear in mind that most food preparation is done in the early evening and even if the general lighting is adequate, bench top areas can be in shadow and difficult to work in. If you are putting in over head cabinets under-cabinet lighting will provide excellent illumination to the area where you need it most.
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Building a new home

Building a new home? Why not subcontract the cabinet work?

Builders in general pay cabinet makers very low rates for their work particularly in the spec home market. This means that some cabinet makers resort to cutting corners, both in terms of product and workmanship, in order to make the work profitable.

Some builders are reluctant to let customers sub-contract the cabinet work direct to a cabinet maker. Frequently they will say that this will cause delays in the completion of the home and try to deter the customer from taking this course of action. It is more likely however that the builder wishes to use his own cabinet maker as he is then able to mark up the cost of the work and derive a profit for himself.

By contracting a cabinet maker direct the home owner has control over who will do the work as well as greater input into the design of the work and the materials utilised.
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