Do you have a picture of the space ? Thanks

WOW, very useful ideas that I believe will be very workable for my tiny, but soon to be fabulous kitchen. Thank you so much.

Hi there, yes - I'm another kitchen designer who feels your pain! In my area, we have a lot of small kitchens (often with awkward staircase protrusions & the like!), so I know the challenge all too well.

First of all, jot down a list of all your "must haves" and "nice to haves" - from what you have said, worktop space is probably on your must have list. Think about all the appliances you want to have and sizes of these also. With ovens, think about whether undermounted is preferable to an eye-level oven housing (easier to use, but at the cost of worktop).

Consider also the height of your room - if your ceiling permits, consider taller wall units to make best use of space.

Look at where your existing water & waste run and position of your existing sink. If you can work with these existing positions, you can save a bit of your budget in avoiding the cost of rerouting/replumbing it all.

Try, where possible, to use standard units in 600,900 and 1000 widths as these will offer you most value.

Consider a modern "J Pull" handless kitchen - they give the cleanest of lines (helping make a small space seem bigger), look stunning and these days all manufacturers have a competitively priced J Pul kitchen in their line up.

To make your budget stretch -

- Pick your unit range carefully and consider the cheaper door options - quality can still be good and you can get "the look" for a lot less than, say, painted solid doors

- Try an pick units with matching carcasses - you may then be able to minimise the number of "end panels" which may be a little prettier, but come at a price!

- Consider vinyl flooring - there are some really excellent vinyls on the market which can replicate tiles, wood flooring and yet the cost to both buy and install are much lower than other types.

-Pick tiles carefully - there is such a wide selection on offer, you can usually find the right "look" at a price point that works for you. Alternatively, small "upstands" to match worktops are quick and inexpensive alternative.

-Be pragmatic in selecting your appliances. We would all love that fancy Neff dishwasher with 192 programmes and a projection of the time remaining until it finishes, but do we REALLY need it??!!

-Pick lovely accessories, get nice kettles/toasters/jars to really set off the kitchen - pound for pound, it will really add value

-Spend a little extra on lights and sockets to "lift" the kitchen - there is nothing more soul destroying than putting in a £30k kitchen only for a client to try and save a few tens of pounds by using cheap plastic sockets and switches!

Obviously I am biased, but I would suggest you seek out a good, independent kitchen design/supply company and make use of their expertise. Measures and designs are normally free, and if you are open and honest about your budget and needs, they will work hard to really deliver what you want at a budget you can afford. People are often under the impression that the big chains are cheaper, but that is not always the case - they will try and sell you what they are told to sell and meet their sales targets, whereas a local independent will have a wider range of options to work with to try and tick all your boxes.

Hope this gives a little food for thought. Feel free to post a sketch of your space here, and perhaps we can give a few more specific thoughts.

Oh - and have fun!! You should enjoy bringing your new kitchen to life!!

I am so amazed at the wonderful suggestions, thank you. Yes once we have our pot of money ready I will take your advice and contact some independent companies, I always thought they would be far out of my reach! I will try to post some photos of the existing room (we will be moving into this, our retirement home shortly) I'm getting quite excited at the possibilities now.

I'm obviously biased, but I would certainly encourage you to give the independents consideration. We tend to have lower overheads and advertising budgets than the "big boys", and our reputation is always hugely linked to offering great service and value to local customers. We're also less likely to expect 100% of the costs up front with normally 50-60% on completion, so there is always a strong incentive for us to do a good job! And where the big players may take your money, do the job and move on, most independents will be delighted to continue to support you in the years that follow with everything from a replacement washer to the odd tile or maybe a quick "refresh". If you're looking at your retirement home, then having someone you can turn to in the years that follow the installation to keep everything ship shape is perhaps an added bonus!

I'll get off my soap box now....

;-)

How about a re-vamp option? Using angled units and curves you can look like more floor space has been created also narrower depth units can help. Taller units to the ceiling can get extra storage and also open shelves.

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