Gimme some kitchen envy...!

Alanp

stuart45 said:

Alanp said:

I’m afraid any pictures of my kitchen won’t make anyone envious 

I'll put some of ours up to make you feel better. Most of it is homemade about 20 years ago and hasn't changed a lot since. If my wife sees some of these photos I will be in trouble.

Ours is almost a year old , we had our kitchen revamped last June with a brand new wren kitchen, it’s just that our kitchen is small  and, as it seems most people’s kitchens are massive with islands in them, if you put one in ours we’d never get into it 😀

phoebe1989seb

We've done that a few times - the heart and soul followed by selling, that is! - yet because we always buy *project* houses, we've never bought one where someone else has done the same, lol! The kitchen we inherited when we bought this place was the mankiest, most decrepit Ikea one you've ever seen, the previous one was all fur coat and no knickers (Aga, granite worktops and cheap chipboard cabinets) and the one before that was non-existent....

At least we had the lovely brand new cabinets we'd purchased but never fitted at our last house ready to use here...they'd been mothballed in our garage for three years there!

Otoh, purchasers of the other houses we've sold seem to like the kitchens we fitted so that at least two are still in situ several years on. I know from a former neighbour we keep in touch with that in the house we sold in 2014 (another in-frame, hand painted kitchen with butler sink, plate rack, large island, limestone flooring etc that we fitted in 2012) the *new* owners love the kitchen so much they've not changed a thing 😉 

The other house was recently for sale - same hand painted kitchen we fitted in 2008 taking centre stage in the marketing pics.....

I guess if something is done to a high standard/great quality/fairly timeless it will indeed stand the test of time 😃

Btw, stuart45, I think yours is charming!

stuart45

Yes, I think that's the problem with a small kitchen. Ours is an old cottage, so i can get away with the stuff being a bit rustic. We did look at some country cut furniture at a place called the Old Creamery, but when I looked at the joinery I thought I could get away with making my own. Wouldn't be any good in a modern house though. All those kitchens in the posts do look really good though.

Nikkihud0609

We went from 2nd pic of old tatty military kitchen to lovely modern farmhouse style by just changing the doors and worktops and sink/taps and adding on copper knobs to the doors. Cost me £1200 and saved me £6k! Needs a few finishing touches but almost there.

stuart45

Looks really good. Surprising what can be achieved with a small amount of cash spent on the right way.

Rosa_Damascena

Looks spanking new @Nikkihud0609! Amazing transformation for a relatively small cost - although I have to say your oven, tiles and flooring is in good condition so that must have helped.

mug2007

Some lovely kitchens,  mine is still half done so no kitchen envy pics from me.  Ordered our Siemens ovens, 7 - 10 week wait...thought things would be sorted out by now. 

Rosa_Damascena

mug2007 said:

Some lovely kitchens,  mine is still half done so no kitchen envy pics from me.  Ordered our Siemens ovens, 7 - 10 week wait...thought things would be sorted out by now. 

So long...?

I need to get my butt into action it seems.

Rosa_Damascena

Not yet 1/3 of the way through the build and need a reminder that it will be worth it. Feed me some real-world inspro please.

ka7e

In a few months you'll be enjoying showing off your new kitchen and in a year, the disruption will be a distant memory. And relish the thought that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger!

When my renovation was done when we hadn't even unpacked from moving, so every day the house was full of different trades and we moved around using whatever rooms were available. My husband suffers from short-term memory loss so it was a real trial for him - his day is marked by meal-times and routine. I was lucky to have very empathetic builders who were very good with him and were very risk-aware.  I also have 2 dogs that treated every tradesman like they were potential burglars and went nuts whenever power tools were used!

One day it ceases to be a project and becomes your own personal space and you have put your mark on every part of it. My house makes me happy every single day.