I have been designing interiors for ten years, and the single biggest mistake I see is people treating the fitted kitchen like a magic wand. They believe that once the carcasses are in place and the quartz countertop is sealed, the rest of the house will just fall into line. It will not. I learned this the hard way when I installed a gorgeous matte grey fitted kitchen in a small city apartment. The cabinetry was beautiful. The pull-out spice racks were a dream. But I forgot that my living room was barely four meters wide and that my mother visits twice a year. The fitted kitchen ate my storage budget, and I was left staring at a bare floor where a sofa should go.

The problem with a proper fitted kitchen is that it demands respect. It wants your money, your attention, and most of all your floor space. Once I had spent on the handleless doors and the soft-close drawers, there was nothing left for the other rooms.