Kitchen Planning Uk

How to plan your new fitted kitchen, from measuring and drawing plans to working out where to put plug points and appliances

Our guide will talk you through all the things you need to think about when planning your new kitchen – whether from scratch or if you're adapting a current design.

Before you start planning a new kitchen, the first thing to decide is whether you want to update your current kitchen or start afresh.

Kitchen Layout Designs

Look at what you already have, and think about what you like and don’t like about it. It can help to draw up a list of what you want to keep, move or remove completely. 

If your kitchen layout already works well, you'll save money by keeping things in the same place, particularly your sink and appliances.

Kick off your kitchen planning by measuring the space you have to play with and noting what can and can't be moved. 

Modern Kitchen Design Ideas By Tel Kitchens

If you'd prefer to get professional help with the planning of your new kitchen, a number of the big kitchen companies offer planning services and tools – more on this below. When making initial enquiries, it's still best to arm yourself with measurements.

Our best kitchen brands review reveals the kitchen companies rated highest by their customers, plus details of each brand's planning services. It also includes information on our new lab-based kitchen unit assessments, saw three brands scooping a Best Buy. One brand got an impressive score of 88% for one of its units.

The planning process is the key time to consider big changes to your kitchen's design, so think carefully about how you use your current space and how you would like to use the new one. 

Open Plan Kitchen Ideas Uk

Remember to consider your kitchen's constraints, such as its size and the positions of doors, windows and plug sockets. If you're not planning any structural work, you'll need to be realistic about what your space can accommodate.

Map out your current kitchen layout (or empty kitchen if you plan to start from scratch) on graph paper. Use metric measurements, as this is what kitchen manufacturers use. 

Take a look at the images below for an example of how to measure your kitchen. The first shows an overhead plan of the whole room.

Kitchen Design Mistakes To Avoid

The image below shows a 'kitchen triangle', helps you plot the distance you need to leave between key locations in your kitchen.

Take measurements from the ceiling to the floor and across each wall. It's worth taking the measurements of the same wall or floor at a few different points, as rooms can be slightly asymmetrical and not completely square at every point.

For the width across the walls, measure along the floor, half way up the wall and near the ceiling. For the ceiling, measure at three points across the wall from the floor to the ceiling. It's a good idea to note down the measurements for each wall individually and name them, for example 'wall one, wall two' etc. Make a note of any architectural features, such as cornices.

Multifunctional Kitchen Design

Note the location and size of windows and doors. Add in the distance between them and the floor, as well as between each other. When measuring windows and doors, you should include the door or window frame (sometimes called the trim) in the measurement, so measure out from these.

Also make a note of way they open and how much room they will need to open fully. Name all the windows and doors too, for example 'window one' and 'window two'.

If there are any kitchen units you want to keep, add these to your plan with their measurements – width, height and depth – and distances between them and the walls and floor where it makes sense to add this.

How To Plan Your Extension's Kitchen

For example, if a unit is on the floor in a corner, you would only measure the distance to the other wall, or if it's a unit fixed to the wall, you would want to include measurements to the floor and other walls.

Highlight where the electric sockets are, the cable routes from them to the relevant appliance, and where the plumbing and waste pipes are. Moving these will add to the costs, so plan to keep them where they are if possible. 

If you can, measure the height, width and depth of these too, and ideally how far they are from other walls, the floor and ceiling. Make sure you note anything else that is a fixed feature, such as radiators.

What Are The 'must Haves' In Modern Kitchen Design?

If you have a boiler in the kitchen, highlight where and what type of boiler it is. If you're upgrading your boiler, see our boiler reviews and boiler buying guides . 

Most of the national kitchen companies have a kitchen planning service, where you will be able to discuss your requirements with a designer who will create a digital plan of your kitchen. Many also have an online design tool that you can access from home, before or after an appointment. 

We've listed companies do what below. Click on the links to go to each review page, where you will find more information about their design services as well as what their customers think of the company.

How To Plan Your Kitchen Layout

These companies have both a design service and an online planner you can access from home without having to speak to anyone beforehand or making an appointment.

You can only use a design service with one of these companies if you book ahead. None have an online planner you can access without having spoken to someone.

It's worth noting that for independent kitchen companies, although most won't have an online planning tool, their designers are more likely to have specialist expertise than with the more general DIY kitchen stores.

How To Design A Kitchen

If you want to add detail to your measurement plan, or use an online planning tool, it's worth keeping these factors in mind:

A fitted kitchen is exactly what it sounds like: a kitchen that is fixed into place on the walls and/or floor. A freestanding kitchen – usually made up of lots of different pieces of furniture – isn't fitted and can, theoretically, be moved. There are advantages and disadvantages to both types of kitchen. 

You can also mix both styles to get the best of both worlds. For example, you could marry a movable kitchen island on wheels and freestanding dresser with a fitted kitchen. You can draw on as many elements as you like from each style to create the perfect balance. 

Kitchen Design For Self Builders

Visit our page on kitchen ideas for more, including information on kitchen paint and inspiration. Also visit our kitchen cabinets page for tips on replacing or painting kitchen doors.

Many of the national kitchen companies and DIY stores only sell off-the-shelf kitchens, while kitchen specialists, including Howdens Joinery and John Lewis , will create a kitchen from scratch to suit your exact requirements. 

The obvious benefit of this is that your kitchen will completely suit your lifestyle and needs, and will make use of every inch space and be unique. The downside it the cost: as you can imagine, this level of work comes at a higher price. 

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If you're interested in this sort of kitchen, we'd recommend speaking to a few companies, including the bigger chains, local kitchen companies and carpenters. That way you can get an idea of what would work best for you, and the cost, is likely to vary between the three.

It's worth keeping in mind that even a specialist kitchen company, particularly the larger chains, is likely to base a kitchen design on its range, so it might not be completely individual.

In addition, many of the standard kitchen companies offer a variety of options to help you to create a design that is tailored to your needs.

Commercial Kitchen Designers

You can find a local kitchen company or kitchen fitter near you by using our ? Trusted Traders service. All professionals displaying our logo have been through our rigorous checks. You can also see how customers rated independents vs the bigger brands on our best and worst kitchen companies page.

Lack of storage was a key regret for many of the people we asked, so this should be a key consideration when designing your kitchen. 

For example, if you like to try new recipes and experiment with spices, having cookbooks and a spice rack to hand near the hob would be useful. Or if you’re a seasoned baker, storage for baking utensils and ingredients might be best placed by the area where you’ll do most preparation.

Inspirational Kitchen Designs For Cooking

Once you’ve thought about what you want to store and where it makes most sense to place things, have a think about the different types of storage available: kitchen islands, open shelves, pull-out units, corner storage racks, hooks, freestanding units such as dressers, floor-to-ceiling cupboards, plate racks and wine racks (built-in or freestanding).

These days, kitchen cabinets don't just house shelves: there are a whole host of other storage solutions that make life easier and make use of otherwise wasted space. This includes:

A kitchen larder is an incredibly useful way to organise and store all your food supplies, as well as keep them out of sight. 

Small Kitchen Design Ideas

But not many of us are lucky enough