Meditnor

The kitchen is the room we spend the most time in, so it makes sense that we want the space to be pleasing on the eye as well as practical.

The word trend can conjure up here-now-gone-tomorrow design choices. However, what it really encompasses is a check to see whether your kitchen space is still serving your needs on a functional and aesthetic level.

Designer Tips

Kitchens that look clinical and sterile with an abundance of cold white and grey colour schemes are firmly out of favour.

Traditional Tuscan-style kitchens are also out these days, as they feel heavy on the eye with a myriad of excessive detailing. This can make the space feel busy and cluttered.

Industrial-style kitchens with their open shelving and stainless steel details are also out of fashion. These spaces look cold and unfinished.

Farmhouse kitchens had a big moment in previous years, but they were overdone during this period and are no longer a style favourite. The farmhouse look has become stale and seems old-fashioned now.

Builder-grade kitchens often lack personality with standard-issue subway tiles and safe quartz. These are out, with more individualistic choices that reflect your personality now favoured.

Kitchen Refurbishment

Specialists in kitchen refurbishment can update the entire look of your kitchen without the cost, mess and disruption of a kitchen renovation.

By taking your existing space and transforming certain elements, your kitchen can be transformed into an on-trend and inviting space. This may include replacing cupboard doors, countertops or handles.

If you’re considering a home renovation, you might have heard that sky-high building costs are having a dampening effect on the industry, and tradesmen are reporting a reduction in job bookings. When building costs rocket, margins thin for the professionals doing the work, and customers are less inclined to book jobs, especially when the broader economy’s looking shaky. It’s a lose-lose that tends to cause broader concern for policymakers, as the UK’s building industry tends to be a good indicator of customer sentiment and optimism.

How bad is the problem?

Since January 2020, the cost of construction materials has rocketed by 37% on average. At the same time, many would-be property flippers have moved out of the market, as the government levied stamp duty increases. As a result, this aspect of the property market is operating at levels not seen since 2013.

What homeowners are thinking

Homeowners have always had to weigh up the whole ‘move or improve’ question, but planning applications for home extensions from companies such as https://precisionbuildersltd.co.uk/services/home-extensions are at an all-time low as the economy stutters. Homeowners are weighing up all kinds of concerns about rising costs in general, including inflation for food, and wondering whether it’s worth simply pausing on home extensions for a while, or cancelling them entirely.

The challenge for Rachel Reeves

In the next budget, everyone will be looking to Rachel Reeves to provide some certainty for the economy at a time when the cost of living – and the cost of doing business – has never felt higher.