Browse Forums Kitchen Corner 1 Oct 28, 2014 10:03 pm Hey Everyone, My partner and I have just brought our first home and in the coming weeks it will be time for us to give it a complete make over. We figured we would start with the kitchen seeing it being one of the most important rooms of the house. However it brings on so many questions like, Tiles or Splashback? if splashback what type / how does the whole process work. Laminex or stone bench tops? 2pck or Laminex cabinets? We havent even decided on colour themes yet, but we are thinking about a neutral theme with a hint of colour. With saying all that there is still all the fixtures, sink, handles and so on. If anyone has gone through what we are about to being, please help..lol please let us know how you guys handled everything, what places to visit, where to buy and not to mention your guidance. Thank you in advance to everyone and I wish everyone all the best with what ever project they are working on. Thank you =) Re: Wall tiles or splash back? 2Oct 29, 2014 6:35 am If I were you I would delay the start of renovations until you are more enlightened and know what you want. You need to visit as many display homes as possible and maybe go with a friend. If your partner is not into this kind of stuff he will become bored sh!tless and be less interested in each new house you go to. You can take him back later and show him the ones you like. Take photos of everything you like and write notes as you go, this will save you heaps of time revisiting. You can ask the sales rep about colours and products in the display home but generally they won’t be able to help much as they only walk from the garage to the kitchen to boil the kettle. I could tell you heaps of things I like such as I prefer tiles to glass splashbacks but you don’t want my colours and products in your home. You need to get out there and check things out, find what will fit in your budget and decide what is you. And remember most people on this forum started out as clueless as you are now and we all survived. I wish you both good luck and look forward to seeing the end result in a couple of years. Regards, Grumbles Re: Wall tiles or splash back? 3Oct 29, 2014 5:56 pm Agree. Wait until you are sure. I did a kitchen in my last house and hated the layout. Luckily we were selling. You think I'd knowe better as we renovate houses a lot. But it's different when it's for yourself. I mainly do cheap houses. It looked great but I didn't like the size of the drawers and a few small things. I like poly doors (white). There's nothing wrong with laminate benchtops but if it's a house in the upper market of price stone (or manufactured stone) is the way to go. The manufactured stone is only slightly more than laminate. Go to many kitchen showrooms and see what you like. Steer clear of gimmicks that cost a fortune and you don't need. I'm glad I waited a year before putting my new kitchen in my new house. I love my pot and tupperware drawers. Most were 2 big drawers but I put a 200 drawer on top the 2 big drawers. They are deep enough and I put my coffee cups in the top on one side and stove spatulas etc in the other. If the drawers are too deep the top is just wasted space. Everyone is different. Take your time. It's a big expense and you have to live with it EVERYDAY for a long time. Good luck. Re: Wall tiles or splash back? 4Oct 29, 2014 10:36 pm Thanks guys for your beautiful advice, I have already made plans with the other half to go see a few display homes this weekend. I just hope I can stay within our budget. I really cant get over how much things are these days as my father is a builder he keeps telling me things didn't cost this much back in the day =( We have already picked and deposited our appliances from E&S Trading, those guys are pretty good. They might seem 3 to $400 more then most places but the more you bargain and become friendly with them they tend to give you a good price. We went with the Bosch cooktop, Siemens side by side fridge, 2x 600 Siemens pyro ovens, Bosch dishwasher and washing machine. All the above took us about a month to finally settle on, I can just image how long the rest of the house is going to take us..lol How long did it take to get your home the way you guys wanted it? Re: Wall tiles or splash back? 5Oct 30, 2014 9:43 pm haha! Fist house was new so didn't do much. Second one was still changing after 19 years (we put the kitchen in the week before it went on the market). But I only bought it on the proviso that we moved 2 walls, moved the kitchen etc. We had no money so renovated the bathrooms as we had the money. We built a nice verandah then 5 years later decided to extend (down came the verandah). OOPS! Our current house we bought before we sold the last one so spent 3 months on a total reno (carpet, paint, split the house in to 2 houses). Kitchen last. Yard is next. Depends on finances. Plus you change your mind too (much to my husbands disgrace). Where are you located? Re: Wall tiles or splash back? 6Oct 31, 2014 4:29 pm hahaha I love that line "(down came the verandah). OOPS!" lol I can only wish that our renovations will take 3 months but I can just see it now taking much longer, tho I shouldn't complain like I said my father is a builder so I will be saving heaps in the end. BUT BUT BUT not only do I have to deal with my partner in getting my way I have to deal with my father as well. The house we brought has this funky looking sun room that to me looks like a ugly extension, from day one I told everyone "IT HAS TO GO" and now somehow my father has convinced my partner to keep it! I know eventually I will get my way but for now I just have to deal with it and get all the important things out the way...lol We are located in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, close to the airport. This is our first home together so for my partner it's all a little new for him. I think he's a little scared to be honest, he's never been the hands on kind of guy and just by looking at his hands you can tell that he's never gotten down and dirty. I always make fun of him but being a lawyer he seems to always win in every argument errrrrr. I will have to take some photo's and show you what our place looks like and then take progression shots. Where abouts in Sydney are you? Re: Wall tiles or splash back? 7Oct 31, 2014 6:06 pm We are in the Hills area. Yeah my hubby wouldn't let me hear the end of it when I said the verandah now had to go. I'm very lucky that he is good at lots of handyman stuff. We love renovating. 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