According to the latest research by Pilkington Glass (www.pilkington.co.uk), the average Brit spends almost £4,000 a year on kitchen updates and almost half of us have renovated our kitchen at least once. When it comes to the ultimate wish list, it seems that granite worktops, islands and glass box extensions are part of the dream makeover while modern and traditional technologies are both highly sought after.

With one in five homeowners naming the kitchen as the heart of their home, our appetite for updating the kitchen shows no signs of slowing down. From splashing out on snazzy small appliances to investing in a new cabinetry, there are so many ways to add wow factor. The average household now spends around £4,000 each year on making their kitchen look and feel fabulous, while one in 20 of us splurge more than £10,000. As a result, almost half (47%) have already renovated their kitchens at least once, another one in five (19%) have redone it twice and almost one in ten (8%) have gone as far as giving the room a fresh look three times.

So what’s left to do? According to Pilkington United Kingdom Limited research, practical items, ways to add warmth and light and a mixture of modern and traditional technologies are all at the top of our kitchen lust list. Almost a third of all those researched (29%) named granite worktops as their number one must-have, followed by built-in appliances (18%) and a kitchen island (16%). Other luxuries included a boiling water tap, a glass box extension and an AGA.

For younger householders, kitchen renovation is all about adding light, with a quarter of 25 to 35-year-olds and almost one in five of 16 to 24-year-olds saying a glass box extension is the one thing they’d love to add to their property. Londoners are especially keen to invest in this kind of glazing, with 16% admitting they’d love a glass box extension – more than in any other city.

The Wish List – Six Kitchen Must-Haves:

1. Granite worktops
2. Built in appliances
3. A kitchen island
4. Boiling water tap
5. Glass box extension
6. AGA