If you’ve been following our home renovation, you’re probably eager to see the end result of our kitchen!  To see the first stages and how the renovation progressed, follow these links:

Before & After of Entry and Stairs, Before Photos of the Interior, Renovation, First Phase, Ensuite Bathroom Make Over, Kids’ Bathroom Make Over, Demolition day, Kitchen installation begins.

This photo was taken just before demolition began – it’s amazing how quickly everything is stripped to the bare bones of the house.  We removed this benchtop that separated the informal dining and kitchen, to allow the dining area to become more part of the kitchen.

We went for a black and white colour scheme, but warmed it up with timber elements to resemble a country kitchen.  The old butcher’s block, which accompanied the butchery we purchased 16 years ago, was restored by my father-in-law.  It’s exceptionally heavy, so we fitted it with wheels in order to cart it where needed.

Here’s the kitchen stripped of all cabinets and benchtops – only thing remaining…those beautiful splashback tiles with depictions of fruit… We widened the window and replaced it with a bi-fold window to create better flow to the new entertainment area extension.

Great improvement, even if I have to say so myself 🙂  The oil painting of our family beach house in South Africa, was a gift from my Mum for my 40th birthday and takes pride of place in our new kitchen.  The beach house reminds me of hot summers and an ice cold ocean, late night dancing, crawling through a window after curfew (and getting caught!), eating freshly caught crayfish with lashes of mayonnaise on newspaper and skinny dipping at sunset with my aunt and cousin.  This was what Christmas time was made of –  days at the beach with the entire family (only rarely fighting over who’s turn it is for cleaning the dishes or how the kids never help with washing the laundry – by hand in those days).

What a beautiful sight, our yawning oven door and laminated cabinet doors.  How ever could we improve on this look?

Aaaah, that’s better!  My husband and I love entertaining and cooking, so we needed a proper oven and plenty of workspace.  The oven is now big enough to hide all my dirty dishes –  not just the plates –  when unexpected guests come over, jippeee!  I decided on white cabinets for the top half, as the black would’ve been too overbearing. To keep a unified look, we used brushed nickel handles, that works well with all the taps and accessories.

This is the old informal dining area off the kitchen during packing up phase.  We bought the large timber shelf that’s hanging against the wall at a scrap metal yard in Richmond.  It was used to be a display shelf at an antiques store.  Because of the size of it, we had to close up the door cavity that led into a guest bathroom out of the dining area, otherwise it wouldn’t fit!  What we’d do for timber shelves with character…  I decided to paint it white to fit the new scheme, as the timber imparted too strong a country feel in the space and didn’t have the same tone as the new flooring.

The crisp white shelf has a fresher feel and creates such a nice backdrop for all my pretty knickknacks (crap, in my husband’s words… he knows nothing of decorating ;).  The small 6 seater dining table suits this space perfectly and is great when it’s just the four of us for dinner.  It was another council pickup find, which I painted black and white.

A small sink and tap for quick rinse ups and a kettle for a cuppa and girly catchups complete the look.  I’ve used aqua as accent colour throughout, that was inspired by a painting in the lounge room.   Some of my knickknacks are from local retail stores, some are handmade and others from Salvo’s or Vinnies second hand stores.

So this is the kitchen done and dusted.  Items used in this renovation:

• Solid timber, prefinished yarrah flooring
• Polyurethane cabinets with shaker style doors
• Ceasarstone Statuario Nuvo 40mm mitred benchtop
• Devon super white matte subway tiles from Beaumont Tiles, Castle Hill
• Kethy handles
• Wall paint – Dulux Dieskau and Vivid White for the trim
• Farmhouse style light – Beacon Lighting
• Provincial style taps in solid brass from Marina Isles, Castle Hill.

Next week, I’ll show you a new room with a new look. If your home is starting to look a little bit sad, give us a call to give you guidance for a freshen up.

Cheerio ’til next time!

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