Design ideas for small kitchens

However limited your room size, use this guide to find out how careful planning of the layout, storage, appliances and cabinetry can ensure you achieve the kitchen space you want.

Having a small kitchen doesn’t mean that you need to compromise on style. Clever cabinetry choices and judicious use of space can both help to create a kitchen that suits your requirements. U-shaped, L-shaped and galley designs will all make the most of a small area.

Image above: The galley-style run of cabinets on either side of this kitchen combines storage, worktop space and integrated appliances in the full-height units. An overhanging worktop at one end combines work space with a small breakfast bar, perfect for casual dining and compact bar stools. Cooke & Lewis Appleby high-gloss kitchen in cream, £2,718, B&Q

‘The key question is what you need – is it extra storage, more appliances, or dining space perhaps? This should lead your approach to the rest of the kitchen design and what to include and exclude,’ says Clotilde Passalacqua, interior design leader at Ikea UK and Ireland. If there’s room, it’s a good idea to include a breakfast bar, so that there’s somewhere for guests or children to perch outside the working kitchen area.

Above left: Elegance and functionality come together beautifully in this compact handmade kitchen. Pale-coloured wall units help to maintain a sense of space, and the glazed ceiling lantern brings in much-needed light. Visual tricks, such as the reflective glass splashback, long drawers beneath the hob and the unfussy wall-to-ceiling cabinetry on the right work together to make this small space big on style. The Real Shaker kitchen, from £8,000, DeVol

Above right: In a galley layout, where space between the units is tight, handleless cabinetry comes into its own. In this design, the simple flat-fronted drawers of the base cabinets create a linear effect that gives the illusion of length. Modulnova Fly kitchen in Bianco Snow, from £25,000, DesignSpace London

Cabinetry colours and materials

The lighter and simpler the cabinetry, the better. It’s a good idea to use pale colours and glossy reflective materials to bounce light around the room but, if you want a dark finish, try to use it on the base units only and fill the walls with open shelving or use a lighter shade for the wall cabinets. Be careful not to build up cabinetry next to windows, as blocking out natural light will only serve to make the room feel more cramped and dark. Positioning lighting carefully – particularly in working areas – will help to make the space feel more open.

It’s best to avoid cabinetry with fussy detailing and stick to simple Shaker or flat-fronted laminates. If you have a narrow double galley, make sure there’s enough space to open cabinets or appliances without bashing the doors of the units opposite – a gap of at least 90cm to one metre is advisable. Take care with your choice of handles, too, as protruding handles could end up catching clothes as you walk past if they are too big for the space. Bespoke cabinetry really comes into its own in a compact kitchen as it can be designed specifically to fit your room. Think about having narrower base cabinets on one side of a double galley for instance, or tall wall units that reach all the way to the ceiling, providing you with additional storage space.

Image above: Good storage, such as this spice and utensil store, can make or break a kitchen, and is especially important in a small kitchen. Corner LeMans units, tambour door cabinets on the work surfaces and segmented utensil drawers all contribute to a well ordered design. Kitchens from Siematic cost from £20,000

Storage ideas

Fight the temptation to overfill a small room with cabinetry. It can block out light and also make the room feel cramped. If storage is an issue then consider including clever interior fittings in fewer units instead. Drawers are always a better solution than simple cabinets of shelves as they open all the way, allowing you to store more and also to see what’s inside at a glance. Corner storage is a brilliant use of space and fittings, especially in a U-shaped design – LeMans units, for example, pull right out so you don’t have to scrabble around at the back of cupboards to find the pan you want. Clear work surfaces can make all the difference in a compact room, so always plan space in your units to store your small appliances, allowing you to tidy them away when they aren’t needed but access them easily when required.

