Kitchen Renovation

Planning before appearance

A kitchen that looks excellent and is tiring to use always has a planning problem, not a materials problem. The distances between sink, hob and fridge — the work triangle — are crossed dozens of times in a single meal. When they are long, or interrupted by an island or a door, the kitchen is exhausting daily.

So the conversation starts with questions about cooking: do you cook daily or reheat? Do you cook alone or is more than one person in the kitchen? Do you need substantial dry storage or a little?

Base units live in a different environment from wall units

The unit under the sink is exposed to humidity and repeated small leaks. Wall units see steam and heat only. Using the same material for both is either overspending above, or a risk below.

Water-resistant materials in base units make a clear difference to lifespan — the first sign of the wrong material is swelling at the base of the sink unit.

The worktop follows how you cook

Granite is natural and heat resistant, but porous, so it needs periodic sealing to avoid absorbing stains. Quartz is less porous with better stain resistance and needs no sealing, but tolerates direct heat less well.

So a kitchen where hot pans land on the surface has a different answer from one where staining is the main concern. The choice is functional, not decorative.

Extraction: where savings are made and the result shows daily

Arabic cooking with oils, spices and frying produces far more grease and odour than light cooking, and needs higher extraction. Ducted extraction substantially outperforms recirculating filters — a filter captures some grease but returns heat and humidity to the kitchen.

Weak extraction leaves grease settling on units and odours lingering in the house, and that becomes apparent months after installation.

Services are fixed before manufacture

Sink position sets the waste, hob position sets gas and extraction, and appliance positions set power points. All of it must be locked before units go into manufacture — because changing it afterwards means either an ill-fitting unit or exposed pipework.