The Rules Of Kitchen Renovation

The official opening of our Erdington Store will take place this Saturday (August 31st) at 53 - 59 High Street. After months of hard work, patience and resolve, our dream of providing a one-stop-shop for appliances and kitchens is about to become a reality. As Birmingham’s favorite graded appliance specialist Borshch Electric has upheld a strong presence in the West Midlands through its five flagship stores and now has the capacity to serve Sutton Coldfield and the entire north-eastern pocket of Birmingham.

Director Simon Cox comments: “what’s always set us apart from other appliance retailers is our drive to go the extra mile, to offer the largest discounts on the best products and deliver real value”. He goes on to explain ”when you are re-doing a kitchen, it’s often such a complicated process with so many parts coming from several retailers all with varying approaches to customer service and quality. We wanted to simplify this process and offer customers the same value for money, support and customer service associated with Borshch but across everything they may need in the kitchen building process”. He explains proudly “It’s one point of contact, it’s trusted and makes life a whole lot easier for the customer”.  

To mark the opening of Borshch’s Erdington store we would like to share with you our thoughts on everything Kitchen renovation. If you are in the updating process and are looking for kitchens in Sutton Coldfield then consider the following important steps:

Bounce Your Ideas Off A Specialist

You may be a dab hand with a drill and a paint-brush but kitchens are a different beast altogether as they need to not only look good but also be multi-functional. Today’s modern kitchen is used as a place for food preparation, entertaining, relaxing, working and even socialising so it has to be designed flexibly which takes some seriously considered thought. If at all possible, try and consult a kitchen design professional and run your ideas past them before starting. You’d be amazed at the tips, thoughts and experiences you could benefit from, and it’s a good way of averting any costly mistakes before they are implemented. Annette is our in house kitchen designer and is always on hand to guide and advise you on anything you might need from worktops, appliances, faucets, sinks and even lighting. 

Understand Your Functioning Workflow

Key to determining the appearance of your kitchen is to clarify your workflow. By this, we mean understanding what you use the kitchen for, the style of cooking you practice and the space you need. For instance, if you are regularly cooking for a house of five people who are coming and going (as is the case with most big families) you are going to need a large preparation space, the ability to cook huge quantities of food and dining space within easy reach for serving.

In this particular case, it may be that you opt for a large fridge freezer capable of storing large amounts of food, a large island worktop for preparation and a three cavity range cooker that is capable of cooking multiple feasts all at once. We would recommend you take some time to clarify your cooking requirements and select appliances and features to complement this. The dangers of not taking the above into account can be serious and could see you end up with a kitchen that is impractically equipped to deal with the challenges you face on a daily basis!  

Budget 

This is a pretty simple thing to watch out for but in the excitement of the moment and the choices that it affords, going over budget can happen. Ultimately before starting a renovation project or even picking out a colour scheme, you should sit down and establish how much money you are prepared to spend. It is then a case of achieving your goals within the confines of this budget. A lot of people tend to forget about other costs besides the appliances and materials for example installation costs. Cooking, refrigeration and laundry appliances all need to delivered and then be hooked up to power and water supplies, the cost of which needs to be factored into the overall project. The great thing about Borshch Electric is that our graded products and kitchen features are geared towards being cost-effective and with up 40% discounts to be had, you’ll find that your budget can stretch further. 

Consistency In Style

Style is always down to personal preference but the important thing that you must remember is consistency. Depending on how far into your kitchen renovation odyssey, it would have become pretty clear that there’s roughly two schools of style: traditional and contemporary. The traditional look roughly encapsulates warmer, natural colours and textures with a healthy dose of detail. Think wooden cabinets, country-style range cookers and characterful sunken-paneled cupboards. 

On the other hand, we have the contemporary style which relies on cool neutral colours, textures and streamlined design features to create a sense of space and minimalism. Some appliances are better suited to each of these styles better than others, for instance, a classic rustic cream range cooker would not fit in with the aesthetic of a minimalist Scandinavian style kitchen in the same way that a handless worktop would not be consistent with carved wooden plate cabinets. For the sake of uniformity and consistency, make sure to decide the style that you are going for and align everything around that when choosing fixtures, appliances, tiles and paint schemes.  

Storage

Planning for adequate storage is essential and can mean the difference between a free functioning workflow and eternal frustration. You need to keep in mind how much equipment you have and where the most accessible points are to get to it. We’re referring of course to things like pots, pans, blenders, crockery, containers, receptacles and other bulky items. Aside from having adequate storage space for your items, you need to make sure that this storage is positioned suitably so that it is easy and quick to access but also located close to where it will be needed. An example of this may be pans. Ideally, these should be in pan draws or racks as close as possible to the hob so that you can access them quickly when coming to cook.