Above left: Making the most of what you have is key to good kitchen design. In this space, the understairs cupboard has been fitted with cabinets and built-in appliances. Hyttan and Veddinge cabinetry, from £1,115, excluding appliances, Ikea

Above right: In this narrow room, the floorboards have been laid widthways to give the illusion that the room is wider than it is. Keeping the worktops clear, apart from key small appliances, further enhances the sense of space. Linear kitchen, from £18,000, Harvey Jones

Appliances

In terms of both features and looks, compact appliances pack a big punch these days, so they’re an excellent choice for a small kitchen. Most manufacturers produce ranges that are only 45cm deep, and built-in models are a great solution grouped in banks of cabinetry. Slimline dishwashers are also useful, with some newer models holding nine place settings – perfect for a small family.

Go for multifunctional designs, such as combination ovens and microwaves, and washer-dryers, to cut down on the number of separate appliances you will need to squeeze in. A hardworking sink with lots of inserts, such as drainers and worktop savers, to sit over the top, will help to create extra work space. If you don’t want a kettle cluttering up your worktop, a combination boiling water tap is also a good investment. Some now have compact tanks that sit out of sight below your sink and take up very little room.

Resist the temptation, though, to position a flash ‘professional’-style spray tap over a small sink. Not only will it look disproportionate, but it can also result in water splashing back out over you and your work surface if you don’t take great care.

Image above: Space around the base of a sink, which usually goes to waste, can be put to good use with a specially designed drawer that sits around the underside and includes compartments for cleaning materials. Blum inserts, such as this one, are available from all good kitchen showrooms

Design options

For an effective layout, plan a space with a ‘working triangle’ between the oven, sink and fridge to reduce the distance necessary to travel between them when cooking. Each side of this imaginary triangle should ideally measure 1-2.5 metres. Also consider how you can use the following layout ideas in your small kitchen to create a practical design.

Galley – A long narrow kitchen with units along one or both sides. Many smaller rooms have this arrangement.

U-shaped kitchen – An efficient solution for compact spaces, this has units on three walls, with the kitchen entrance on the fourth wall.

L-shaped kitchen – A single run of units with another, shorter run at a 90-degree angle. This is good for small rooms but is a very workable design for open-plan spaces, too.

Open-plan layout – A small kitchen flowing into a larger dining or living area will feel more spacious.

Featured image: In this narrow room, the floorboards have been laid widthways to give the illusion that the room is wider than it is. Keeping the worktops clear, apart from key small appliances, further enhances the sense of space. Linear kitchen, from £18,000, Harvey Jones

(source link: http://www.realhomesmagazine.co.uk/decorating/decorating-ideas/small-kitchen-design)

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A garden for entertaining

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Following a lengthy house renovation project, Clive Francis and Caroline Illingworth turned their attention to their uninspiring garden, transforming it into a stylish outdoor entertaining space.

Fact file The owners: Clive Francis (right), a company director, lives here with is partner Caroline Illingworth, a hospice nurse and bereavement counsellor. The property: A 19th-century, five-bedroom former mill owner's house, set in a third of an acre. The location: Harrogate  North Yorkshire What they spent: The couple’s garden redesign project cost around £45,000

When we started looking for a house to renovate in 2009, a large garden was top of the wishlist,’ says Clive. ‘In fact, I’d say the garden was as important to myself and Caroline as the house.’

The couple found a period property on the outskirts of Harrogate that stood in a third of an acre, surrounded by school sports fields and countryside. ‘The garden was only a lawn with borders, but it was private, with a high beech hedge and lots of mature trees,’ says Clive. ‘We could see the potential to create a series of outdoor rooms rather than leaving it as an ordinary garden.’

For two-and-a-half years the couple did nothing with the space while they completed the renovation of the house. ‘After the builders had used diggers to create the foundations for their extension, the garden was completely devastated,’ recalls Clive.

The design

In November 2011, Clive and Caroline began their garden project. First, the builders laid a path and wide patio round the house, providing a dry area ready for work to start on the landscaping. It took two months to complete the paving, which includes a small area of Yorkshire flagstones reclaimed from the garden and larger areas of Raj Green Indian stone. The basic paving was finished by January, then there was a six-week gap before work on the rest of the garden could begin.

