Three tips on designing a kitchen you’ll love for years to come

Whether you’re buying a new-build home, or renovating your current property, your new kitchen is a significant investment – as you’ll want to choose a kitchen that you’ll love, and will serve your lifestyle, for many years to come.

From the worktops to the tiling, there are many decisions required when designing your perfect kitchen, and while it’s important to consider how your kitchen will look, it’s crucial to consider how it will perform. Your kitchen needs to stand up to heavy use and the demands of busy lifestyles, and so it should be crafted with long-lasting and durable materials that will look as good in a few years, as the day they were first installed.

Here are our tips to guide you in choosing a kitchen to be proud of, whether you’re a first-time buyer, or a seasoned homeowner.

Our top three kitchen design tips

Pick a kitchen style that you love, not just what’s on trend

Social media is awash with images of colourful and contemporary kitchens, and it’s easy to be tempted to choose an adventurous style for your own home. While you may love a bright and bold kitchen for a few years, it can be tricky to change up the style if you get tired of it, especially if you’ve committed to a vivid colour for the cabinets, tiles, or other fittings.

Consider starting with a classic kitchen style and finish, and introducing colour, pattern and texture through painted walls, accessories, soft furnishings and artwork – all of which can be switched relatively easily when you feel it’s time for something new.

Think about how you really want to use your kitchen

While a wine fridge and cocktail cabinet, a sleek breakfast bar, or an enormous range cooker might all be exciting ideas for your new kitchen, they aren’t practical if they don’t align with how you actually use the room in your everyday life.

Prioritise your needs – such as ample storage, plenty of food preparation space, and enough comfortable seating for your household – over your wants, and you’ll be one step closer to your ideal kitchen. Once you have considered all of the functional aspects, then you can start to add in the fun!

Choose hardwearing fittings that are easy to look after

In a high-traffic room such as the kitchen, it’s imperative that the fittings and finishes are high quality, and designed to tolerate heavy use. You also need to consider whether the materials will stand up to high temperatures, sharp objects, water, and food stains, whilst being easy to clean and care for.

Your kitchen work surfaces must be especially durable, and historically it has been tricky to balance aesthetic appeal with toughness and resilience. Thanks to innovations in porcelain worktops, it’s now possible to choose a work surface that offers all of the qualities you need in your kitchen, in a product that’s made to last a lifetime.

Growing in popularity thanks to its ‘do it all’ qualities, porcelain is the ideal kitchen surface material as it is incredibly resistant to scratches and heat damage, it is non-porous and therefore hygienic and easy to clean, and it stands up to cleaning using even the harshest chemicals, including bleach. What’s more, this versatile and affordable product can be crafted to look like other popular worktop materials such as marble, polished concrete, and limestone, offering you the style you want for your kitchen, with all the longevity and durability that you need.

As a natural material, porcelain is also sustainable, and can be recycled should you ever choose to replace it. You’ll find stylish porcelain worktops from esteemed manufacturer Athena Surfaces available to choose for your new-build Bellway home at many developments, so from the very first day you move in, you can enjoy a brand-new and beautiful kitchen that you’ll love for years – or even decades – to come.

Find your nearest Bellway development of new-build homes, and speak with your dedicated sales advisor to find out which options and Additions upgrades are available for you to personalise your new home, from your kitchen worktops, to your bathroom tiles, and flooring.