Kitchen remodelling

1. Open space

Any pro chef wants their home kitchen to be free and easy, where guests can have a chat and a drink while chef cooks. If you’ve got space for it, an island is ideal. And if you’ve got the budget, consider knocking through to your reception rooms. Otherwise, try to maximise the open spaces by using effective storage solutions.

2. Visible storage

It’s all about the ingredients. The emphasis is on freshness, quality and veg should ideally be home grown. And a pro won’t be afraid to have as many of these on show as possible, for inspiration but also for the attractive mood they create. So think about shelving, hooks and open-fronted cupboard space.

3. Knives

It’s very important to any chef to have sharp knives, above anything else. If you’ve got the money for this, you won’t have any difficulty buying a top of the range knife set. However, if times are hard, there is no secret to keeping your knives sharp... buy a sharpener; it can keep your affordable knives in good working order for a lifetime.

See knives and sharpeners from IKEA

4. Pans

There is no need to buy a set of saucepans endorsed by a celebrity. This isn’t a cheat; this is good economic sense. Compare our 365+ range with any celebrity endorsed product and they stand up extremely well. Not only that but they look like restaurant pans for a tiny fraction of the cost.

Check out pots and saucepans from IKEA

5. Gas vs electric

As far as cooking goes, chefs generally prefer gas to electric for both oven and hob. However, times they are a-changing. The technology behind induction hobs is highly advanced and some chefs prefer them at home. But either way, if you’ve got the cash, six burners is much-preferred to four and depending on your style of cooking a griddle or wok burner.

See the range of hobs at IKEA

6. Range vs wall

You might assume a professional chef would opt for a range cooker. But if you are a family full of aspiring chefs, a wall oven might allow you all easier access to the ovens at the same time. Whichever you choose, a must-have for any aspiring chef is a double-oven arrangement, giving you much greater flexibility to cook multiple dishes at different temperatures.

Browse IKEA's range of cookers

7. Splashbacks

Decent cooking involves spills. Tiles with grouting are an absolute no-no for the aspiring chef – once you get your pasta sauce on the grouting, it will never come off. A stainless steel splashback is the only way forward, for professional appearance, but mainly for cleanability.

Check out wall panels and splashbacks

8. Surfaces

The greater the surface area the better. Think twice about stainless steel; it retains the heat too easily and is therefore potentially dangerous for children. Also, don’t worry about whether you can chop on the surface – no self-respecting chef would do that anyway; it damages knives. Something easy to clean is the preferred option. No grouting, please.

Learn more about choosing kitchen worktops

9. Lighting

Forget moods and atmosphere; all a chef wants is to tell the different between his/her fingers and the carrot he/she’s about to chop; uninterrupted light with no shadows is paramount. Under-cabinet lighting is crucial. Check out our Grundtal range.

10. Sink

If you can afford to lose some storage under the sink, opt for a deeper bowl. So much easier for washing larger items like baking trays, but also handier for washing a large fish. Most chefs would prefer two bowls, if possible, for washing and draining. Again, cleanability is important, so stainless steel would get the most votes.

See our range of kitchen designs.

Check out our top ten kitchen planning mistakes.