You have in mind a dream kitchen but you don't know where to start? As fast as one idea pops into your mind, another follows on its tail - you end up with lots of ideas but don't really know how to move on and get something done. Before you even start decorating or renovating your kitchen - or anywhere else for that matter - you need to plan, you need to do your homework and you need to establish some ground rules. What must you have and cannot possibly live without? That is one of your ground rules. After all, it's your kitchen and you have to live with the finished result. If you are going the whole hog and doing a major refurbishment, make sure you have all the materials delivered ready for your builder, unless, of course, the builder is supplying the materials himself.



You can spend a little or a lot on choosing appliances for your kitchen. Units themselves can be expensive, or more economical, depending on your budget. However, regardless of the cost, you need to decide on styles and themes and color schemes. You need to choose flooring and wall tiles and decide what other bits and pieces you feel you need to have in a kitchen to make it feel your own. Kitchen decorating ideas are largely dependent on the size and shape of your kitchen. Some kitchens, such as my own, are narrow galley-style kitchens with insufficient room to swing a cat. Some styles can be overpowering in such a small kitchen but other styles look just right. My own kitchen never gets the sun and always gives the impression of being cold, regardless what time of year it is. I have solved that problem by choosing a bright cherry-red color scheme to my units, which are all very high gloss and toning the red down slightly with deep green and white kitchen crocks - one for tea, one for coffee and one to store utensils. It shouldn't work in such a small kitchen but it does.

We are going to be extending our kitchen within the next few months but, because the cherry-red units were expensive and are still up-to-the-minute in fashion, we are keeping those exactly as they are. Fortunately, they are all fitted on the side of the kitchen that is not going to be disturbed. When the extension is finished, I will have gained a good few feet and ended up with a good-sized square kitchen. As I am unable to completely match up my cherry-red units - even from the same supplier - I have gone for a total contrast on all the other walls. I am using the same kitchen manufacturer, and a style of cabinet so similar that you could not really tell the difference.

However, I am having these units in a high-gloss black. So, the new wall running the length of the kitchen will have the sink, the dishwasher and the washing machine fitted, behind the matching cabinet doors. All these matching cabinets will be black. The wall at either end of the kitchen will also be fitted with black units. The overall effect will be high-tech with beautifully clean lines. The bright cherry-red cabinets set along the original wall will be the accent wall, providing the focal point for the whole kitchen. The rest of the kitchen will be black, high-gloss and will tone down the cherry-red, with the overall effect very elegant. I am very pleased with the overall finish - and, the kitchen will look warm and welcoming to be in, regardless of the weather. It will be such a comforting room to be in that you actually want to spend time in there. The effect will be everything I hoped for in a kitchen.