Clive and Caroline asked local company Garden It to landscape the site based on a design created by Julia Kelly of Garden Therapy. Their wishlist included features such as:

• raised vegetable beds
• a wildlife pond
• a large outdoor shed where Clive and his friends could watch sport
• an outdoor cooking facilities, including a spit roast and a paella stand
• a fire pit in the middle of the garden

‘We have seven children between us, and when they bring round their friends we soon have enough people for a party,’ says Clive. ‘Nothing beats eating outdoors during a great English summer.’

The levels of the garden were dictated by the footings of the extensions to the house. The property is on aflood plain, which meant the internal floors had to remain on the same level as the garden, so the soil was pushed back and retained by a low stone wall to create the wide patio, with steps up to the lawns, pond area and decking. This worked out well because the doors can now be opened straight onto the patio, making it seem like one big room, inside and out.

The garden redesign took six months to complete, which was longer than Clive had first anticipated. ‘A lot of work went into the preparation,’ he says. ‘It was stressful at the time but you soon forget that when you are out there enjoying the results.’

Creating the perfect garden

One of the first jobs was to dig trenches for the land drains, which prevent waterlogging in poor weather. The pad base was created for the shed and the hardcore laid for the paths. The pond was then excavated and the good soil piled up behind it ready for a feature rockery, which hides the gravity-fed filtration system.

An area was dug out for the fire pit, decking was laid across the back of the garden for sun loungers, and the flowerbeds were dug over ready for planting. Garden It also built the circular stone pillar topped with a huge cast-iron paella pan, which is run on bottled gas. As the pan is too large to fit into a sink and takes two people to carry it, it is usually washed down in situ and oiled to season it and prevent it from going rusty. A hot water supply was also connected to a reclaimed sink next to the barbecue and the water can be turned off with a stop cock to prevent the pipes freezing up in winter.

Although the west-facing garden was designed to be a sociable, outdoor space, Clive and Caroline wanted to introduce colour with flowers, mixed grasses and small shrubs, as well as having vegetable beds to grow their own produce. ‘Once the plants were in and the grass was down the garden was completely transformed,’ says Clive. ‘It already looked quite established because of the mature boundary hedge and the four huge trees, which were here when we bought the house, but the greenery pulled everything together.’

With the fundamentals in place, the couple started to add the finishing touches. The spit roast was made by a friend from a mangle found by Clive and a motor large enough to be able to turn a whole lamb.

Garden It built two glass and stone cold frames by the garage along with a covered log store. Clive bought two large waterproof storage boxes to store away the soft furnishings in bad weather, and sourced a mirror for the end of the garden path, which Garden It set into breeze blocks and Clive painted. ‘I liked the idea of making the garden look as though it extended through the hedge,’ he says.

‘We’ve achieved exactly what we wanted with the new design and it has more than lived up to expectations,’ Clive adds. ‘The only things we might have done differently would be to have more vegetable beds, and to have built an outside toilet near the shed, but those small things aside, we have everything we could have wished for. The Garden It team did a fantastic job – after renovating the house we had almost run out of steam, but the garden has definitely been the icing on the cake.’

(source link:  http://www.realhomesmagazine.co.uk/rooms-gardens/gardens-terraces/garden-for-entertaining)

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5 tips for maximising small gardens

Make the most of your outdoor space whatever its size with these tips from garden designer Matt James.

1. Introduce a tree

Every garden needs a tree, to provide privacy and shade, act as a focal point, encourage wildlife and help to screen eyesores. Flowering cherries, crab apples, flowering hawthorn and snake bark maples shout ‘look-at-me’ all year round, and many varieties are ideal for small gardens.

2. Reduce bedding

Cut back on bedding. Summer displays need work, so keep them small or switch schemes to big tubs and half-barrels as these don’t need watering so often. Alternatively, use colourful perennials, which don’t need to be replaced every year.

3. Add focal points

A garden focal point acts as a visual full stop or offers distraction from an eyesore beyond. Statues, sculpture and water features are most effective, but pots or even lumps of shapely driftwood are good ideas.

