Step-by-step guide to designing a kitchen

Get the lowdown on kitchen essentials such as storage, flooring, worksurfaces and heating

Kitchen essentials

Kitchen storage solutions Plan a place for everything. Site pan drawers within reach of the hob and crockery cupboards or plate racks near the dishwasher. Place spice stores close to where you'll be cooking, sinks and pull-out bins near to where you prepare food, and keep your food storage to one area of the kitchen to make unpacking the shopping easy. Magic corners, drawer systems within cupboards and pull-out larders are ingenious solutions to ensure no space is wasted and entire cupboard contents can be seen and accessed. Kitchen flooring Consider the 'traffic' passing through your kitchen when choosing the flooring. The more it is used the tougher it needs to be. Wood or wood lookalikes add warmth to a scheme and are hardwearing. Stone looks great, although limestone should be avoided in high-traffic areas, and all stone floors need to be sealed to protect them. Porcelain tiles are a cheaper option than natural stone, while Marmoleum, rubber or linoleum are all great for modern styles. Kitchen worksurfaces There are many materials to choose from. Laminate is good if the budget is tight. Wood can look lovely in a traditional kitchen. Granite is a timeless classic and comes in endless natural variations. Corian can be moulded to any shape for seamless contours and comes in innumerable colours. Glass can look great as a feature, while stainless steel has a professional quality. You could also try using two contrasting worktops, such as black granite and maple, or composite stone and stainless steel. Kitchen heating Radiators take up a lot of wall space, so before you lay the floor, it's a good idea to think about whether or not you want underfloor heating. It's particularly useful if you're having a stone floor laid as it will help keep it toasty warm underfoot on cold winter mornings.

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