Christmas is a wonderful time of the year but is probably the most testing for your kitchen. With mulled wine on the hob, the turkey crammed in the oven, and the younger chefs set to peeling veg in the corner, space can feel hard to come by. The New Year can be a great time to consider how you use the space you have, and whether you need more of it. Below are the three key factors to consider when designing your kitchen.
1. The Way You Move in the Space
The first thing the layout of the proposed kitchen needs to address is the routes you take that involve the kitchen. These include moving into it from other rooms, through the kitchen to the outdoor space, into the dining area, from cooking areas to washing areas, etc.
Have a think about whether these routes will cross each other and cause problems. How can you organize the space to minimize this crossover? A kitchen island can often be a good device to ‘zone’ the room into a cooking zone and a dining zone. Remember what a kitchen is used for, so functionality needs to be the first consideration before you think about how to make it look good, and an Architect Your Home design visit is a perfect way to show you different configurations to ensure you get this right.
2. Bringing light into the room
When deciding the purposes of each space, be aware of where the light will fall. Adding an extension can make an existing area darker, so talk to your architect about creative ways to bring in more light, whether that’s artificial or natural.
Then you need to decide how to use the areas of maximum light. Should the table be positioned near to the door to benefit from the view, or would it be better to utilize the available daylight in the functional part of the kitchen? Is there another source of daylight, such as a roof window, that can bring light to the part of the kitchen furthest from the doors? These decisions will follow naturally from the conversations you have with your architect about how you want to use the new spaces.
3. Relationship with the rest of your home
Before you create a new kitchen, it’s important to think about how this will affect the rest of your home. Extending can make other rooms redundant or feel isolated or seem awkward. Your architect will draw out options to show you how the house will work and flow as a whole, making the spaces work together rather than feeling like disparate rooms bolted together.
An architect’s experience is invaluable for any building project as they are able to interpret your requirements into a design for your extension that will fit naturally with the existing spaces and complement your existing home.
Now you have a design that considers these factors, you are ready to choose the fittings and appliances. This process will be much more meaningful as you now have a coherent space and know where everything needs to go, but make sure you have accurate plans of the space drawn up so that everything fits!
For more information on how Architect Your Home can help with your renovation, fill in our contact us form and we’ll be in touch soon.
