Kitchen cabinets are an essential facet to modern kitchen living, and without them, we’d struggle with the most practical kitchen usages, such as cooking and eating. Kitchen cabinets are vital to hold crockery and cutlery, as well as to disguise some of the inner workings of the kitchen itself, such as piping for your washing machine and the area underneath your sink. Lately in graphic design circles, there has been a move towards creating your own kitchen cabinet designs rather than opting for store bought standards, and while this is certainly a more difficult route to take, it does mean there is no limit to the level your creativity can take.

When designing cabinets, there are largely two options – purchasing door fronts and creating a frame for them, or customising door fronts in order to give a more unique, stylish appearance. Either way, it is possible to realise savings on the normal retail price of kitchen cabinets, particularly if you intend to invest your own labour time. What’s more, you can still find cabinet designs that are stylish, pleasing aesthetically and perfect for adding value to your kitchen area.

The construction of the kitchen cabinet frames is fairly straightforward, although there is a degree of flexibility built in to allow you to design and create a framework to your own specifications, where you might consider this to be a more suitable solution. In essence, a kitchen cabinet is simply an open box shape, although you may like to provide further reinforcement around the hinges and handle, which are often the source of problems for kitchen cabinets as they age. Again, the choice is yours, although it is probably better to adhere to a more orthodox cabinet framework to ensure it supports all different types and styles of cabinet doors, and is sturdy enough to last over the long term beyond daily use.

Designing your own kitchen cabinets is one thing, but bear in mind you’ll also need to build them, or find someone skilled enough to fulfil the construction on your behalf. Most DIY enthusiasts following the self-design and self-build model, although this does require some degree of woodworking ability. Aside from the basic framework, there is also a requirement for additional support at the traditional problem areas to provide more stability. Provided however you make sure there is some uniformity in the style of the cabinet fronts, the back end construction is less aesthetically relevant and as long as it holds, should suffice for your design needs.

Kitchen design is very much down to personal taste, but here are a few of our favourite contemporary design styles for you to consider:

Ah, the farmhouse. The smell of warm bread wafting from the oven under the stove, and the sight of the family sitting around a large oak table to enjoy their evening meal. Sound like heaven? Farmhouse stylings rely on older items of furniture like solid wooden chairs and chunky tables. Opt for warm colours like yellows and reds to make for a darker, more comfortable room for the family to enjoy. Think large-scale and bold, from your appliances through to your curtain designs, and your farmhouse-style kitchen won’t go far wrong. Why not try a modern twist on this old concept, with more contemporary styled furniture for a fusion of interior themes?

Probably not best for a family kitchen, the modern or minimalist approach to kitchen design will contain very little. Look for expansive work surfaces and cabinets with plenty of storage - after all, we don’t want that toaster clogging up the work tops, do we? Try stone flooring, or even simple laminate and keep kitchen appliances out of sight where possible. Plenty of natural light will help, be that through patio doors or a large window, and make sure you use bright spot-bulbs to provide artifical light for evening dining.

Practical design isn’t really a specific theme, but more about a way of life that caters to the needs of your family. It’s a combination of simplistic style without sacrificing the general idea of a room that suits the needs of any sized family - particularly where kids are involved! Work surfaces will be easy-wipe and fittings robust enough to deal with the day to day living requirements of your growing family. Don’t worry about too many interior design features - there’ll be plenty time for that when the kids fly the nest! For now, it’s about minimal mess and maximum utility - oh, and make sure you avoid light coloured carpeting!

Chic design in your kitchen will focus on dark tiling and strong lighting, centred around a number of different focal points and features. Consider dark marble work tops and a similarly themed oven to keep in line with the overall idea. And how about tiled flooring or natural stone to bring out the rustic in your kitchen? Try to stay away from gold fittings and fixtures - despite your perception, gold doesn’t necessarily mean quality, and it can end up looking tacky, and ruining the overall look of your room.

Kitchen tiles have long been a staple design feature, and are revered for their versatility and ability to lift the appearance of a room. When done tastefully, tiling can look spectacular and can add value to even the smallest of kitchens. However when done improperly, tiling can look tacky and dated, even if it does still provide the same practical benefits as more stylish tile compositions in the kitchen environment.

The first step to better tiling is learning how to work with tiles in order to understand how better to fit the tiles that you do choose for your kitchen.

First things first, it’s time to get down to removing those old tiles. Your aim is to achieve a flat surface on which you can apply the tile adhesive for the next layer of tiles. That means removing as much of the tiling and the old adhesive as possible in order to create the right surface for tiling. With a chisel, strike the centre of the tile and then leverage it off the wall. Start at one corner of the tiling and work your way across. You should find the tiles come off quite easily, and you can start to build up a rhythm in removing them.

A quick tip here - hang on to a couple of old tiles so you can practice your cutting skills later on. This will be especially handy if you’re going to tile around power-points or corners, which can be tricky if you’re inexperienced at cutting through tile!

Practice, practice, practice - cutting tiles is difficult, and many a tile has been lost through bad cutting or simple inexperience. Use a tile cutter where possible, and try to score into the back of the tile where you want to cut before going ahead and doing so, to avoid damaging the design. At any rate make sure you buy a few more tiles than you need to avoid running out halfway through, as there will inevitably be some degree of wastage in the process.

Before grouting, tape around the corners of your tiles and use separators in order to distance the tiles correctly from one another. If you do happen to get grout on a particular tile, a warm damp cloth in a sweeping motion will do the trick, and will clean your tile no problem.

