Hi all
ok so it’s been a year since I updated this thread. There are 3 main projects I had on my ‘to do” list which would mean the house is about finished. The projects were 1/ Kitchen, 2/ Build a wall to enclose the garden, 3/ landscape the garden. All pretty big projects both in terms of work involved and cost. Because of this it’s been a little slower but we are making progress.
This post is an update on our Kitchen. It was finally completed just before Christmas and we are really happy with it. Anyway onto the pictures.
We lived the past 4 years with some temporary b+q cabinets without any doors. Originally we were going to put a new worktop on these and put some doors on. As the project evolved we decided that the cabinets didn’t give us exactly what we wanted so they were removed.
The new cabinets arrived. We went with a silver / grey colour. They were all made to measure and purchased from Benjamin James Kitchens - a really really top guy by the way. Really well priced and he never seemed to get annoyed with my phone calls, questions or changes. Thanks a Ben!
Getting the cabinets into position. You will see they are all notched out at the top. This provides space for a handleless rail design which we went for. You can get the rails built into the doors but this version gives a great continuous finish.
The cabinets were fully assembled including all the drawers which I’m sure saved a huge amount of time. We also got the cabinets made slightly deeper than normal ones. I think we added somewhere around 8cm to their depth. Although it doesn’t sound like much it really makes the workspace feel a lot bigger.
As we went with the handleless rail system it gave an opportunity to put in some LED lights. Make of them what you will. Some people think they look a bit tacky. I love them
We ended up keeping as many appliances as we could integrated. This keeps a minimalist look. We were planning on keeping some of the original appliances but ended up getting all new. I managed to break our lovely job getting it out of the old worktop - note to self don’t silicone them in.
Everything about this project started spiralling but we were keen to get our dream kitchen and didn’t want to have any regrets at the end. A big part of the cost was the worktops. I’ve never had stone worktops before but my girlfriend really wanted them and my arm was twisted. Originally we were just going to get the worktops done but when I looked into the cost of glass splashbacks it wasn’t loads more to clack the backsplash in quartz. A decision in the end we were really happy with.
One bit of advice with kitchens. Really spend a lot of time thinking about the layout and how you are going to use it. Simple things like making sure your prep area is close to where you are cooking, there is a bin close by and the sink is easy to get to all make it work seamlessly. We also went with a large sink which is big enough to put a baking tray into - simple but makes a big difference when leaving it to soak.
The kitchen for us always had 1 big issue. We never knew where we would sit to eat. The problem we had was that if we included a table it would encroach too far into the lounge area which would then make it look a little small. The only o-toon I could see was to have a breakfast bar we could eat at.
Whilst doing my usual “look at other houses on Rightmove” I came across a really cool breakfast bar. We have 4 of us in the house so a straight run just wouldn’t work. This was a “floating” design. If I’m honest I had looked at how we could make one but wasn’t sure if the support would be sufficient until we actually made it. I concluded it wouldn’t work with quartz and wanted something to soften up kitchen a little. I was originally looking at making it from laminate as wanted a breakfast bar which was 10cm thick.
I realised pretty quickly that finding thick laminate worktop is actually really hard. The only place which had lots of it, in really nice colours was wren. The problem is Wren won’t sell their worktops - you have to buy a kitchen from them. I managed to convince them to do it after a lot of calls and a couple of visits however the quote for a laminate breakfast bar was over £2000. Crazy money and we were back to square 1.
I ended up buying some thick butchers block (I think it’s 60 or 80mm) and it was really good value at around £500. I cut it to size and it worked a treat. Anyway enough rambling - here are the pictures.
So that’s where we are up to. Another fun project ticked off the list. Please let me know your thoughts - we are really happy with the finished result.
Next on the list is to start on the garden wall. I will be sure to come back and update when it’s finished.
take care and stay safe
Greg
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