Kitchen renovation guide: everything you need to know from London suppliers to budget and low-waste options

The kitchen is the hard-working heart of the home, often the scene of everything from meals to homework and socialising.

So a tired or dated space can put a bit of a damper on domestic life.

That said, ripping out and starting afresh can be both prohibitively expensive and seriously irresponsible from an environmental perspective, even if it often seems like the only option on offer from the mainstream kitchen suppliers.

There are ways to revamp your kitchen, whether through high-impact tweaks or bigger changes. And if your kitchen is unsalvageable, you can make a full renovation as sustainable as possible.

First things first: spend a little time hanging out in your kitchen, perhaps with a brutally honest friend.

Consider what works about the space and what doesn’t.

“If it’s a superficial issue, perhaps you can give it a glow-up, changing colours, a new splashback, looking at what storage is essential — can you rationalise some of your stuff and therefore replace some cupboards with shelves or have a little move-around of any freestanding furniture,” says Leila Touwen of kitchen company.