Browse Forums Kitchen Corner 1 Aug 07, 2011 11:06 pm Well, after much reading on here, I thought it was time to share our journey with renovating our tiredddd old 70s style kitchen Between the fake wooden cupboard doors, and the bright red countertops......the split oven and cooktop taking up double the space, and bizarre shaped cupboards where you can either fit too much or too little into them.....after 10 years of living with this setup, we just HAD to have a change! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ More photos on our progress....to come Re: Our kitchen reno :) 2Aug 08, 2011 6:47 am eeek! good luck. what colours are you doing and do you have a plan drawn up you can post here? Re: Our kitchen reno :) 3Aug 08, 2011 8:46 am Hi Kiwi! eek is right! It is such an awful setup. There was 1 cupboard that was only like 10cm wide....i kid you not.....it was part of the corner cabinets....no dishwasher.....no benchspace.......it has been really quite bad to live with.....it just had to go!!!! We do have a plan, we are just about finished now, but I thought it would be helpful for others to see the process before and after hehehehe I hope that that is ok to post in here? eek... We didn't have a large budget, as we want to someday extend on the house and make a larger kitchen out the back.....eventually..... We initially went to some of the larger companies who would do the design and assembly for us.....but it was going to end up costing us after everything was in (new appliances and everything) around $30,000. We just couldn't afford to spend that....So we ended up going with Ikea. I know that Ikea is not looked upon that well as an option in the kitchen arena......but it suited us just fine for what we were going to do, and the budget we had. Especially when we could be ripping it out again in 5 years time or so.....maybe lol I will post a few more photos in a sec. Cheers, Louise Re: Our kitchen reno :) 4Aug 08, 2011 8:56 am Here is a rough plan for what we aim to do with the kitchen......it doesn't include the wall cabinets in this one....but gives you an idea of the layout change Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The first step was to rip out the pantry on the left hand side, and remove all of the shelves.... We are going to put the fridge there and have a drinks cabinet above. My husband had to layout from scratch the cabinet up the top, as the space recesses up into the roof some more. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Then to paint......we are using Hog Bristle....Love that colour now!! 1/4 strength for the walls and full strength for the edging/details. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ A lidingo horizontal door on the front, and it is a 100 times better already LOL The wall on the right of the fridge is a load bearing wall, so no chance of us knocking that out.....so this was the best use of space possible Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ We are going to have lighting in this cabinet also Re: Our kitchen reno :) 5Aug 08, 2011 9:19 am I love what you've done with the fridge space, you're right, it looks better already! Can't believe that crazy bench in the before photos. You've done well to manage in that kitchen. Looks kinda cramped. Re: Our kitchen reno :) 6Aug 08, 2011 9:34 am Hi Cheerupcharlie! Thanks! Yep, looks and 'feels' better re the flow of the kitchen already It might limit other owners of the house as to what size fridge they have.....but I can't be worried about that when we are going to be here for quite some time to come The benches were ridiculous! It was hard to have even 2 people in the kitchen at one time.....as we would fall over one another.... The peninsula is going too yay! Re: Our kitchen reno :) 7Aug 08, 2011 9:37 am Oven and cooktop are gone!!!! Soooooo much grease build up on them from over the years.....as the rangehood hasn't worked properly for years....crap oven and crap setup.....gonnnneeeeeee Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Time for some demolition! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Got to love how the builders used liquid nails to attach the tiles on the wall! Awesome! Not! The cabinets came apart pretty easily once the benchtop was removed. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Our kitchen reno :) 8Aug 08, 2011 9:44 am Looks like you took out some of the floor too, are you replacing it? I don't mind those slate type floors. They're not everyone's cup of tea though. I'm looking forward to seeing the ikea kitchen. I have nothing at all against Ikea kitchens especially given how expensive kitchens are from kitchen companies. With the way things are financially I'm sure there are more and more opting to do it all themselves. You can get some really beautiful kitchens at Ikea and from what I hear some are longer lasting then you'd think. Re: Our kitchen reno :) 9Aug 08, 2011 9:52 am Yep, I agree re the Ikea kitchens! We just couldn't afford the price that freedom and others were quoting.....and plus we wouldn't be able to get the benchtops we wanted. Our aim was to get cheaper cabinets, but good quality benchtops and appliances... Nahhh, the floor was like that when we ripped up the cabinets. The builders had tiled up to the kickboards and that was it......annnnnnnooooooyyyyyiiiinnnnggggg......luckily we had a few spare that were left by the builders in the shed.....so we are going to fill in the space where the peninsula was with the same tiles......scary LOL I love slate.....some people hate it......but once it is sealed then there isn't an issue with it. Re: Our kitchen reno :) 10Aug 08, 2011 11:35 am oh wow, you have been busy we had an orange bench in our