Home Electrics - Housewares DIY hints and tips

Once you’ve chosen your kitchen layout and cabinets, the next thing on the list is choosing worktops. There is a vast choice of worktops available

Planning a new kitchen is an exciting project. The kitchen is the most important room in the house and needs to fulfil many functions. Here are some typical functions of a kitchen:-

A food preparation area.

A cooking area.

Washing up area.

Eating area.

The heart of a party

Wood is a great material for kitchen cabinets because it is timeless and doesn’t go out of fashion. Remember those 1970s bright orange kitchens and mushroom or turquoise bathrooms that everybody spends money on ripping out and replacing when they move into a house? Well, you don’t want a kitchen that will go out of fashion in a few years or put off potential buyers when it comes to selling your house, choose wood for long lasting style.

There are companies who make and sell handmade luxury wooden kitchens which are custom designed for your kitchen and your requirements

When you are planning a new kitchen, you need to remember to budget for a sink and taps. It’s very easy to forget these fittings but the sink and taps are an important part of your kitchen, especially if you don’t have a dishwasher.

When you are considering the location of your sink, you will need to take into account where the water pipes and drainage are and the locations of the hob/oven and the fridge. You want these three items to be in a triangle and within easy reach of each other so that you do not have to travel very far to take things from the cooker to the sink etc. If you have a small kitchen which is L-shaped, you may want to consider a corner sink with the main sink on one wall and the drainer on the other wall, but both next to each other in the corner. This corner position will then give you long runs of worktop for food preparation and serving, and plenty of space for a hob.

Sinks come in many shapes and sizes. You can buy double sinks, with both sinks the same size for washing and rinsing; single sinks with a drainer; one and a half sinks for washing and tipping waste; sink and waste disposal unit; three bowl sinks with a small central bowl for waste etc. Some sinks fit into the work top, others, like Belfast sinks have their own front edging. It all depends on the style of your kitchen. Belfast sinks look great when teamed with handmade wooden kitchens to give a country style.

Let’s consider different types of kitchen sinks:-

Stainless Steel Sinks

You’ve got your eye on that luxury wooden kitchen and you’ve got savings set aside, but you don’t know where to start with planning your new kitchen. You hate your present kitchen and know that you need a different layout but what? It is important to plan a kitchen carefully