Whether you’re dreaming of a traditional country or contemporary look, planning your new kitchen thoroughly beforehand can be a recipe for success.

To help you, we’ve put together some useful points to lead you in the right direction when planning a new kitchen.

Kitchen planning – take a measured approach

Below we have a few tips about the design of the room to help you ensure that your renovation project goes without a glitch, so you can soon be enjoying a nice relaxing bath and admiring your hard work.

Save yourself a fortune

Always do your best to keep the existing service points like water, electricity and gas in mind when planning your new kitchen. Having to re-plumb or rewire will take up considerable time and money.

First things first

When drawing up your new kitchen plan, try to place the sink, preparation area and hob first (as these are the biggest items), and for convenience, not too far apart.

Where is your stop tap?

On your new kitchen plan, note where the stop tap is located (the tap that turns off your water supply in an emergency). You won’t want to put a dishwasher (or other appliance) in front of it - the appliance won’t then sit flush against the wall. Diving in to twist the stop tap off in a hurry will also prove troublesome, to say the least.

Where to put the fridge freezer

When planning a new kitchen, try to place your fridge freezer near the entrance to the room. In doing so, you won’t have to break up the length of a worktop - and when family and friends come home from work or football practice gasping for a cool drink, you won’t have them interrupting your food preparation area to get to the fridge.

Make plumbing easier

The kitchen area which requires the most daylight is the sink. Try to place yours under a window (and if possible against an outside wall to make plumbing easier).

Clear the air and enjoy

Don’t cover ventilation points with things like new units and cupboards. Also, enable cookers and tumble dryers to be vented outside by placing them against an exterior wall.

Finally, when it comes to kitchen-diners, bear in mind you’ll want to air the area quickly after cooking and eating. So, when planning your new kitchen, ensure that you afford ventilation (and all the aforementioned points) as much consideration as which beautiful granite worktop to buy – the dazzling Kashmir White or the stunning Emerald Pearl?