Space To Improve

For help on making the more serious and costly home improvements, we invite three top Irish interior designers to give their advice on how to help you achieve the optimum results.

A kitchen is the heart of the home, but a few kitchen design mistakes can quickly make it feel like the opposite. However, when you get your kitchen ideas right not only can it create a space that flows, but it can also add value to your home.

IN THE KITCHEN

If you’re embarking on a project to improve the look and functionality of your kitchen the first thing is to decide on the big stuff! Do you need to knock down walls to create a bigger open-plan space, which is in keeping with how we live our lives today – families want to be more integrated with each other, cooking, dining, socialising and watching TV all in the one space. Top tip: always enage with a builder and/or architect when making changes to the fabric of your building.

Before knocking down walls, look at what you already have – are there any interesting architectural details that could be incorporated into your new design, such as old beams or alcoves?

Early on in this process many important decisions will have to be made regarding plumbing and electrics, in order to get the kitchen, and extended area, of your dreams.

We asked Deirdre Coleman of Collab Design Studio for her expert advice on how to approach improving your ktichen space. ‘It can be so disappointing when we miss the chance to get the room we are renovating exactly the way we want it. I think that’s why so many of us like working in gardens, apart from hard landscaping, the planting, in particular, is easier to evolve and change than the bones of our homes.