7 Great Kitchen Ideas For The Budget Conscious

The kitchen is the heart of every home in the country, you spend hours in there every day preparing food, socialising and cleaning, so it's important to have a kitchen you love. Kitchens Designs haven't changed radically for years, but modern kitchens can make the space you have available work harder, and these tips might just create your perfect kitchen whilst not being too hard on your pocket.

The Budget Conscious Layout

In recent years kitchens designs have been stretched to the ridiculous in some cases, and I can assure you that the old adage is still true; Mum knows best. You don't want your sink to be free standing in the middle of the room, nor do you want the fridge to rise from the floor like something from Star Trek. If you are refitting your whole kitchen, look for original plumbing as indicators of where the sink originally was – someone was paid a lot of money to design your kitchen when it was first built, so why go to an expensive fitter for them to tell you what you already know. Keep it simple and functional.

Kitchen Face-lift?

If your kitchen is just looking a bit drab, you can achieve the appearance of all the modern kitchens by simply replacing the cabinet doors and handles. The major stores want you to buy a full new kitchen for thousands, whilst if you find a friendly outlet that will sell kitchen cabinets wholesale, you are likely to be able to find doors that fit your shelves perfectly at a fraction of the cost.

Which Worktop is right for you?

If you've got a large family, then durability is a strong consideration in your design. Stainless Steel can be picked up cheaply second hand at a caterer's auction, plus suppliers of kitchen cabinets wholesale will regularly have Stainless Steel in stock as it flows in and out of fashion so often, so approach them with your measurements and requirements. Terrazzo is another cheap option; it'll last forever though it can be a little unstylish for some. Terrazzo can be cut to order so you'll get it without any trouble at all.

Stuck in the Corner

Modern Kitchens have made one huge jump in the last thirty years, proper use of corner space. If you are cramped in a small kitchen, spend a little extra on a corner carousel. The mid-price ranges are sturdy enough to hold all your dry goods and can stand at six feet tall, so your space isn't taken up with just pot plants anymore.

Save Money on Kitchens Designs - Do It Yourself!

The biggest saving in kitchens designs can be made by putting in a little (or a lot) work yourself. If you have a blank canvas to start with, take all the measurements yourself. Take your time, make sketches and measure twice. You'll want your stove to be central, somewhere sociable, it'll be where you spend most of your time, plus your sink should have plenty of space around it – you know what a mess the dishes can make! With you measurements and an idea of what you want, get in the car and down to somewhere that sells kitchen cabinets wholesale. By dealing directly with them you can save thirty to forty percent, just by spending a little bit more time yourself doing it.

Old School Kitchens …

One sure fire way to spend money is to keep it old school. If you are on a very tight budget, you can pick up everything you need second hand. Charity shops and white goods specialists always have a stream of cookers, fridges, freezers and washers coming through their doors, and they are all in working order. You'll need to spend some elbow grease on them to make them appear brand new, but it's possible to pick up a cooker fridge and washer for less than the price of one new fridge. Don't be shy of second hand goods, you'll find funky utensils and crockery at charity shops too. Make it your own kitchen, give it some character.

Top Tip

If you are really stuck for space, here's the best tip I've picked up in the design of modern kitchens. Sacrifice the head space above the sink, install wire racks where the shelves would be, and store all your crockery / pans etc there. Why? Because you can put them there straight out of the sink, they'll drip dry back into the sink and you can free up the workspace by combining your drying rack with your cupboard. Genius.

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