1. Henley McKay Kitchens
0 1 9 0 5 6 1 2 2 8 7
55 Britannia Square Worcester WR1 3HP
info@henleymckaykitchens.co.uk
www.henleymckaykitchens.co.uk
Company No: 820 6380 VAT No: 142 0515 58
A Guide to Planning Your Kitchen --
What you Need to Know Before You Start
Designing the most important room in your home requires careful planning. So, before you do anything
else there are some key questions to ask yourself.
There are no set rules in planning a kitchen but here are some general guidelines to help you. Have a
realistic budget in mind before you start. At the end of the day it depends on how you are going to use
your kitchen but when sitting down to do the design, it always helps if you have a prioritized list of your
‘must haves’ and ‘would likes’. This makes planning a lot quicker.
How and when you want to use the space
What do you like and don’t like about your existing kitchen. What really works for you in the current layout
and what frustrates you? The negatives are just as important as the positives as they can help you form a
clear idea of what you do or don’t need in your new kitchen.
Key areas of the room
There are 4 vital zones that will create a natural and efficient flow to your kitchen; cooking, food
preparation, sink and storage. However, increasingly kitchens are used for all types of activities. Do you
need a room that can cope with the rigours of a busy family? Are you going to dine in your kitchen? If so,
plan enough room for a dining table or alternatively a breakfast bar is a great place to congregate. You may
be a keen cook and if you’re cooking for a large family a range cooker may figure in your plans along with
plenty of work surface space. You may want to turn your kitchen into an open- plan design, in which case
an area to relax, and room for a sofa and TV may be important. Ultimately, it’s your kitchen, and the most
important thing is how you and your family are going to use the space. Design the space and features
(must have items) around the activities that will take place in your kitchen, and most of all ensure you
match your kitchen to your lifestyle.
Finer details
As you become clear on the demands you will be placing on your new kitchen make a wish-list of your
preferred products and materials. From a practical perspective consider what you will require from your
appliances, work surfaces, storage solutions and sink and tap. You may already have a look in mind for the
kitchen in terms of the styles, colours and finishes, but it’s a great idea to gather ideas from magazines or
websites. Enjoy creating a scrap-book with cuttings of furniture, flooring, taps, even paint swatches, soft
furnishings, crockery or vases – anything that inspires you. Even just images with the right ‘feel’.
Budget
With a kitchen the cost of key elements such as appliances, units and work surfaces can vary dramatically.
For instance, appliances may account for a considerable percentage of the total cost of the kitchen,
however if branded top-end ovens, hobs and extractors are specified this percentage can escalate
dramatically to become the most expensive element of the project. Similarly the choice of work surface

2. materials and door style/material may increase the budget substantially. There may be areas of the project
where you may have to be prepared to consider a compromise to stay within your budget.
Layout
As a rule of thumb this will be dictated by the existing dimensions of your room, or you may be lucky
enough to be planning to extend. If you have the luxury of extending the room then you may want to
consider an open-plan kitchen to seamlessly link through to a living area. Whatever the shape there are
clever design options that will ensure you can make the most of the space available to you. Even in a tight
space a clever designer can still work miracles. Please see – ‘Planning the Kitchen’ below for some tips on
starting to plan the kitchen yourself.
Design advice
Take plenty of time to consider these important points to compile a good brief, which will be essential to
take the project forward. There’s no better way to get the most from your ideas than taking advice from an
expert to create a design that’s perfectly suited to your requirements. Take along your notes, pictures,
room dimensions and budget expectations, so your designer understands your individual requirements.
With this information your designer will be able to pull together all the elements to create a layout that’s
right for you and your lifestyle.
Planning the Kitchen
Look at the shape of your room and measure 2-3 times—there is a saying in the trade ‘Measure three
times and fit once’. Take measurements in millimetres.
Mark out where the gas supply, gas meter, fuse board / consumer unit, stop tap (if these are located in the
kitchen), radiators and sockets are. All these things can be moved if needed but this can be expensive to
do. Take note of ceiling heights, particularly sloping ceilings, window heights and positioning, and where
the doors are situated.
