The kitchen was a real low point of the house. It looked like it hadn't been cleaned for ten years and still had loads of food and stuff in the cupboards. Also it was old with badly fitting with doors hanging off hinges, some very dodgy electrics (more on this later), no working lights at all, peach walls and a green floor. It took us a full 24 hours to pluck up the courage to brave a cup of tea.
First job, disaster limitation. We managed to get one spotlight working so we weren't completely in the dark and we scrubbed the surface in one corner to within an inch of its existence so that we could plug in the kettle. The oven went straight in the skip but we managed to cook pasta on the hob a few times before that came out too (thank you ikea for your £35 plug in induction ring).
Next we got rid of the peach walls (hallelujah). Then we decided to just get rid of the kitchen.
We decided to do another Ikea kitchen as our renovation budget for the house is about half what it needs to be and we know where we are with Ikea having only fitted our last one two years ago. After some deliberation we also copped for another grey Bodbyn because we really didn't get to enjoy the last one for long enough.
Since we first viewed the house in February we had been going round and round in circles trying to design a kitchen layout that wasn't totally boring but in the end we just couldn't get around the fact that at the end of the day this is a galley kitchen and galley it will stay. Gutting, but we just couldn't squeeze in an island or anything remotely exciting. In an ideal world we would have liked to bash through the kitchen, dining room and utility into one big space but since this involves the external corner of the house it would be too big and expensive a building job for our budget.
We wanted mostly drawers again as they worked so well in the last one and, as Mary Berry so wisely says, every kitchen should have a pan drawer. I was also quite sure that I didn't want wall cupboards as I felt this would close in the already narrow room even more. Instead we have gone for a shelf made from a reclaimed scaffold board which we have put all the jars on.
There was (still is actually) a lot of debate about putting a big pantry cupboard on the other side by the back door. I think it will close in the space by the door and make it feel crowded coming in. It would also mean moving the radiator but Ash really wants one. For now we have compromised with a narrow one right by the door, which is actually working well.
Overall we are are not delighted with the kitchen but it's fine. Our last kitchen was always going to be a difficult act to follow and as predicted this one was never going to work as well but it works well enough. In the last kitchen we knew from the planning stage where everything would go and when the kitchen was finished that's exactly where it all went. With this one I have spent a lot of time, and quite a bit of frustration moving things around, re-organising drawers and generally faffing about trying to find a way that works. It's all looking ok now but I still don't think my work is done!
Next we got rid of the peach walls (hallelujah). Then we decided to just get rid of the kitchen.
We decided to do another Ikea kitchen as our renovation budget for the house is about half what it needs to be and we know where we are with Ikea having only fitted our last one two years ago. After some deliberation we also copped for another grey Bodbyn because we really didn't get to enjoy the last one for long enough.
Since we first viewed the house in February we had been going round and round in circles trying to design a kitchen layout that wasn't totally boring but in the end we just couldn't get around the fact that at the end of the day this is a galley kitchen and galley it will stay. Gutting, but we just couldn't squeeze in an island or anything remotely exciting. In an ideal world we would have liked to bash through the kitchen, dining room and utility into one big space but since this involves the external corner of the house it would be too big and expensive a building job for our budget.
We wanted mostly drawers again as they worked so well in the last one and, as Mary Berry so wisely says, every kitchen should have a pan drawer. I was also quite sure that I didn't want wall cupboards as I felt this would close in the already narrow room even more. Instead we have gone for a shelf made from a reclaimed scaffold board which we have put all the jars on.
There was (still is actually) a lot of debate about putting a big pantry cupboard on the other side by the back door. I think it will close in the space by the door and make it feel crowded coming in. It would also mean moving the radiator but Ash really wants one. For now we have compromised with a narrow one right by the door, which is actually working well.
Overall we are are not delighted with the kitchen but it's fine. Our last kitchen was always going to be a difficult act to follow and as predicted this one was never going to work as well but it works well enough. In the last kitchen we knew from the planning stage where everything would go and when the kitchen was finished that's exactly where it all went. With this one I have spent a lot of time, and quite a bit of frustration moving things around, re-organising drawers and generally faffing about trying to find a way that works. It's all looking ok now but I still don't think my work is done!