Choose the doors first and the layout has to fit around a decision made from a photograph. Plan first and the finishes are the easy part, chosen last, when nothing depends on them.
01The kitchen you have now
An hour in your existing kitchen, while you cook if possible. We are watching where you stand and what annoys you, which you will have stopped noticing.
02Two layouts, not twelve
We draw two genuinely different plans rather than twelve variations of one. Choosing between two is a decision; choosing between twelve is a fog.
03The quote
Itemised by cabinet, worktop, appliance and labour, so you can see what a change actually costs rather than being told the total moved.
04Fit
Ten to fourteen days for a typical kitchen. Same two fitters throughout, first fix sequenced inside our programme.
05Template and finish
Worktops templated once the units are in and levelled, fitted a week later, then the snag list walked with you rather than posted to you.
The template
One week, and no gap along the wall
Worktops are templated after the cabinets are in and levelled, never from a drawing. A wall 8mm out of true over three metres is ordinary, and a worktop cut to the drawing shows every millimetre of it as a bead of sealant you look at for fifteen years. The template costs a week of programme and removes the most common complaint in the trade.
Asked often
How long is the kitchen out of action?
Ten to fourteen days for a typical fit, with a gap of about a week in the middle while the worktops are made from the site template. We leave you a working sink and a plug for the kettle for as much of that as is physically possible, because the alternative is a fortnight of takeaways and a strained household.
Why template the worktops on site?
Because walls are not straight. A wall 8mm out of true over three metres is entirely normal, and a worktop cut from a drawing will show that gap along its whole length. Templating after the cabinets are installed adds about a week and removes the most common complaint in the trade.
Do I have to buy the appliances from you?
No, and you will usually pay less if you do not. We will tell you the sizes and the extraction requirement and you can buy wherever you like. What we do insist on is that they are on site before the fit starts.
Is a kitchen island always a good idea?
No. An island needs at least 1.2 metres of gangway on the sides being used, and a lot of rooms cannot give that without making the working triangle worse than the galley it replaced. We will draw it if the room allows it and say so plainly if it does not.
What is the working triangle?
The total walking distance between the sink, the hob and the fridge. Under about 3.6 metres and the kitchen feels cramped with two people in it; over about 8 and you are walking rather than cooking. It is a guide rather than a rule, but it explains most kitchens that feel wrong without the owner knowing why.
Can you work around a structural change?
Yes, and we would rather know at the first visit. Removing a chimney breast or widening an opening changes the layout options completely, and it is far cheaper to plan the kitchen around the new room than to redesign it afterwards.