our classic coastal and ‘oh so hamptons’ kitchen renovation part two: the failures, the fixtures and the finale…
“Hi, I’m Danni and I’m now an alcoholic.”
Ok, so it wasn’t THAT bad, but it was certainly close. What was meant to be a week and a half without a kitchen turned into 5 weeks! That’ll test the limits of any couple, but add three kids and two dogs into the mix and you’ve got a recipe for a nervous breakdown. Luckily that didn’t happen and somehow we all made it out alive to tell the story, including Bozley our 50kg Rottweiler puppy (no-one knows how). Anyway, moving along. If you haven’t already and you want to read about the Kitchen Renovation from the beginning, click here to read Part One: The Design and Destroy Process.
the failures…
Like any large renovation, problems are inevitable and being a traditional style18 year old home, sourcing products like the original cornice and skirting board was going to be difficult at best. Unfortunately, we never found the skirting and had no choice but to replace all the skirting throughout the entire kitchen and adjoining areas. Fortunately, we did find a company that would custom make and deliver the cornice, at a hefty price of course!
Unfortunately due to design constraints, the cutlery drawer is positioned in the island bench… NEVER do this, ever!
If your sink is located in your island bench like mine, you’ll find it’s your work space where you spend time prepping food. The cutlery drawer is one of the most commonly used drawers so I’m constantly moving out of the way to allow the family access to cutlery or the bins. Silly, silly me!
Our largest problem until recently was our beautiful Tasmanian oak flooring. The existing island bench was shaped like a half hexagon and naturally that was a shape I was not going to replicate so I had no idea what our gorgeous flooring would look like underneath. Well here it is! I figured the problem areas would require sanding and recoating however after hearing the opinions of two professionals, I was now faced with sanding our entire timber floor space (kitchen, living and formal dining). Repairing the small, damaged area was not an option so considering this I decided to lime wash (white wash) the floors during the process as I love the Tassie Oak, but I’m not a big fan of the yellowing that occurs to the polyurethane coating with time. And that will be another blog post within itself!
the good stuff, aka the fixtures…
- Cooker: Ilve 90cm 6 Burner Freestanding Cooker in white.
- Sink: Butlers style White by Villeroy and Bosch from North Coast Plumbing Maroochydore (my favourite thing in the kitchen)
- Mixer: Winslow Lever by Brodware, from North Coast Plumbing Maroochdore
- Rangehood: Built in Delonghi Rangehood. I organised an electrician to wire up the Rangehood light and fan to a switch on the wall because it’s too high… and I’m short.
- Dishwasher: Bosch fully integrated Dishwasher.
- Feature Kitchen Corbels: Found them somewhere on eBay. Win!
- Benchtop and Cooker Splashback: Statuario Talostone 40ml
- Tile Splashback: Rippled edge, Bright White Subway Tile from Jerry and the Tilemakers, Warana. Note, grout is medium light grey
- Barstools: Distressed Industrial Style Bright white and Rattan from Sitting Around, Maroochydore
- Pendant Lights: Searchlight Billet in Polished Metal from Masters (I know right?).
- Pendant Light in Pantry: Antique Silver “Mix & Match” Range from Beacon, Maroochydore.
- Kitchen Handles: Antique silver knobs, pull handles and latches (top cupboards) from Handle House, Kunda Park.
top five tips for a kitchen reno…
- Calculate your budget and always add an extra 10-20% for incidentals because you never know what can happen during a renovation process.
- Think about your space, your lifestyle, your personal taste and how your kitchen is currently utilised. Write down all the practical and functional components you like and a list of things you’d change. Implement these into your design accordingly. Whilst practically is key in such a heavily used area, select a style that will be aesthetically fitting to your home and will do justice to your space.
- Compromise. I went overboard with our big ticket items and areas where quality was important, in particular our gorgeous stone benchtops. However, I compromised elsewhere on items where quality wasn’t such a big issue like our pendant lights. Be reasonable and rational with your decisions.
- Choose your designer and trades carefully as you’ll have quite a demanding relationship before and during the renovation. It’s important you can easily communicate with one another and respect each others decisions.
- Be organised and prepared for the renovation otherwise you may find your daily glass of wine at night turns into 7. This is the easy part that is done in advance. Organise alternative accommodation or relocate all your kitchen essentials and set up a mini kitchen elsewhere in the house. If you’ve got a BBQ and a fridge, you’re pretty much set.
the finale…
Renovating is fun, frightening and damn fabulous! Luckily enough, both my partner and I actively choose to live in a state of controlled chaos, ensuring our time management skills are put to the test at any given point in time. 5 weeks without a kitchen? No problem! And who cares anyway when it ends up looking like this!
I hope you’ve enjoyed the read. See you in a fortnight! xx
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