Think through your design and plan the layout carefully to create an impressive, yet functional, space. Research great-value materials and factor in labour costs – then you can invest the money you save in an appliance or piece to give your kitchen the wow factor.

Group your appliances – instead of having your fridge, microwave and oven dotted around the kitchen, stack or fit them together in a single bank of cabinet to maximise impact. As your fridge and pantry need to be as easily accessible from the living space as from the kitchen, it’s a good idea to place these near the kitchen entrance.

Flat-pack kitchens are a godsend if you have only a shoestring budget as the cabinets and benchtops come at a fraction of the cost of a bespoke kitchen. Cabinetry, benchtops and splashback can add up to 60 per cent of the renovation cost, so savings can be substantial. To lower costs further, choose a vinyl vacuum wrap, shown here, over a two-pack polyurethane finish.

Once you’ve ripped out the old kitchen, paint the walls before you install your new kitchen cabinets and before you lay new flooring. It’s a quick in-and-out job for the painter so ought to be less expensive. Try Dulux Grey Pebble Half, a subtle neutral grey that goes brilliantly with white.

If a glass splashback is high on your wish list, get the look for much less with a virtually identical polymer-based product. Available in standard or bespoke colours, order

it from selected hardware stores for about $200/m², as opposed to $500/m² (the approximate price of glass). The only catch is, it’s not heat resistant, so go for glass behind your cooktop.

Laminate is an affordable and attractive benchtop surface. For a desirable and contemporary stone slab appearance, opt for a square front edge.

Plan your kitchen layout
Before you order your cabinets and appliances, you need to know what works for the shape and size of your kitchen. A simple way to do this is to draw up a scaled grid of your kitchen floor, marking the position of windows and doors. Arrange cardboard cutouts (sized to scale) of cabinets, sink and appliances, on the grid. Take the following points into account, moving the cutouts around until you have the best, most workable layout.

• Consider placement of pipes, vents, electricity outlets and switches.
• Allow at least 300mm clearance either side of your cooktop and sink.
• Standard floor units are 720mm high plus 150mm (for the kickboard), and 580mm deep. Wall units are 720mm high and 350mm deep (not including handles). Benchtop height, from floor to top of bench, is 900mm and depth is 600mm.
• Where possible, allow aisle space of 1200-1800mm between benchtops.
• The splashback over an electric cooktop should be 450mm high if it’s under a wall unit. If the splashback is under a rangehood or a sink with wall unit above it, the splashback should be 600mm high. Minimum height of a rangehood above a gas hob is 650-750mm, depending on the manufacturer’s recommendation.
• Allow about 16mm for the thickness of end panels and 22mm for kitchen benchtop overhang.
• Make sure the food prep area, sink and cooktop are as close as possible to each other so they form a triangle if you were to rule lines between them – the smaller the triangle, the more efficient the kitchen.