The A new holy kitchen: grail “

Planning a big home renovation project is a challenge, even for those of us who should really know everything there is to know! When we moved into our house, we thought the kitchen, although not to our taste, was perfectly serviceable and it went down toward the bottom of the renovation to-do list. I thought a lick of cupboard paint and some new tiles would be all it needed.

However, it soon became apparent that ‘serviceable’ didn’t come close and, as probably the most used room in the house, a kitchen refresh quickly graduated up the list to pole position. I won’t list all its faults here (I’ll run out of space), but believe me when I tell you: there are many.

We’ve spent months yoyo-ing when it comes to what to do with our kitchen ”

Cue months of yo- yo-ing about what to do with the space. Extension or no extension? Knock through to the adjacent garage? Keep it simple and rework the layout in the existing space? We finally settled on a glass-box extension, and got planning permission at the end of last year. And so 2022 will (hopefully) see us with a newly extended kitchen diner. That’s if we can ever find a builder (who knew what a tall order that would be?).

I’m after a kitchen that feels modern but won’t date quickly, so I loved our trends feature on page 114 with its focus on longevity. And our guide to kitchen layouts on page 128 will be my go-to, as our space is an awkward shape, which means getting the layout right is vital. As usual, my impatience is evidenced by the fact I’ve already started building a collection of plates for a wall display for the finished room. True to form, I’m sure I’ll be styling it up before the paint is even dry!