4. Alteratives to a lawn

Tiny garden? Bin the lawn and go for additional paving or cheaper gravel in sunny spots, and bark in shade. Quality artificial turf is also an option; you’ll cut maintenance time in half and, with no need for a mower, free up precious storage, too.

5. Use big accessories

Small pots, plants and paving units will make a small garden feel smaller. Think big, even if space is tight.

(source link:  http://www.realhomesmagazine.co.uk/how-to/expert-advice/5-tips-small-gardens)

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Gardening gets greener: B&Q removes peat & 15 million polystyrene trays

From April 2014, B&Q will replace all polystyrene packaging across its range of bedding plants with an innovative new concept. Harnessing Teabag Technology™, easyGrow™ is 100% recyclable and between 95% to 99% peat-free, removing peat from commercial plant production. The new packaging concept will be incorporated into 20 varieties of bedding plants.

As the largest garden retailer in the UK, over 80 million bedding plants will be sold at B&Q stores across the UK between March and June. Historically, these plants would be packaged in non-recyclable polystyrene trays, resulting in 22,500 cubic metres of polystyrene, enough to fill over 87,200 wheelie bins, ending up as non-degradable waste in UK landfills. Placed end to end, the trays would stretch from Land’s End to John O’Groats.

The move by B&Q is supported by the RSPB, long time campaigners for peat-free gardening. With easyGrow™ with Teabag Technology™, each bedding plant is rooted in  between 95 to 99% peat-free compost. Peat-free gardening takes the pressure away from exploiting lowland peat bogs. These special landscapes are home to birds like merlins and golden plovers, as well as dragonflies, raft spiders and carnivorous wild plants such as sundews and butterworts. It takes a thousand years for raised bogs to build up a metre depth of peat.  Peat extraction is also a significant source of carbon emissions, releasing around 1.25million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.

Olly Watts, RSPB peat expert comments: “Now gardeners can buy plants and give nature a home in their gardens without destroying nature’s home in the countryside. Lowland peatbogs are really special places for plants and wildlife and there is no reason why we should be digging it up to grow flowers in our gardens.

“Most gardeners love nature and the wildlife that visits our garden flowerbeds, borders and veg patches. Many want to do more for nature by going peat free and B&Q is leading the way in helping them do just that.”

Alan Knight, Chairman of Sustainable Growing Media Task Force added; “Today marks a tipping point towards a future where the sector no longer relies on peat". 

easyGrow™ with Teabag Technology™, consists of a self-contained biodegradable ‘teabag’ made from corn starch, a renewable resource that is fully compostable. Each bag is filled with coir, a natural fibre extracted from coconut husks. Ben Smith, Bedding Plants Buyer at B&Q, explains; “The coir we use is produced in Sri Lanka to high ethical standards which have been independently audited. We’ve created 750 new jobs there as part of the production, and have been playing our part in helping to support the area with funding for a local school.”

As part of B&Q’s commitment to working with British suppliers, easyGrow™ with Teabag Technology™ has been developed in partnership with British growers, including Coletta & Tyson, a family business based in Hull.

Ben Smith comments; “There’s nothing more British than a teabag, so it seems fitting that our latest innovation is inspired by our favourite beverage. With easyGrow™ withTeabag Technology™, we’re able to offer our customers bedding plants which don’t create added waste, and make it easier to get planting just in time for the Spring gardening season.” 

As well as being kinder to the environment, each ‘teabag’ protects the plant roots and makes bedding plants easy to handle with less chance of damage to fragile roots. easyGrow™ with Teabag Technology™ makes planting easier for garden lovers and novices alike: simply remove the plant from the tray and pop the plant straight into the soil.

Joclyn Silezin, Horticultural Category Manager at B&Q, added: “We’re committed to helping consumers make greener choices for their garden, without having to consider the cost, and easyGrow™ with Teabag Technology™ is just the latest development.” 

Matt Sexton, CSR Director, commented; “As the largest garden retailer in the country, selling around 140 million bedding plants a year, we are keen to ensure that our horticulture products have the lowest level of environmental impact possible. easyGrow™ with Teabag Technology™ has allowed us to move from a non-recyclable packaging form to a recyclable one, to make a substantial move away from the use of peat and to reduce our transport footprint associated with moving our plants around the country.

