Your kitchen is the busiest room in your house. It sees the most footfall and is probably the space where most people gather, whether that's for family breakfasts, dinner parties or drinks with friends. In addition, it’s the room where most work is done in the form of preparation, cooking and cleaning. The chances are it’s also where your washing machine lives, so on top of being your culinary headquarters; it’s also the place where dirty clothes go to be made fresh and clean.
All this work requires tools, and all those tools require space. Sometimes it can feel as though the kitchen is becoming cluttered, so if you've reached that stage then maybe it's time to consider whether you’re making the most of what you’ve got.
Simple storage solutions
You don’t need to completely refit your kitchen in order to give yourself a bit more space. A kitchen refit is costly, inconvenient and messy. Instead, take a look around you and see how you could use things differently. You might simply benefit from installing a few fitted baskets or trays or even a ‘magic corner’ tower. Whilst they’re only small investments, they can make a huge difference to the space you’ve got. Even adding an extra shelf to an existing unit can help to clear the clutter from your worktops and give you more room in which to work.
Counting in units
You might find that you’ve got dead space in amongst your units. Perhaps the washing machine has been moved elsewhere and you now have a space that’s begging to be filled. Alternatively, the units you have might not cover the full wall space available, so you might want to consider installing an extra unit or two. Freestanding units can be easily integrated into your existing design, giving you more places to store your kitchen essentials.
Perhaps the space that’s most overlooked is the space in the middle of the kitchen. Breakfast bar countertops are a great way to utilise space that’s doing nothing at all, while adding a touch of modern elegance to the room. In addition to gaining another worktop, you also gain more storage space and, on top of that, another surface around which people can gather.
Create the look you want
All this talk of extra shelves, units and breakfast bars might make you wonder how you can make the kitchen appear to be uniform, as opposed to a series of add-ons. The secret is a simple one and far less expensive than refitting the whole room.
When you’ve had your new units put in, simply replace all the doors on your existing ones to create a consistent scheme throughout. Replacement doors and drawer fronts are available in a huge variety of styles and finishes, so you don’t have to settle for restoring your kitchen’s previous look – you can change it entirely.
In addition, because kitchen cupboard door companies can make bespoke items, you can buy doors made to fit any spaces you’ve taken over, such as the empty space where the washing machine used to live. In a matter of days, you can increase your storage space and give your kitchen a complete makeover, and all at a fraction of the cost of a refit.
