I have a new kitchen...and my marriage is still intact.
What a process. I never realised how stressful it would be and of course we had interstate guests just at the stage when there was no kitchen at all. It was like camping inside. One night Alan and I sat on the floor tending the ancient Sunbeam electric frypan that belonged to A's Dad, extolling its virtues. The next night it expired with a puff of smoke. It was takeaways after that.
I have discovered I am not as decisive about colours and choices as I thought I would be. So many decisions to be make. So many tradesmen turning up at 7.30 am in the morning. So many unexpected expenses. Our relatively small kitchen renovation involved seven tradesmen over a period of six weeks!
I read in a 'housey' magazine that the most common thing that goes wrong with kitchen renovations is not allowing enough in the budget for the end components. It is hard to make decisions about some things before other things are finished and we did rush some decisions at the end to get it all finished. If I could do it all again with hindsight I would have made some different choices... but husband was just coping with it all as it was.
However we are happy and both love how the new kitchen works - particularly the dishwasher. My first ever! Would you believe I am now what could be described as a 'tidy' kitchen person. Ha! How long will this last.
So here's the transformation. From this (short benches, nipple pink with timber touches):
The knockdown process revealed some alarming flaws in the house's basic structures:
And here is the end result. All very neutral or as Anna described it "in minky tones".
What a process. I never realised how stressful it would be and of course we had interstate guests just at the stage when there was no kitchen at all. It was like camping inside. One night Alan and I sat on the floor tending the ancient Sunbeam electric frypan that belonged to A's Dad, extolling its virtues. The next night it expired with a puff of smoke. It was takeaways after that.
I have discovered I am not as decisive about colours and choices as I thought I would be. So many decisions to be make. So many tradesmen turning up at 7.30 am in the morning. So many unexpected expenses. Our relatively small kitchen renovation involved seven tradesmen over a period of six weeks!
I read in a 'housey' magazine that the most common thing that goes wrong with kitchen renovations is not allowing enough in the budget for the end components. It is hard to make decisions about some things before other things are finished and we did rush some decisions at the end to get it all finished. If I could do it all again with hindsight I would have made some different choices... but husband was just coping with it all as it was.
However we are happy and both love how the new kitchen works - particularly the dishwasher. My first ever! Would you believe I am now what could be described as a 'tidy' kitchen person. Ha! How long will this last.
So here's the transformation. From this (short benches, nipple pink with timber touches):
Now how long do I have to wait before husband recovers and I can start on the rest of the house renovations??
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