Lucky you! I strongly recommend you do three things: (1) think back to all the things about your past kitchens (owned, rented, and borrowed) that you did and didn't like and write a list; (2) look through kitchen photos on this site and pick ones that are appealing - you can specify shape, flooring, budget, style, etc. - and save them to an Ideabook; and (3) factor in the style, light and shape of your new kitchen to be. Don't rush the process. Also, I think what happens with a lot of people is when they gather all appealing pictures in an Ideabook, patterns emerge and it becomes clear that there are certain features that you love and you should definitely try and include. There are lots of very helpful people on this site that specialise in kitchen design and I'm sure they'll weigh in and give you guidance. In the meantime, with your current pictures, I wouldn't have the wall oven near the door (ouch) and I've have a workspace near the fridge and maybe have the washing machine hidden/built in somewhere else as you have a lot of space to work with. I hope this is helpful.

I'm totally independent and don't usually give out names of trade contacts - but these three I have know a number of years and deserve a mention due to there professionalism, knowledge of their trade and for being all round lovely peeps, in my opinion ! For Colour / interior design advice : http://www.houzz.co.uk/pro/thereluctantdesigner/asvinteriors ASVinteriors - we have worked together and wow, that lady knows her colours ! Fab sense of style and great eye for detail ! Extremely Professional! For Quality bespoke fitted furniture : http://www.houzz.co.uk/user/lamcodesign Lamco Martyn and Danny's team are terrific at achieving beautiful rooms by manufacturing some amazing fitted and contemporary bedroom, office and living room furniture, great customer service ! Extremely Professional! For Quality Fitted Kitchen supplier : http://www.houzz.co.uk/pro/kitchenhouseuk/kitchen-house-ltd Kitchen House has been in the business almost as long as I have ! Great eye for design, beautiful well chosen selection of products and great customer service. Extremely professional!

Hi JA, We have two dogs and have just moved to a house that requires renovation including structural from top to bottom (and it's 5 bedrooms and 3 floors) We hired Gina from Create Perfect (on here) and she's been absolutely amazing. She prevented us from spending a fortune in unnecessary extensions and showed us how to reconfigure our space through working with a structural engineer to get the space we needed without extending. We were given 3D images of different layouts and floor plans with advantages and disadvantages of each to help us visualise and prioritise what was important to us. She created 3D images of all of our rooms and even shopping lists of the suggested items we should buy. (I've attached a few pics to try and show you what sort of thing you get) She was available 24/7 literally and was more help than I could ever have imagined beforehand. The cost was remarkably reasonable and a fraction of what we're spending on the house. We also benefitted hugely from here trade discounts, which she was happy to pass on. A good designer with me a huge help not only with decorating schemes but the plans and layout for your house, they will also put a high emphasis on what you need and design around it (including pets) so you get a house that fits your lifestyle and doesn't just look like a show room. Best decision I could possibly have made to hire Gina (Create Perfect in here) and can't recommend highly enough the advantages of getting a good designer on board; it made the whole process fun too! Pick the right person and they will be a pleasure to work with and super respectful of your budget and lifestyle. Good luck with your project

Hi Jonathan, Thank you! I’d love to extend to the rear but our garden is sadly quite small so we don’t really have any options to go our backwards - although we would have dream kitchen with tiny garden! Thanks for the heads up on the ceiling height, I’ll have a look into this as this will be rather crucial. Interesting to see the alternative layout you have proposed - appreciate you doing that as it’s good to consider. My only concern would be that we refurbished the current bathroom to new only a year and a half ago so it would pain me to rip it out. Food for thought!