A fitted kitchen is one of the most expensive purchases you’ll make… and since you’ll likely only buy two in your lifetime, it’s no wonder people are losing touch with prices.

The cost of fitted kitchens can be broken down into four main categories:

Furniture – cabinets, moldings, handles, etc

Household appliances – oven, hob, hood, etc

Specialty Countertop – Granite, Quartz, Corian , etc

Installation – carpentry, plumbing, electrical, etc

To give you an idea of likely costs, consider these “cost bands” – which represent likely lower and higher costs as a function of quality/quantity:

• Furniture – £3,000 – £7,000
• Appliances – £2,500 – £4,000
• Custom worktop – £3,500 – £5,000
• Installation – £2,500 – £4,000

As you can see, it is now possible to determine your costs by choosing your own specific requirements. eg . You might be buying furniture, appliances, and a granite countertop, but not having installation costs (you might have to install them yourself).

So if you intend to buy all items (furniture + home appliances + specialist worktop + installation ) your kitchen will probably cost you between 11,500 and 20,000 euros.

Don’t fall into the trap of “I only have a small kitchen, so mine will be smaller.”

The cost of an average Fitted kitchens does not generally depend on its size… Why?

• Most new kitchen designs include a similar number of cabinets (the average is 12).
• Larger kitchens have 12 large cabinets
• Smaller kitchens have 12 smaller cabinets
• A 300mm wide cabinet might be half the size of a 600mm wide cabinet… but it accounts for 80% of the cost.
• Therefore, smaller kitchens contain the same number of “slightly cheaper” cabinets – making the furniture similar in cost.
• When you consider that most people have the same appliance needs regardless of the size of the kitchen, the cost of the appliances will be similar whether your kitchen is large or small.
• Since a large part of kitchen equipment depends on the number of cabinets , installation costs are similar for large and small kitchens.

Small kitchens are not cheap to buy, large kitchens are cheaper! The cost of your new fitted kitchen will be much more affected by the quality of the products you buy than by the size .

The trick is to figure out what you want most and spend your money accordingly.

For example, if you really want a fabulous high gloss black granite countertop, you may need to lower the cost of appliances, buy cheaper furniture, or assemble it yourself.

On the other hand, you’ve been eyeing this new induction hob and would rather see it in a new fabulous black high gloss laminate worktop than not have it at all.

Top tips for assembling bathroom accessories

Bathroom accessories are more important to the functionality of the room than the accessories that we find in almost every other room in the house, with the possible exception of the kitchen. The placement of these accessories is also very important as they must be well fitted and in close proximity to the device to which they are connected. So what are the best tips for assembling and placing these accessories to ensure the bathroom is fully functional?

Your towel rail should always be placed near your bath or shower stall for two reasons, firstly you don’t want to stretch too hard to get a towel when your feet are wet as you could slip and hurt yourself and secondly that you don’t want to get out of the bath or shower stall and wet the floor. If you have a large bathroom, you might want to add two towel rails, one next to the bath and one next to the shower.

The toothbrush holder should ideally be placed next to your sink where you brush your teeth. This makes brushing your teeth a lot easier and encourages you to rinse out your toothbrush after use, which is important to minimize the spread of germs and bacteria from your mouth.

Also, make sure to place your towel rack near your sink so you don’t drip or splash water on the bathroom floor after washing your hands.

The last accessory you can place in your bathroom is the toilet paper holder, which obviously should be placed close to the toilet, but just as importantly, it should be placed at a height that is comfortable for everyone in the household. This is especially important if you have young children as it can be very dangerous for a young child to reach too far while sitting on the toilet.

If you keep the above tips in mind, you shouldn’t have any trouble placing your bathroom accessories.

Choosing the best look for your bathroom can be a daunting task. Bathroom trends change so fast that if you’re not careful you could spend big bucks completely remodeling and redesigning your bathroom only to find that it’s dated and not keeping up with the latest bathroom look. While ideally no one wants to be in this situation, there are things you can do to minimize the impact of this problem if it does occur. The answer could be as simple as your decor or the accessories you choose.

As with most rooms in the house, the more you decorate your bathroom, the sooner it will become outdated.

A simple neutral color scheme is the best option when it comes to decorating, but these can seem a little boring, so complement this scheme by also adding a few accessories to your bathroom that can be easily changed. It’s easier to change your bathroom accessories than to redecorate your entire bathroom.

The same rule applies to your Fitted bathrooms accessories as to your bathroom decor: keep it neat and simple. A brushed or plain chrome finish is always a sleek, neutral look, but you can still make an impression when you choose a quality designer accessory.