For the grouting itself, cut the nozzle of the grout container at a 45 degree angle for best effect, and scrape off any excess with a blade or knife during the process.

When it comes to choosing a new door for your kitchen, there are a whole host of considerations that must be taken into account. For the average homeowner, buying a new kitchen door isn’t an every day experience. In fact, it’s probably not even an every decade experience. But that doesn’t mean the decision itself is an easy one, or one that should be taken in haste. Aside from the obvious aesthetic benefits of any particular door, the door you choose must also be effective at insulating from the cold - one of the door’s primary functions once it arrives. Additionally it must be able to fend off fire, rather than to quickly go up in flames, which usually means it will need to be of a thick wood and specially coated to cope.

Aside from that there are a host of other factors that need to be taken into account on what’s best for your kitchen, including the quality of the workmanship and installation on the door, as well as the weight and locking mechanism involved in any particular model.

Kitchen door quality is a somewhat abstract concept, and one that is almost purely subjective. What one man deems to be a quality fixture might not measure up to the demands of another, and quite a number of buyers simply won’t care either way. Nevertheless it’s important to have a checklist of your requirements when looking to buy a new door, which could include some of the following:

• Weight - heavier doors tend to be better quality and better at insulating, but they are also more difficult to open and can more quickly become stiff.
• Facade - what is the cladding like on the door? Is it plastic? Do you require a wooden facade, or just a simply carved door?
• Locking - does the door have a handle-through lock? Will you need to acquire a separate lock for the door, and will it be easy to fit?
• Hinging - depending on the weight of the door, you may need any number and quality of hinges to support it in the doorframe. The heavier the door, the better quality hinges you’ll need to buy, as a general rule.
• Fire Resistance - particularly important for internal doors, you want to make sure your door is fire resistant enough to prevent the spread of fire and to allow you to leave the property safely in the event of an emergency

Buying fitted kitchens is a popular alternative to building up your own bits and pieces, and the reason for that is that they often pre-match cabinets and work surfaces, and provide a cohesive and easily identifiable style to any room. Of course they also come with the added advantage that they are fitted for you, but be under no illusions of this being cheap labour. With fitted kitchens often running in to the thousands, even tens of thousands, it’s important to make sure you know what you’re buying, when you can expect installation, and what your remedies are should anything go wrong.

One of the most attractive points when buying a fitted kitchen is often the fact that the labour is supplied within the price. This can be a handy way to make sure your kitchen is installed correctly in your home and can give you the peace of mind to know that whilst you may be working or have other commitments, you’re kitchen is being taken care of by professionals.

Unfortunately the major downside is that this kind of labour is incredibly expensive. In fact, most fitted kitchens themselves would cost a fraction were it not for the labour, which is marked up by the kitchen retailer to provide a handsome profit. A more cost effective way to do a kitchen, if you have the time, skills and inclination is to do it yourself. Cabinets and work surfaces can all be bought from kitchenware retailers for much less than you would expect, and where you can physically put in the labour, you might just end up saving several thousand that would otherwise have gone into workman’s wages and the retailer’s margin.

Quality is an easy way for manufacturers to save money. It is often reported that fitted kitchens are made of cheap woods, or are thrown together with shoddy handles. Indeed the finish in the showroom may not be of the same quality as that you can expect in your home. That means it’s important to look beyond the initial idea of what your kitchen will look like to actually inspect the wood and workmanship in the showroom. Don’t be afraid to ask if this is likely to be reflective of the standard you can expect in your own home - after all, you will be spending a substantial amount of money, so you may as well get things just right.

When it comes to buying kitchen appliances, we all know they can cost a pretty penny. Fitting out a kitchen in terms of cabinets and work surfaces is one thing, but when it comes to stocking up on the actual appliances, you could be looking at several thousand on top of what you’ve already paid to get your kitchen technology up to scratch.

From toasters and kettles through to the larger, bulkier items like your refrigerator and washing machine, kitchen appliances are vital to successful home living, yet they still range in price from the very expensive to the downright dirt-cheap. The trick is, as a buyer, to balance the quality element alongside the price factor, to achieve optimal value for money and to secure the best possible kitchen appliances you can find.

So how do you go about saving money on your kitchen appliances? For starters, you could try looking around your local neighbourhood, in classified ads at the back of your local newspaper or at garage sales. In fact, supermarket classified board may also provide what you’re looking for - that is, if you don’t find a better deal on the shelf! People are often offloading old household items that are in perfect working order simply because they’re buying new equipment, or moving house. This can be a good way to realise a saving on cost price and get goods that are high quality at a fraction of their price. However it is advisable to be discerning in what you purchase, given that the appliances themselves will be second hand and probably won’t come with a warranty or guarantee.

Alternatively for those looking to buy new appliances, online shopping can prove fruitful if you’re searching for bargains. Aside from online auction websites which might seem the obvious place to go bargain hunting, you’d be surprised to learn that many high street retailers offer substantial discounts on home appliances sold online, as they look to encourage more and more shoppers to indulge in, what is for them, a lesser cost-intensive retailing channel. So long as you watch out for the delivery charge and make sure you’re getting a good deal when it comes to warranties and guarantees, shopping for your kitchen appliances online as opposed to in store can be a great way to save loads of money without scrimping on quality - the perfect recipe for any new kitchen!