The kitchen is one of the most commonly used rooms in our house, with the popularity of home makeover shows and cookery shows on the television many homeowners have wanted an impressive kitchen that not only has all the appliances we need and use as well as making sure that the kitchen itself looks good and stylish.
There are many kitchen designer and fitter companies around now with new kitchens being one of the most popular home improvements to be done these days.
As with any home improvements you need to be sure that you have the right person for the job and that you don't hire "cowboy builders" whose workmanship will be disappointing and could be delayed or even never completed.
To avoid these problems you need to do your research, ask friends and family members who they hired for their own kitchens.
You'll be able to see their own kitchens and see how good the work and attention to detail is.
Once you've found a designer that you are confident you can trust you have to begin planning, you should have thoughts about what appliances you want, whether you want them free standing or built in to the cupboards.
The location of the appliances can be chosen for you as kitchen designers understand the favoured layout for a kitchen such as keeping your appliances distanced evenly apart so someone trying to load the dishwasher isn't getting in the way of the person who is getting food out of the fridge at the same time.
Your kitchen designer will likely be able to do these plans themselves if you don't have any preference but it is best that they come and see your kitchen before work is carried out.
This will allow the designer to visualise and measure the room up, this is important as it can affect which appliances and how big they can be realistically.
One thing some people forget is that for some periods of time your kitchen will be off limits as it is gutted and refitted so make sure you have suitable arrangements whether this is using a small cooker in another room or dining at relatives or friends in the meantime.
The fitting of a kitchen can take some time, although many reputable fitters can get the work done in one or two weeks depending on the amount of work required.
Make sure you inspect the finished result and enquire about any guarantees as sometimes mistakes can occur and considering the workload it is entirely understandable, as long as the fitter provides you with the assurance that if any workmanship is not up to standard then they will rectify it free of charge.