In line with Defra’s voluntary targets, we are aiming to have removed peat from our horticultural products by 2030, I hope substantially before then, and this product will see us take a major step towards that goal by proving that virtually peat free horticulture is becoming a mass market reality.”

For more information please contact the B&Q press office on B&Q@goodrelations.co.ukor 020 7861 2790

Notes to editors:

• B&Q is the largest home improvement and garden centre retailer in the UK and Ireland with 362 stores, employing more than 33,000 people nationwide, more than a quarter of whom are over 50 years of age, with a similar number under the age of 25. For more information about B&Q please go to www.diy.com/aboutus.
• B&Q scrapped its own retirement age in the mid 1990’s which was derived from a project at the Macclesfield store in 1989, which was staffed entirely with employees aged over 50 for a trial period. The initiative produced 18% higher profits with six times less staff turnover. 

(source link:http://www.e-kingfisher.com/index.asp?pageid=55&newsid=1051)

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B&Q unveils its Christmas and Autumn Winter 2014 Collections

(source link: http://www.e-kingfisher.com/index.asp?pageid=55&newsid=1057)

Christmas decorations and cosy winter nights were on display at the recent B&Q Autumn Winter 2014 press show. The exclusive preview, held in July, showcased new décor and Christmas ranges alongside the retailers’ latest sustainability programmes.

For 2014 B&Q continues to offer everything you need to get your home Christmas-ready.  From indoor and outdoor lights, to artificial trees; interior decorations for the home and singing cuddly toys for gifts B&Q can help you unleash your Christmas spirit. 

Christmas, trees and lights

A specially created woodland made from artificial trees showcased the wide range of trees available in store including pre-lit, decorated, traditional and premium trees.

Two innovation trees illustrated the developments made in the range. Designed to be quick and easy to set up, the Chamonix Quick-set Pre-lit LED Christmas Tree comes in two pieces that click together and is ready to decorate in less than ten minutes. The Meribel Glittered Pre-Lit LED tree comes with two colour settings (multi coloured or soft glow) or opt for a combination of the two – a feature exclusive to B&Q.

Indoor and outdoor lights are also predicted to be popular with customers this winter and B&Q continues to focus exclusively on LED lights to help customers with energy saving.  The range of outdoor silhouette lights includes customer favourites such as Santa and a family of reindeer, as well as a whole new range of winter characters exclusively created for B&Q.

New to B&Q in 2014 will be battery powered LED timer lights which can be programmed to switch on at selected times and will automatically switch off after six hours to further save on energy bills. These energy saving lights can run for up to 30 days on one set of batteries.

Décor

B&Q’s Autumn Winter 2014 home collection has been designed to help customers transition their rooms from summer to winter. From natural materials, to sumptuous fabrics and pops of colour, the collections will transform any space as the nights draw in. Each of the collections - Into the Country, Prelude, Happy Days and Contemporary - can be used to create a home to be proud of.

The new Milly light is an exclusive design for B&Q. Made from silicone and available in six bright colours, the LED-light can be popped up and down to fit into any space.

Sustainable timber

Finally on show were B&Q’s sustainable timber credentials. B&Q is the only major retailer to source 100% of its wood from sustainable and well-managed sources, part of its commitment to help protect forests for the future. It sells 16,000 products that contain wood from a sustainable source and each wood-element can be tracked back to the place it was grown, including sandpaper.

For a preview of everything on display visit the B&Q Media Centre. Decor ranges will be available from August, whilst Christmas ranges will be stocked from October. View the current ranges at www.diy.com.

(source link: http://www.e-kingfisher.com/index.asp?pageid=55&newsid=1057)

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DIY items_CANOFIX UK's colour coordinates with a garden and it makes garden beautify.

CANOFIX UK's colour coordinates with a garden and it makes garden beautify.

