Our Kitchen
We have been talking about renovating our kitchen ever since we bought the house 4+ years ago. I mean, this? Pretty crappy. We replaced the cooktop and oven first, but that’s as far as it went. I’ve had a New Year’s Resolution for the past two years to Do Something About the Kitchen, and now the wheels are finally in motion. We made contact with three different custom kitchen places: two small companies, and then the big one (Harvey Norman Renovations). One of the smaller companies came out to measure and then never sent through the final quote. The other one measured and invited us to the showroom, but they wouldn’t give us a detailed quote without a deposit. We called Harvey Norman mostly on a whim, figuring that they would be expensive and crappy. But they were AWESOME. Not sure if it’s just the designer that got assigned to us, but Scott was fantastic. He was punctual, good with communication, friendly, and he had great ideas for our space. (He comes from an architect/designer background.) We spent 3+ hours at HN Alexandria on Saturday discussing options and appliances. The final quote for everything came in at a couple grand more than we’d hoped, but we talked it over with the Snook’s Dad and our feeling was that it’s going to be worth it. HN will project manage and handle everything, which we like. (We’re so not DIY.) The cupboards are going to be SHINY RED polyurethane. Scott also introduced some wood to create feature shelves over and around the sink. The countertops are going to be stainless steel. (Huzzah!) The floor is going to be black and white checkboard tile. And the best part? We are getting an enormous side-by-side fridge that is going to DOUBLE our fridge/freezer volume. I expect it to be LIFE-CHANGING. (We also got a new kick-ass rangehood, an integrated dishwasher, and a convection microwave.)
The only downside? Apparently we’ll be without a kitchen for THREE WEEKS during the build. (We’re having them strip it back to bare walls to redo the floor and wiring.) So that’s going to be a challenge. I expect we’ll try to get by with the microwave and barbecue as best as we can. Anybody ever survived one of these renovations before?
RoseRed
January 30, 2012 — 8:24 am
Mmmmm red kitchen with double fridge. I would love BOTH of those things!
We redid the kitchen in our old house. Can’t remember how we managed, but we did. No doubt we ate out a lot and did takeaways.
Shayna
January 30, 2012 — 8:32 am
I’d suggest a crock pot, all you need is a cutting board and an electrical outlet. You know, besides a crock pot.
drk
January 30, 2012 — 9:05 am
i cant wait to see this amazing kitchen. we should plan a breaking it in paleo feast! and good thing its summer, lots of bbq meat and salad. crock pots a great idea too.
Kris
January 30, 2012 — 9:22 am
I forgot to mention it’ll be six weeks before the cabinets are ready for install. I hate waiting.
Lara
January 30, 2012 — 9:47 am
So exciting! You could try borrowing a thermie for a few weeks?
M-H
January 30, 2012 — 10:13 am
BBQ, microwave, salads. I’m sure you’ll manage, and it will be so worth it.
Ptinutz
January 30, 2012 — 11:25 am
Wouah, it’s look great but are you not afraid to be bored of it. It’s sometimes the risk with something to colorful? But like that, wouah. I have a friend who did all his studies with just a microwave, you will manage!
missfee
January 30, 2012 — 11:27 am
rice cooker, BBQ and microwave – and running water – we set up a kitchen in the lounge to cope with our reno last year
looks great!!!
Dad
January 31, 2012 — 12:57 am
Im sure Cindy will weight in but looking back when we did our old house it wasnt to bad considering it turned our great. This time we have been a little more reserved in destroying the kitchen but there is still one large project to come (tongue and groove ceiling with recessed lights) but that isnt happening until spring time. Plus we (she) keeps finding new things we would like to do. Sometimes it seems its never gonna end but I really enjoy when something is finished and knowing we did it ourselves.
Kris
January 31, 2012 — 7:44 am
I don’t think we’ll be bored, Ptinutz. This is an idea we’ve had since the beginning. I was worried it might be overwhelming in such a small space, but the designer really loved it and showed us how it could work. I’m excited!
Dad – I wish we were handy like you guys! But our decorating efforts have mostly consisted of assembling IKEA. I’d rather pay somebody to do is properly than stare at wonky cabinet doors for the next 10 years. 🙂
Zena
January 31, 2012 — 9:58 am
This is going to look amazing! All the kitchen reno suggestions above will get you through, and hey you can fry eggs on those flat toasted sandwich thingies too.
Bev
January 31, 2012 — 5:47 pm
When Rodd was very young we lived in a shed for 18months while we built the house and a microwave was IT…oh and an electric kettle! Not nearly as traumatic as you might expect.
The kitchen will be fabulous.