When you’re redecorating or refurbishing your bedroom, everything seems much simpler – new wall and floor coverings, a comfortable bed, complementary furniture to match, stylish textiles…
We choose everything according to our own taste or the designer’s recommendations. However, if we want to renovate or move into a new kitchen, it’s not enough to simply rely on our taste. We start thinking about the layout of the cabinets, their height and width, the new appliances, the style of furniture and the choice of materials. That’s when we realise that we need to look deeper and that without the help of professionals, we won’t get a long-lasting and truly reliable kitchen. To make the search more enjoyable than frustrating, it’s important to understand what to look for when choosing a new to look for in new kitchen furniture. Let’s try to do this together.
At first glance, it may seem that a kitchen is only for cooking and not so much about convenience, space and, well, what’s so much to plan? But once again, think carefully about your daily habits and needs. Often, householders don’t even consider or record how much time they actually spend in the kitchen, maybe even more than in other living rooms. Then they realise that the kitchen is not just for cooking. Because it turns out that it’s not just where we eat, but also where we play board games, have dinner with friends, wrap presents or prepare for the holidays, and where children like to sit down with their drawings and homework, and then it’s clear that a big table or island is something you can’t just give up – it’s a place where life is lived. From another angle, we realise that the kitchen is also home to a washing machine, storage for perishables, household chemicals, and less frequently used festive crockery and glasses. Aha, we realise that we don’t need to reduce the number of cupboards, but do we need to increase the number? So the first tip for a new kitchen is to rethink your habits and needs.
Professionals can give you advice, experience and opinions, but no one knows your home like you do. So help the kitchen professionals think through the details of your kitchen. This includes things like plumbing or electrical inlets, their switches and location, if they are going to change, window and door frames, window sills, if they are going to be refurbished – all of which you should assess and pass on to your kitchen cabinet maker. Often no thought is given to other, future kitchen equipment, such as air conditioning or lighting, which may interfere with the opening of cupboard doors. This needs to be taken into account when measuring and then installing the furniture. Another very important aspect of kitchen design is the future layout of the kitchen. And it is this that determines the usable space and usability of the kitchen. Vokė-III has prepared a detailed article on which layout to choose, how they differ and how one is better than another. You can find out more here.
And of course, when it comes to choosing kitchen furniture, there’s no getting away from one of the most important issues – budget. It is the best way to answer the questions that arise when you start planning all the changes to your kitchen. It will be much easier if you set limits – how much you plan to spend on each part of the kitchen: furniture and its materials, changes to the space of the house – plumbing, renovating walls or floors, electrical installations, and finally, new appliances. The Vokė-III kitchen professionals will be able to give you an idea of the price ranges for furniture or appliances, and you can find information about furniture sets on our website, under Dining room and kitchen furniture. You will find prices, descriptions and highlighted materials. This information will help you to answer many of your budgeting questions.
Materiality is one of the aspects that helps to make the final decision on a furniture collection. Solid wood or MDF fronts, granite, quartz or particleboard worktops? Also answer the question: where do the eyes turn more – towards naturalness or new technologies? Which style is more to your heart – classic or modern? The choice of materials is really wide, so you won’t be limited in your options for combining materials. Each material has its own applications and you can read more about their properties in our text: How do I choose materials for kitchen facades and worktops? Here you will find the differences, advantages and recommendations to help you decide. If you have any questions, our kitchen professionals are ready to answer them. They will not only advise you, but also help you choose the best option for your home.
