Long post - lots of photos, and me showing off just a tiny bit.
Ahh, the kitchen is the heart of the home. And I used to hate mine.
It took 10 years of planning and preparing, and 8 weeks to complete a renovation.
It might take another 10 years to pay for it!
Say goodbye to a dash of collapse, dysfunction and leakage. B'Bye 90's golden oak.
Considerable fretting ensues, but the decision is made to remove the corner pantry. These things hide a multitude of kitchen sins, but it turns out to be the best decision ever.
While the whole house is in such dusty disarray, let's remove several half/pony walls, move the lounge to a different room and create new dining room. Let's create a new fireplace. Oh, and let's steal a funky design from a show home!
Be sure to choose a talented kitchen designer who thinks like you do. Who thinks through the placement of everything - where you turn, where you'll stand, where you will store.
Ask the designer to try and create a kitchen island in a really awkward angled room.
"I would like a zig-zag, please?"
Template for a shit-load of granite.
Replace all flooring on the main floor. Paint the stairs. Add to half walls in the entrance/lounge area and take them up to the ceiling. Add wiring for new wall lights and for a wall-mounted tv.
Eat dust for 8 weeks. Mmmm, yummy.
And then delight in the final new product.
Hello light and airy, the longest island ever, and add colourful LED lights (with 12 settings!) for the every-occasion party look.
Finally, bankrupt oneself with gorgeous new dining set.
At last - done! And for about 15 minutes on a random Wednesday, my house looks like something out of a glossy magazine and I am smug and delighted.
Then reality bites. We carry on living here, like a real family, and mess and untidiness ensues, but the functionality is fabulous.