Great picture of CANOFIX UK reached us the other day from our customer, We're keenly appreciate her picture. As you can see on the picture above that colour, Brown, greatly go well with her garden.

It is a great garden but she needed something that take shelter from the bad weather in front of the entrance. So she chose and installed canopy, especially CANOFIX UK.

Above all, this canopy's colour coordinates with a garden. It is made of the white frame and brown coloure for the polycarbonate sheet, it makes her garden beautify.

What size & colour is suitable for your door entrance?
Besides CANOFIX UK installed residential, commercial, public and industrial. Just visit our website and check it. There are further information about CANOFIX's canopy.

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DIY news_B&Q opens new superstore in Penrith

B&Q opens new superstore in Penrith

DIY giant, B&Q, has opened the doors to its brand new superstore at Castle Retail Park in Penrith.

Joining store manager John McCreadie in the ceremonial ribbon cutting, was John Thompson, Conservative Councillor for Penrith West and a number of pupils from Orton C of E Primary School. The youngsters will be painting their school’s exterior walls later this summer, thanks to a paint donation from their friends at the new store.

Councillor Thompson commented: “I’m honoured to be here today to support John and the team as they unveil their stunning new store. Penrith is a thriving market town and it’s important that residents and tradesmen have access to leading retailers such as B&Q. At the same time, stores such as this are invaluable in the jobs that they provide. This is a great day for the town.”

Meanwhile Orton School’s Head teacher, Mrs Kate Arnold, added: “We had the pleasure of meeting a number of B&Q staff members last week when they visited us in Orton. They’ve been kind enough to donate a large quantity of masonry paint to the school which will be put to very good use this summer as we go about essential maintenance works. The children have loved being a part of this special day – it’s given them a really useful insight into the world of DIY, gardening and retail.”

The new 41,000 sq ft superstore, which replaces the former branch on Bridge Street, has created jobs in the local area by employing 60 members of staff, 40 of whom are new hires.

A variety of roles were available as sales consultants, showroom operatives and customer service advisors along with opportunities in the garden centre, replenishment and warehousing. The store boasts a great diversity of age and experience, with the oldest staff member recruited being 65, reflecting B&Q’s policy to scrap retirement age over ten years ago, and the youngest 18.

Store manager, John McCreadie, who previously managed the town’s Bridge Store said: “Today is a very special day for us and sees the culmination of many months of hard work. I’m incredibly proud of the team who pulled together so seamlessly to get us opened on time and looking so fantastic. New staff members have been working side-by-side the existing Bridge Street team and we’re all raring to go and ready to help the people of Penrith unleash their inner B&Q!

“B&Q is a fantastic company to work for – we’re so much more than just a retailer and really want to establish ourselves as a focal point for the community. We’re thrilled to see our friends from Orton School here today and can’t wait to help them paint their school later this summer. It’s so important to us that we’re doing our bit for the region and we have many more partnership projects in the pipeline.”

The new store has taken just over nine months to build and will stock over 20,000 products as part of an extensive range of garden and home improvement products. The store format is designed to make it easier for customers to find their way around, using colour coding to identify different sections.

Additionally, the store boasts Cumbria’s first ever TradePoint counter with goods from hundreds of quality brands such as Dulux, Bosch and De Walt at trade prices. The counter will be open seven days a week for local tradesmen, further boosting the local economy by helping sole traders and small businesses.

B&Q already makes a significant contribution to the local economy and the country at large as the UK’s leading home improvement retailer. The retailer’s 362 stores serve over 3 million customers per week – and parent company, Kingfisher, also serves another 2.5 million customers in the plumbing, heating, electrical and insulation industries through sister firm Screwfix.

ENDS

For further information please contact Aimi McNeill –amcneill@goodrelationsregional.co.uk/07500 123909.

B&Q is the UK’s leading home improvement and garden living retailer. Its 360 home warehouses employ more than 30,000 people from all walks of life.

Every year, more than 20 million people make their homes and outdoor living better with B&Q, and every year it achieves ever-higher standards for sustainable sourcing. For more information about B&Q please visit www.diy.com/aboutus.