One of the most exciting projects when renovating your home is planning a new kitchen. Whether it is a new home that you have recently moved into or the fact that you are tired of the one you have had for years, but have had to save up to rebuild it, choosing the new design and appliances can be a lot of fun.

It can also be a lot of work because when you start to think about it in detail you realise that there is a lot more to it than you may have thought when just saying “Right. Let’s do the kitchen”. You also have to remember that you only have one chance to get it right and once done you are going to have to live with it for some years.

You really need to break the kitchen planning down into manageable steps, which will make things a little easier. The first thing to do is to have a good clear-out so that you are not taking into account things that you may not have used for years. Then you need to decide which appliances you are going to replace – whether you are going to get rid of all of them and start afresh, or whether you will just get a new fridge and cooker, for example.

Is your kitchen actually big enough? Are you just going to use it for cooking and washing up and doing the laundry, or are you going to eat in there as well. Are you going to entertain friends for meals? Many people today do eat and entertain guests in their kitchens, so it may be a good idea to plan an extension. One of the most common things that is done today is to knock down the wall between the kitchen and the dining room which will give you a considerably larger space to work in. In fact, it will often double the size of the kitchen or even more. Another way of achieving similar results is to build an extension into the garden.

All of this costs money, of course, so you always have to keep your budget in mind because if you get a loan you could be paying it back for years. So, before you choose the finest quartz worktops and electrical appliances you need to work out how much money you can realistically afford and an upper limit that you cannot go over. You also have to remember that if you start ripping things out and changing them around there may be unexpected extra costs for plumbing, wiring, and so on. You need to remember to add in all of the quotes for electrical, gas, and plumbing installation, as they are quite easy to forget, but they have to be part of your budget.

Are you going to install an island? If you are going to have the sink or cooker in the island, all of the plumbing and electrical work has to be in place first. You also need to think about where you put the cooker if it is not in the island because you don’t want to have to be running around the island all the time to go to the fridge or collect pans if they are on the other side of the room.

What about the worktops. These are the workhorses of your kitchen and there are plenty of materials from which to choose, but many people today are going for quartz worktops in Harrow. Engineered quartz worktops are composed of approximately 93% natural quartz aggregates together with resins and pigments for the colouring and there are many well-known manufacturers. Quartz is non-porous, which is perfect in the kitchen, hard-wearing, and very easy to clean, so is ideal in an area where spills are likely to happen.

Then you also need to take a look at the cabinetry and see how much storage space you actually need. Not everyone can afford rich wood veneers for the doors, but you can save money by using laminates which can give the same look. Even less expensive are shelves, since they don’t require any doors at all.

Buy the best appliances that you can afford, but perhaps make do without the coffee machine and the wine cooler. This will help you keep within budget, and you can always add extra small appliances further down the line.