first home..just like that and our neighbours, YOUR OVEN! yukkkooo, but well done on getting rid of it all, and I love ikea, cos we dont have it in nz and not been to one, so bring it on I say the plan looks great and the fridge..fantastic and if you are going to extend in the future who cares how big the space is and if you dont, who cares how big the space is!! what colours you going for? cheers for the pics Re: Our kitchen reno :) 11Aug 08, 2011 1:55 pm How exciting - isn't it a wonderful feeling to pull the old stuff out ready for the new?? My cousin put an Ikea kitchen in his house and it looks great - soft closing drawers and everything! Did you pick up any ideas from last night's Block? There were some great ones. Good luck with the rest of your reno!! For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: Our kitchen reno :) 12Aug 08, 2011 4:17 pm yep Kiwi! The red benchtops were sooooo sexy (NOT!!! lol) The oven has been a nightmare......it is old.....majorly.....this all started because we had to replace the oven.....then we found out that there was really only 1 option for an elevated oven like that......then Harvey Norman staff were suggesting stoves to us, but that would mean moving cabinets......so then we figured we would do the whole thing LOL eeeekkkk.... Colours are lighter, some yellow and warmer tones......not sure of the splashback yet.....going to wait and see how it all looks and 'live' in it for a while....so to speak. Mclaren - it is an awesomeeeeee feeling! Although not having a kitchen/sink etc is a little frustrating! lol Ohhhh I saw parts of The Renovators last night and they were doing mosaics on the wall, which was great. Didn't see The Block last night.....might have to check it out!!! Re: Our kitchen reno :) 13Aug 08, 2011 4:21 pm When we were renovating our kitchen we used the laundry for cooking and washing up and then when we did the bathroom reno my hubby made up a "shower frame" and we showered in there for 10 weeks! It's amazing how you adapt when you have to and when there is a massive reward at the end of it! For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: Our kitchen reno :) 14Aug 08, 2011 4:22 pm Reinforcing the wall for wall cabinets........too scared of the weight pulling the cabinets down, so we are reinforcing it..... Probably not necessary but we wanted to do it.. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ 2nd coat of undercoat........then 1/4 Hog Bristle.....You can see how yellow and aged the wall colour was up in the top left corner!!! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ 1/4 Hog Bristle coat of paint....supporting beams to sit underneath wall cabinets and corner floating shelves to create support. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Our kitchen reno :) 15Aug 08, 2011 9:43 pm Wall cabinets being installed first......with light connections inside for lights inside and under cabinets Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Base cabinets being added... Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ One of the corner cabinets... Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Our lurvelyyyyy big round sink Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Our rangehood Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ A new dishwasher!! Haven't had a dishwasher for 10 years....so really looking forward to it! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Our kitchen reno :) 17Aug 09, 2011 6:26 am so did you install it or did you pay someone? looks 10000 times better already and it isnt even finished!! Re: Our kitchen reno :) 18Aug 09, 2011 9:18 am It looks great - love the rangehood and the two cupboards either side - makes the area look huge compared to before - well done!! For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: Our kitchen reno :) 19Aug 09, 2011 10:02 am Yep kiwi! We installed all of the cabinets ourselves. It was quite a process, as neither of us have much experience with this type of work. The only things we had someone else come in to do was the electrician, the plumber and the stone mason for the benchtop The rest has been done by us. We made sure we supported everything properly with extra bracing on the walls. Everything was painstakingly balanced out for the benchtops. We literally saved at least $15000 by doing it ourselves, and got exactly what we wanted (ie caesarstone benchtops)... Yep! Absolutely Mclaren! It has made a HUGE difference to the space! Going to upload some more photos now. Re: Our kitchen reno :) 20Aug 09, 2011 10:06 am Did our own tiling......now THAT was a bit scary to do LOL Still need to seal all of it. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Caeserstone benchtops put in Yummy Buttermilk colour Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ and a hint of red throughout Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The stone mason cut out some cutting boards for me, out of the stone also.......these have been amazing to use!!! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Still finding a place for everything in the new space Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Most of the doors are on now... Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Hello It is good to have a planned bathroom reno to suit your budget and design, living for 10 years I think you need a bathtub 4 10371 Bought in Nov 21 at the height of the market (classic). Good area, atrocious floor plan. BUT has land out to the left-hand side that we can extend out on (see second… 0 8770 The only thing to add to these comments is that where possible it's always good to try and work with people than just say "no" because you can. Having someone… 4 17127 |