Avoid this common mistake when planning your kitchen.

I had a client recently and the first thing she said to me was that this was not going to be her ‘forever home’. The plan was to stay for 4 years or so, then sell and move onwards and upwards.

With that in mind, we designed the perfect family kitchen (see below). It had lots of worktop space that we know clients love, and is so useful, especially when entertaining, and a fantastic full height elevation with breakfast cabinet, ovens etc. A beautiful island, with up and over worktop completed the kitchen.

The client loved it – not surprisingly! And this kitchen would have sold the house to anybody who loves a great kitchen and the great lifestyle it offers.

Then, she seemed to completely lose sight of her initial brief and requested a complete re-design, with an island and full height elevation only, a very compressed sink run, and very little worktop space. She also decided that they needed a very expensive ice maker in a dining room ‘bar’ area.

The design worked out okay, but my concern is that she made this kitchen too personal, she doesn’t mind that there is only space for one person to work, and that the kitchen is essentially a galley kitchen. But most buyers would look at the empty window wall and wonder why there isn’t a sink elevation along the wall, wonder why there is not enough worktop space and wonder why a 4 bed 4 bath house only has a one person kitchen???

Too many unanswered questions, and a loss of clarity and direction of the brief. If this is your forever kitchen, have exactly what you want, if it isn’t then appeal to your broader prospective market, spend wisely and don’t get confused about your goals.