Five of six months building work down and the house is starting to become a home again. I wasn’t sure which new room I was most excited for, but seeing the kitchen today – and the loud ‘Oh my gods’ that ensued – answered the question.

I adore cooking so it was always going to be a strong contender. The old layout lacked light (the staged shot taken by the estate agents was very cleverly lit!) and the edges were just getting a bit tatty.

But the new one is anything but.

New Magnet kitchen going in, with space for American Fridge Freezer and cooker

I should say immediately I totally blew my budget here. My original architect was a big fan of Ikea kitchens and whilst I’ve had one previously which was great, I just didn’t find one this time that was to my taste. I also looked at Howdens – who my builder loves – and very nearly bought this wooden blue kitchen, having decided the Magnet one was a bit too pricy.

But – as cliché as I know this sounds – after a visit to their showroom, I knew this modern Magnet gloss Fusion Blue kitchen was the one.

Two thoughts. Firstly, my designers have a trade discount which helped dramatically. I looked at a similar kitchen from Wren but in real life I felt the quality was quite noticeably different. And whilst retail it was significantly cheaper, actually post a trade discount, the two worked out at a similar cost.

Secondly, this is a room I never want to replace again (well, I guess in 10-15 years but right now that counts as never!) so investing in a good quality kitchen that will last, especially as I cook so much, felt like a good thing to spend a bit more on.

And on the theme of blowing the budget…. soon up…. the Corian work-surface and splashback!

Kitchen when I moved in, shot with very flattering lighting!