Time is now a valuable commodity and so preparation time for meals has become a dirty word. The way we use our eating areas has changed too. Kitchens are no longer small, dark, functional rooms with a sink, a stove, a few drawers and a table. Today they are light, airy, informal spaces with sleek wall-to-floor storage, big fridges, ranges, microwaves, and many implements and appliances.

They tend to be the heart of a house, where everyone gets together to chat and chill out as well as eat and cook. Often, they're the most glamorous room, too, with cathedral-beamed ceilings, cavernous space and walls of glass bringing the outside in.

It is a fallacy that every kitchen is worth extending. If it eats up your garden, disrupts the balance of your house or looks like a badly-constructed carbuncle, you may knock thousands off the value of your home and make it harder to sell in the current marketplace.

When there are young children around, preparing, feeding and cleaning up after a family takes up much of the day. Even with older children, time is often so short that preparation for a meal is frequently done in conjunction with eating it. So most families love eating in the kitchen, and the priority if you're selling a family house is to have a kitchen/breakfast room large enough for a good table and chairs. If it isn't, think about extending sideways or into the garden, or lose another room - usually the old ‘back' dining room in Victorian houses - to increase the square footage.

Most people want to open their kitchen doors wide on a sunny day and let the outside in. If possible, put in glazed double doors leading to the garden so you get the benefit of great views even in the depths of winter. The kitchen/breakfast room has two functions: cooking and eating. I'd always place the eating zone near the French doors where there's good natural light. The kitchen zone can afford to be in the darker part of the room as you generally cook under artificial light. In a long rectangular space, it's best to try to run kitchen units halfway down both sides, rather than all the way down only one wall, because, ideally both areas can then be used independently. If you find that you're short on storage, it's better to put a free-standing dresser in the eating area.

Although it has two functions this is still one room, and it's important to think of the design as a whole. You don't want a traditional pine-topped table alongside dark Iroko wood kitchen cabinets. Yet it's also not true that you have to have the same flooring throughout. Different flooring can actually make the space feel bigger. Finally, the one thing many people forget about is a dedicated bin and recycling area. In an ideal world, you'd hide all the rubbish out of sight inside an integrated unit, with three or more sections for different types of waste. But if it's too late for that, stylish stand-alone bins look good and you can get non-touch sensor versions which open automatically.

The ultimate luxury in an open plan kitchen/living room is a wood burner. Traditional or modern, they are heat- and energy-efficient and also very safe - a big advantage in a family room. Leave them lit when you go up to bed - just shut the front panel door first.

About the author
Sarah set up her own property development and investment companies at the age of 24 along with her brother and her husband.  With her business a success, Sarah was approached to be the presenter of Channel 4’s prime time show Property Ladder.   

Enjoying the opportunity to bring property to the nation, Sarah has presented many other shows such as Pay Off Your Mortgage, Streets Ahead and Britain’s Best Home, as well as being a regular contributor to magazines including at home and has written several best selling books.

In 2005 Sarah created the online website, My Single Friend, which has been a phenomenal success and changed the attitude to online dating in this country.  

Sarah has now launched Tepilo, a market leading private property sales website which aims to bring a change to the way we buy, sell and let houses. The company was recently voted one of the top 100 small businesses in the UK and shortlisted for website of the year.

Sarah is currently on your screens with a new series – Help! My House Is Falling Down – Tuesdays at 8pm on Channel 4 or catch up with her on Twitter.