One of the biggest investments on your home you can make is a new kitchen and/or bathroom. A lot of people are spending more time at home, either working or just being indoors due to the current situation. Because we cannot go to restaurants or the theatre, or go abroad on holiday, people are saving as never before. The papers have been telling us this week that there is an unprecedented amount of savings money in banks at the moment. The interest rates aren’t exactly tempting, so spending on our homes is at an all time high, so the kitchen and bathroom sector are finding sales very buoyant.
So, how do you approach a kitchen or bathroom project for your home?
First of all, be under no illusion – a project of this kind will be messy and intrusive, especially a kitchen when you can’t go and eat out at the moment. If you are having building work done alongside a new kitchen/bathroom, then it is going to take even longer than a simple kitchen/bathroom refit and you will be living with the noise and disruption for as long as the project takes. Get prepared, set up a ‘camp kitchen’ in another part of the house and make sure the freezer is full of ready meals that can easily be heated up with a microwave.
Budget – be realistic. A hand-built kitchen will not be the same price as one from a builder’s merchants or one of the high street shops such as Wickes or B&Q. This does not mean you can’t have a new kitchen or bathroom for a small budget, you can. Do your homework so that you are not disappointed with the final result.
To get the most from your space, it is good sense to hire a professional. You will get a much better result and probably save money in the long run.
There are a lot of routes to take when renovating your kitchen or bathroom.
A lot of the high street stores have consultants that can help you design your kitchen/bathroom. They are not professional designers however and will only use the components that their store sells. Using a generic computer programme, they will help you decide what you need and how to lay it out. This is a good option for a small budget. Another good option for a small budget is to ask your kitchen/bathroom fitter to help you source the goods. If you are keeping the electrics and plumbing in similar positions, then this is a good way to go.
If you have a healthier budget, then there are bathroom and kitchen showrooms out there that will also do the design for you. The higher end ones will have trained their sales team and/or designers, and so a more ‘designed’ result will be achieved. Again though, they will only be able to use the goods they sell in their store to put the design together.
Then there are Interior Architects and Designers. If you want something truly unique to you, then this is the route to go. Stand alone designers can source from many suppliers at all price points. The design is purely to your brief, taste, and budget. The choice is therefore massive and having the designer’s expertise and buying power, it is then at your fingertips. This is not necessarily the most inexpensive option but to be fair, you have a fully qualified experienced professional on your team which does come at a cost.
It is very confusing when there is so much choice but do your homework and look at all the options, you may be pleasantly surprised.
Here are some examples of work done this year;
