Kitchen Brief Preparation Checklist

Write down the specific moment or recurring frustration that made you decide to change the kitchen, in a sentence or two rather than as a general complaint.

A named trigger tells a designer what the room must solve, and it keeps the brief anchored when tempting ideas arrive later.

Note whether the change is driven by the condition of the existing kitchen, by how the household has altered, or by wanting the room to work with the rest of the home.

These three drivers lead to very different proposals, and stating which one dominates saves a great deal of circling.

Decide and record what would make you say afterwards that the work was worth doing, described as something you could observe rather than a feeling.

An observable outcome can be tested against a drawing, whereas a wish for a nicer kitchen cannot.

Consider whether anything else in the property is likely to be touched at the same time, such as a floor, a doorway or a neighbouring room.

Adjacent work changes the sequence and the people involved, and it is far easier to raise now than halfway through.

Whether adjacent work can proceed alongside a kitchen depends on matters only a qualified professional can assess for your property.

Note whether you expect to remain in the property for the long term or to move on, and say plainly which of the two is shaping the brief.

This single answer quietly governs how much of the brief is about daily use and how much about broad appeal.

Describe an ordinary weekday meal from start to clearing up, naming who is in the room and what each of them is doing at the same time.

A narrative reveals collisions and shortages that a list of requirements never shows.

Note how often food is cooked from raw ingredients rather than reheated, and how much clear preparation surface that habit really calls for.

Preparation surface is the requirement most often underestimated, and it follows directly from how you cook.

Write down how many people cook at the same time and whether they currently get in each other's way, and at which point in the process.

Two people working at once changes the layout requirement completely, and the pinch point is usually specific rather than general.

Record whether washing up is done by hand, by machine or both, and where dirty and clean items currently pile up while it happens.

The piling up is the part that gets left out of briefs, and it needs surface of its own.

Note the meals that stretch the kitchen hardest, such as baking, entertaining or preparing several dishes at once, and how often they happen.

Designing entirely for the hardest case wastes space, but never mentioning it means the room fails on the occasions you care about.

List the things about the existing kitchen you would be sorry to lose, however small, such as a particular drawer, the view from the sink or a run of clear surface.

Small working details rarely survive a rebuild unless someone writes them down, because nobody thinks to defend them.

Note where you instinctively put shopping down when you come in, and check whether an equivalent surface exists in anything you are imagining.

The drop point is used constantly and appears in almost no brief, so it tends to be designed out.

Record which cupboard you open most often and where it sits in relation to the sink and the hob.

Frequency of use tied to a position is exactly the kind of information a designer can plan around.

Write down the daylight you value in the room and at what part of the day it arrives, since this is easily lost to a tall unit.

Daylight is hard to argue for once cabinetry is drawn, and much easier to protect if it is stated as a requirement.

Note any appliance or piece of furniture you intend to keep, and measure it rather than assuming it will fit the new arrangement.

Retained items constrain a layout in ways that are awkward to discover after a design has been drawn.

Ask the supplier and the appliance manufacturer what space and clearances a retained appliance needs before it is designed in.

Write down each irritation as a specific event rather than a feeling, such as the cupboard door that collides with the oven door when both are open.

Named collisions can be checked on a drawing, whereas a general remark about the kitchen being awkward cannot.

Note the moments when you have to put something down mid task and there is nowhere sensible to set it.

These moments point directly at where landing space is missing, which is one of the most useful things a brief can contain.

Record the places that are hard to clean and why, whether that is a gap, a corner, a joint or a surface that shows every mark.

Cleaning irritations repeat every day and are usually caused by a detail that could have been chosen differently.

Note what is stored somewhere that makes no sense, and what would have to change for it to live somewhere sensible.

Storage that migrated to the wrong place is evidence of a layout problem rather than a tidiness problem.

Write down anything in the room that is uncomfortable to use, such as a shelf too high to reach or a socket behind an appliance.

Discomfort is a genuine requirement, but only if it reaches the brief rather than being tolerated silently.

Anything arising from reach, mobility or physical comfort should be discussed with a suitably qualified professional rather than settled from a list.

Note who lives in the property now and whether that is likely to change while this kitchen is still in use.

A household that is about to grow or shrink has different requirements from one that is settled, and the difference is worth stating.

Consider whether children, older relatives or anyone with particular needs will be using the room, and record what that might mean.

These requirements are much easier to design in than to add later, but only if they appear in the brief.

Anything a household member needs on health or accessibility grounds should be taken to a suitably qualified professional before it shapes a layout.

Decide and record whether the kitchen must suit possible future arrangements of the room, or only how you live today.

Trying to satisfy both quietly is how briefs become contradictory, so it is better to choose openly.

Note whether any part of the kitchen is intended to be added or replaced later, and say which part it is.

Something planned for later still has to be allowed for now, in position if not in provision.

Write down how tolerant you are of a finish that shows marks and wear, because that single answer shapes many later choices.

Tolerance for wear settles arguments about surfaces and finishes long before samples are on the table.

Collect the images you are drawn to and write beside each one what specifically appeals, since it is rarely the whole picture.

An annotated reference tells a designer about proportion, colour or arrangement; an unannotated one only creates guesswork.

Separate the references that show an arrangement of the room from those that only show a colour or a material.

Mixing the two leads to a proposal that copies a layout you never wanted for the sake of a finish you did.

Note which references show rooms of a very different shape or size from yours, and mark them as mood rather than as a plan.

A striking image from a much larger room sets an expectation that your room cannot meet, and saying so early avoids disappointment.

Record the things you have seen in other kitchens and actively disliked, which is often more useful than a list of what you liked.

Dislikes are usually more specific and more consistent than likes, so they narrow the field faster.

Consider bringing references as questions about what would be involved rather than as a request to reproduce them.

Framed as a question, a reference invites the professional to explain the consequences rather than simply agreeing.

Sort your requirements into those that are genuinely fixed and those you would give up if the room turns out not to allow them.

This sorting is the single most useful thing in a brief, because it tells a designer where they have room to work.

Name the one requirement that, if it could not be met, would make you rethink the whole approach to the room.

Knowing the deal breaker in advance prevents a design being developed a long way before it hits the thing that matters most.

Agree within the household who has the final word where two people want different things, before a designer is in the room.

Unresolved disagreement inside a household is one of the most common causes of stalled kitchen decisions.

Record any constraint that comes from the property rather than from choice, such as where a window sits or a door that has to remain.

Separating imposed constraints from preferences stops a designer working to remove something that cannot move.

Note what has to keep working in the property while the kitchen is out of use, such as laundry, hot drinks or somewhere to wash.

Living arrangements during the work belong in the brief because they can change what is proposed and in what order.

Whether services can be kept running while work proceeds is a question for the contractor and the relevant qualified trades.

Write the brief as a short document with the requirements first and the wishes marked plainly as wishes.

Anything that reads as a flat list of demands invites either resistance or silent omission.

Note which parts of the brief you expect to be challenged, and be ready to hear why rather than treating it as obstruction.

The parts most likely to be challenged are usually the ones where the room genuinely cannot deliver.

Record who in the household will attend design appointments and who needs to see anything before it is agreed.

Decisions taken without someone who later turns out to have a view are the hardest ones to unwind afterwards.

Ask whether the designer would rather receive the brief as a written document, as a conversation, or on an enquiry form of their own.

A brief handed over in the form a designer already works from tends to be read closely rather than skimmed and set aside.

Keep a dated copy of the brief you handed over, so that later changes can be recognised as changes rather than as misunderstandings.

Without a dated baseline, it becomes impossible to tell whether something was dropped or never asked for.