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The best kitchen renovations start long before anyone draws a line on a plan. They start with a series of honest conversations, with yourself, and with your designer, about how you actually live, and what your kitchen needs to do.
At Inline Design Studio, we've been designing and installing kitchens in Devon since 1987. Here's what we wish every client thought about before they came to see us, not because it makes our job easier, but because it makes the result significantly better.
How Do You Actually Use Your Kitchen?
This sounds obvious, but most people haven't really thought about it. Do you cook from scratch daily, or is the kitchen mainly used for coffee and quick breakfasts? Do you entertain frequently, and need space for people to be in the kitchen while you cook? Do you have children who use it as much for homework as for food?
These habits shape everything, the layout, the amount of worktop space you need, where the appliances should go, how much storage to prioritise. A kitchen designed around how you actually live will serve you for decades. One designed around how you imagine you might live will frustrate you within a year.
What's Wrong With the Kitchen You Have?
Make a list. Not of what you want (that comes later), but of what doesn't work right now. Is there not enough worktop space where you need it? Is the lighting inadequate? Are there not enough drawers, or are the ones you have in completely the wrong place?
This negative analysis is genuinely useful. It tells us what problems the new design needs to solve, and it often reveals priorities that clients hadn't consciously articulated. The things that frustrate you most about your current kitchen are the things the new one needs to get right.
Traditional or Contemporary? Or Something in Between?
Our range spans traditional shaker styles through to clean-lined contemporary designs. Most clients, when they sit down with our designers, find that their preference is somewhere between the two, and that their ideas shift as they see materials, door styles, and finishes in person.
The advice we always give is: come to the showroom before you make any firm decisions about style. Looking at photographs online and seeing a kitchen in a room with proper lighting are completely different experiences. The materials matter, the feel of a handle, the depth of a colour, the way a worktop surface catches the light.
What's Your Timeline?
A well-planned kitchen renovation involves design, ordering, delivery, and installation, all of which take time. If you have a specific date in mind (moving into a new home, a family gathering, a renovation that's happening alongside other work), it's important we understand that early.
We manage the whole process from initial design through to finished installation, coordinating the trades we work with. Knowing your timeline allows us to plan the project properly and avoid the last-minute rush that leads to compromises.
Come into the showroom on Wolborough Street in Newton Abbot, or give us a call. We'd love to start the conversation.