It is a good idea to put larger cupboards in where possible, rather than separate individual cupboards (i.e.
1000mm unit instead of 2x500mm units). This will save you money.
Consider having large pan drawers instead of base cupboards. This will give you more storage and easier
access to your items. These do cost more but are well worth the extra investment.
Remember to allow enough room for walkways between worktops and around doorways.
Try to design a ‘working triangle’ where the cooker, sink and fridge are at the points of a triangle, to limit
travel between any of these key appliances. However, this is not always possible or doesn’t always work
best!
Think about where the focal point of your kitchen will be. This is usually the hob and extractor hood area
and where your eye-line is naturally drawn to, when you walk into the room. Try to make this area a
feature and it will help to transform your kitchen.
Kitchen islands are quite a popular thing to have recently, but if you are restricted for space, think about
having a breakfast bar coming out into the kitchen instead.
Place the sink under a window and put the dishwasher next to the sink for ease of plumbing. Never put
the cooker under a window!

3. Extractor fans are available as ‘recycling’ or ‘extracting’. If you choose ‘extracting’, make sure you position
the fan against an external wall or so that it can be ducted to a nearby external wall. If fitting ‘recycling’,
make sure you order carbon filters.
Installing Your Kitchen
Once you are happy with your plan, purchase the kitchen, (*including the appliances) and get a date for
delivery. It is a lot easier if one company completes the job from start to finish but these are suggested
steps one should follow, assuming your kitchen is stripped out and you are project managing things
yourself.
When booking contractors in, firstly get a written quotation/estimate. It is good practice to write down
clear instructions of what you want and which dates you need them on site.
1) Make sure all plumbing, gas and water pipes are put into their correct places. *If you are having a
gas cooker, ensure that the correct size gas pipe is put in—this is usually 15mm but sometimes
needs to be 22mm in the case of some Range cookers. In the case of gas hobs or built in gas ovens,
the gas fitter will have to come back once the kitchen is fitted to connect up and do a final test.
Note—American style fridges with ice makers may need to be plumbed in to the mains water
supply.
2) All sockets and wiring should be in their correct places. i.e. cupboard lights, cooker supply,
appliance spurs and additional sockets etc. It may be necessary for the electrician to come back to
do a second fix and final test, once the kitchen has been fitted to connect up cookers and fit sockets
etc. If tiling the walls, please tell the electrician so that he can allow for longer screws in the
sockets.
3) If you are having any new electrical appliances that require hard wiring in, or new sockets etc,
check that the fuse board/consumer unit doesn’t need to be changed to bring it up to modern
regulations. If it does, this could cost anything from £400+ and it is better that you know this at the
beginning of the job.
4) Do any plastering that is required for walls and ceiling. The plaster will need a couple of days to dry
properly but after this time, it is a good opportunity to paint your kitchen before the cupboards go
in. Try to arrange the fit of the kitchen 3-4 days after the plastering, to allow for decorating. Of
note, there is a difference between ‘skimming’ a wall and ‘leveling’ a wall. If plastering large areas,
the walls need to be ‘leveled’ and not just ‘skimmed’. This will ensure base units, wall units and
work tops fit correctly and easily.
5) If retiling the floor, ensure the floor is level. If not, level it, using self leveling compound if needed. It
is recommended that the floor is tiled wall to wall before the kitchen goes in. However, it can be
tiled after the kitchen is fitted. If tiling is done after the kitchen is fitted, ensure that the floor is
tiled underneath areas where there are appliances i.e. washing machines and fridges.
6) Fit the kitchen. Ensure all base units are level. This makes fitting the worktops a lot easier.
7) Wall tiling, splashbacks or upstands are fitted last.
8) Send all guarantees off to the manufacturer for registration immediately, to ensure you have
warrantee on all of your appliances.
9) Put the kettle on and enjoy!