You do not need to bring anything. Plenty of people arrive with nothing but a rough idea and we get a long way in an afternoon.
But six things make the first appointment considerably more useful, and five of them are already on your phone.
1. Rough room size (or a plan if you feel adventurous)
If you are building an extension then bring your architect’s drawing if you have one. If not, the length of each wall and the ceiling height, scribbled on paper, is enough to set the scene. We will measure it properly ourselves before anything is ordered, so nothing here needs to be exact – it is just to give us a broad idea of the space before we visit.
2. Photographs of the room as it is now
A few photos around the room, or even a quick video. Don’t worry about tidying up; we all have a kitchen. Show us where the boiler is, where the meter is, which way the door swings and what the window looks out at. These answer questions that would otherwise wait until the home visit.
3. Pictures of kitchens you like — and ones you don’t
The second half matters more than people expect. “Not that” is usually a faster route to the right room than “something like this”, and it tends to be more specific. And if you don’t know yet, don’t worry: the showroom has plenty to inspire you.
4. A list of what the current kitchen gets wrong
The things you have stopped noticing because you work around them daily: nowhere to put a hot tray down, the bin in the wrong place, a prep area that is too small. This is the most useful thing you can bring, and the easiest to forget.
5. What you actually keep, and how you cook
Whether you bake, whether the food processor lives on the worktop or in a cupboard, how many people are in the room at once on a busy morning. Storage planned around what you actually own is different from storage planned around an average household.
6. A budget, even a vague one
A range is fine. It is not about qualifying you — it decides which furniture ranges and which appliances are best to show you, and it stops us designing something you were never going to buy. If you have no idea yet, that’s fine too: we can give you guide prices, or simply design your wish list first.
What happens on the day
You will pretty much have the run of the showroom while you are with us, so you can open drawers, try the Quooker tap, look at samples in daylight and generally make yourself at home. Then we sit down over a coffee (or tea) and talk about your room. Nothing is ordered, quoted or signed at that appointment.
