The kitchen is easily one of the most frequented places in a house. After all, it is the place where you cook meals and store food and ingredients. Today, the kitchen has also evolved to become more than the cooking area as modern home designs also feature it as a social gathering area. As a result, many homeowners are fond of having a fitted kitchen to suit their homes and spaces.

Fitted kitchens essentially provide a solution for the new role that kitchens have taken as a social space. They come in multiple designs, allowing you to have free reign over how you want it to look and feel. Contrary to the common assumption that renovating your kitchen is a luxury, you can do so without necessarily putting a hole on your wallet. With proper planning and budget considerations, you should be able to find cheap fitted kitchens that suit your home.

Read on to learn more about fitted kitchens uk and how you can get started on transforming your home’s kitchen. Gone are the days when this area was simply food storage or cooking place. Now, it has become a place for people to gather, hang out, and enjoy meals.

What to Look For in a Custom Fitted Kitchen

Now that you have your mind set on customizing a fitted kitchen for your home, you have to consider a few things to plan for it. Start by looking at your current kitchen and think about what you want to do to it. Try to picture how you want it to look like, then make a list of things to keep and change. Overall, your goal is to look for a design that helps you cook with ease and does not require too many steps to get things done.

Sketching out your kitchen area will be extremely helpful for planning. Include the windows, doors, light switches, power outlets, and other details that matter once you start shopping. A sketch will be particularly helpful for your kitchen units since you need these to fit your kitchen space seamlessly.

How to Choose a Custom Fitted Kitchen

Given the popularity of homebase fitted kitchens today, it is no surprise that they come in a variety of colors, designs, and finishes, making the decision much harder than you would think. However, you can easily narrow down your options by going through each important point carefully.

Cost

Pricing is a major factor in selecting your kitchen unit since this will affect all your other decisions. If you are looking for cheap fitted kitchens, make sure to create a budget plan, including how much to allocate for each aspect of the renovation. This way, you can immediately narrow down your options to designs that fall under your budget.

Durability

Choose a kitchen unit that will last long enough to be worth its cost. Inspect its materials and look up the reputation of the company to know if it is durable. The kitchen is easily one of the most used areas in any home, so your kitchen has to withstand the lifestyle of everyone living in your home.

Kitchen renovations do not come cheap, so you want to make sure you can keep yours for at least 10 to 15 years. This way, you can get a good value out of your investment.

Space Considerations

Naturally, you need to select a kitchen design that fits your kitchen space. Even though you end up finding one that is perfect for your needs and lifestyle, it will be useless if you do not have enough space for it. Go back to your sketch and measurements and make sure that every aspect of the design fits before choosing it.

Installation

You also have to factor in installation costs when redesigning your kitchen. Some companies may subcontract the work while others do it themselves, so depending on your budget, check out different suppliers.

Things to Consider in Your Selection

Before you get started with renovating your kitchen, you will need to consider a few things:

Design

Your kitchen should naturally blend well with your home’s overall aesthetic, so make sure to consider how its design will fit with other elements in your place. Is your home modern and minimal, or more on the vintage and rustic side? Think about the theme you had in mind when you first decorated your home to help you choose the right style.

Lifestyle

You will also have to consider your lifestyle when choosing a kitchen. How many people live in your home? Do you spend most of your time eating out or eating at home? Answering these questions can give you better insights on what type of fitted kitchen will suit you best.

Storage

If your kitchen space is not too big, you can use various space-saving solutions like cabinets, drawers, pantry units, and other installations. Consider how much storage you need to store your tools, cutlery, and groceries, so you know if you need to customize cabinets. Do not forget about appliances as these can take up much space, and the last thing you want is a cramped kitchen.

Recommendations

No one fitted kitchen will suit every homeowner as this decision must be made by considering your needs, lifestyle, current kitchen, and many other things. However, depending on your living set-up, there are some recommendations that you can follow to make your dream kitchen a reality.

If you are not in a rush to get your kitchen fixed, try to wait for holiday sales to score great deals on appliances and kitchen units. You can also consider some second-hand options, but make sure to check the items carefully to ensure they are functioning properly. When renovating your kitchen, you do not necessarily have to replace everything with new items, so check to see if you can refresh some areas by repainting or fixing them.

Take note, however, that cost is not indicative of quality, and allotting a higher budget does not guarantee that you will get better items. To ensure that you purchase from the right companies, look at reviews, forums, testimonials, and other helpful sources to know about past client experiences.

If you are working with tight kitchen space, you can always look up some small kitchen design ideas for inspiration. These designs aim to make the most out of the space you have and maximizing efficiency, so you can still get the same welcoming vibe.

If you plan to move the eating area to the kitchen but have a dining room, you can get rid of it and use it for other purposes. The dining room space can serve as an extension of your kitchen to give you more space for your renovation. It can be used to place dirty dishes and clean them or store appliances that are not too frequently used.

Budget Considerations

Your fitted kitchen renovation project starts with a carefully crafted budget plan. First, you have to determine how much you are willing to spend for the entire renovation. A common rule of thumb would be not to spend no less than 5% and no more than 10-15% of your home’s value, so you can still invest in a high-quality kitchen to raise it without overspending.

To renovate your kitchen, you will have to consider all the expenses involved. Besides the kitchen unit itself, you also have appliances, worktops, plumbing, and electrical work, painting, installation, and other possible costs. It will be up to you to decide how you plan to split your budget accordingly, but do not forget to leave a portion–about 5%–as a contingency for any additional costs that you may have overlooked.

Costing Options

Kitchen costs will vary significantly based on how much you want to get done, but you typically have various options to shoulder the expenses. The fastest, and sometimes the cheapest, way would be to pay directly with cash. Some appliances companies may provide discounts if you pay the full price in cash, so if this is an option for you, you may want to consider it.

Similar to other expenses, you can also pay for your expenses through credit. You may be able to pay some of the renovation costs in instalments, with most charging monthly. Some companies offer better warranties when paying with a credit card, so make sure to check this out before deciding.

Finally, another option you have is to take out a second mortgage or borrow against your home or a home equity line of credit (HELOC). You will be surprised to hear that these financing options are fairly common among homeowners, especially since renovating a kitchen can be one of the more expensive home improvement projects.

Changing your kitchen design and renovating it can have a significant impact on you and the people living in your home. However, for it to be successful, you will need to plan carefully and take your time finding the right suppliers to work with. It can be exciting to transform part of your home into a new and more social space, but before you get too excited, make sure you have all your bases covered.