Design Hints

The first & most important part of planning your kitchen is measuring it correctly, most kitchen furniture is manufactured to metric measurements, so it's best to measure your kitchen in metric. Sketch your kitchen as below in pencil, don't worry about getting a perfect sketch. Draw any pipes coming down the wall, boiler, or anything that may affect your kitchen design.

Some people like to sketch each wall (elevation) as below, I think this is only necessary if you have a stair case or other projecting objects.

Now you have sketched your kitchen, its time to draw a scaled plan. (You can download some graph paper here). The scale you will be using is 1:20 (most common scale measurement used) which means that each 10mm square on the paper equals 200mm on the ground.

Now your plan is drawn, make a list of all the appliances you will want in your new kitchen, if you are keeping existing appliances, take their measurements.

Now its time to plan your new kitchen, the shape of your kitchen really decides your layout. There are FOUR basic types of kitchen which you can use as guidelines for your own layout. All are based on the 'WORKING TRIANGLE' indicated by A, B, C in the diagrams below.

A = Food storage & preparation
B = Cooking & dishing up
C = Washing up (wet area)

Determine from the above diagrams which one looks like your kitchen. Start with the food storage area 'A' & include the fridge/freezer. Ideally you will need cupboards & a work surface here so that you can select all food items which you are going to prepare. This leads into the preparation area, again a work surface would be needed, with storage for pans & bowls under. Next comes the cooking area 'B' try to keep the oven/hob with work surface either side. You do not really want to find yourself in a position that you have to turn around to place a hot pan down behind you. Accidents can happen if someone is passing behind you!

Always plan your layout so that you work to one side or the other. So next to the cooker, you must have work surface which can be used mainly to dish up food. From here we go to area 'C' the wet area the sink, washing machine, & even a dishwasher. It is nice to try & plan a drawer near here for cutlery. Then depending on the size of your kitchen, you can put other units in the design for extra storage.

If you're having a double oven in a Tall housing unit, allow at lease 300mm of work surface to one adjacent side of oven housing

When putting units wall to wall, leave 50mm at each end, this will allow for walls not being square.

When putting units next to a wall, allow a space if your tiling the wall.

Its normal to position a hob over minimum 600mm wide base unit, again leave at lease 300mm either side of the hob. For safety reasons you need at lease 300mm between a sink & hob.

A single sink normally needs a minimum base unit of 500mm & a 1.5 bowl sink normally 600mm base unit. (Remember to plan which side you want the drainer).

One last don't, never plan a sink over a corner joint.

Planning your bathroom is pretty much the same as a kitchen, measure the room the same.

Decide if you're having fitted furniture, or a normal suite. You do not have to position everything in the same position as the old fittings. Bear in mind if you are making major changes, which will lead to extra plumbing where waste pipes are concerned. For example if you decide to move the W.C. you would have to think about resisting the soil pipe, & distance may be a problem with flow. If you are making an on suite bathroom, but have no chance of getting to a soil pipe for your W.C. maybe a macerator will do the job for you. A good quality macerator will pump semi-solids up to 3 metres vertically & 30 metres horizontally, only a 32mm waste pipe is required.

Remember that no plug & socket fitting are allowed in bathrooms, (apart from a shaver socket). You will also need double pole isolating switches for other electrical appliances such as an electric shower or boaster pump. No switch apart from a ceiling pull cord types may be installed anywhere within reach of anyone using a bath or shower.
All wiring must conform to BS 7671:2001, the current I.E.E regulations, & if in doubt call in a qualified electrician.

We can also help you with your design, Buy a Design in the shop, we will send you a reference number, then fax or e-mail your details to us with all your measurements and list your appliances needed. Any ideas you wish to have in your kitchen or bathroom, & we will send you a plan back. You can then buy your kitchen or bathroom from our online shop. We will refund the cost of the design (£19.99) when you buy your kitchen from us.