The kitchen renovation: From dark and dingy to light and modern

At last, the long-awaited kitchen renovation is over. The floor has been laid and I can finally share the ‘big reveal’.

It’s really hard to remember what it started out like, despite living with it for ten (miserable) years.

Let’s re-cap:

The sink was tiny, circular and impractical.

The kitchen units were dark, I have no idea what colour you’d call it. Half way between cherry and mahogany? I don’t know. I don’t even care, they were horrible.

Many of them had fallen apart so weren’t able to be used.

The double range cooker took up tonnes of space, with a tiny bit of totally impractical workspace either side.

The old fridge sat in the corner, with the ironing board, step ladder and clothes airers shoved down the side.

The tiles were dark too, and the floor was horrible and no amount of scrubbing could make it look clean.

The worktop was OK, but I wasn’t particularly fond of the metal edging.

Step one of course was to empty everything out of the existing cupboards.

This was a fabulous experience.

Somehow we managed to re-home everything into the rest of the house.

Then the builders arrived, and ripped the whole kitchen out.

…Revealing the absolute state behind the cupboards, which I’ll be honest – we were totally expecting (as were the builders) given the pipework and electrics which had previously been uncovered…

Quite frankly it’s amazing the house hadn’t burned down or flooded.

The new kitchen

The priority for us was that the new kitchen would be a lot lighter than the old one with its dark floor, dark units and rubbish lighting.

Units

We decided to go for modern, gloss, handleless units from Howdens.

We hope that the gloss doors would be easily wiped clean and this is, thankfully, proving to be true.

The classic shaker style units with handles were more appealing to me, but the ones in the showroom were shockingly grubby and they wouldn’t stay much cleaner in my kitchen with two kids and a dog.

We chose units in white. The other light choices were grey and cashmere and I didn’t really like either.

When it came to the design of the kitchen, we went for one full bank of units where the old oven used to be, and then worktop stretching around the rest of the room with a small ‘tea and toast’ station in the corner where the fridge was.

I am actually amazed at the amount of space it was taking up and how much we can now fit there!

We wanted to have as many drawers as possible. It’s really surprising how much more you can fit in a drawer than a cupboard, and it really is so much more accessible.

We also chose to have a unit going out into the double doorway for more storage and worktop space. We originally planned this to have an overhang at the back to create a breakfast bar, but ultimately it was an expensive addition we didn’t really need.

Worktop

Initially we were going to have a light grey worktop, and then changed our minds to a wooden-effect worktop, however we then changed our minds again. In the end we went for grey stone effect laminate worktops from Worktop Express.

These were kindly gifted for free for inclusion in this post.

The worktops were delivered by a two man team. They were all supplied with edging, and we got some worktop installation kits with them which included a wood cutter, sealant, screws, brackets and bolts.

We were delighted with the quality of the worktops, which had a rounded edge with silicone underneath to stop drips getting to the cupboards.

They are so easy to clean, and very practical. This particular worktop, Stone – Ipanema Grey – costs from £80 per 3m length and can be purchased here.

Appliances

This time we’ve gone integrated with the cooker, microwave oven and induction hob. All of our appliances were bought from AO.com.

The induction hob is fab; no time spent heating up like a ceramic hob and wipe clean!

The appliances look so smart, and take up a lot less room allowing for more workspace.

The fridge freezer is hidden away. It’s smaller than our previous one so we’re having to get used to that!

The only large appliance on show is the dishwasher which we didn’t want to replace… and the broke two weeks after the whole thing was complete because Indesit appliances are the pits.

In terms of small appliances, we replaced our manky toaster and kettle with new brushed steel ones and now have a tea and toast station in the corner, in the space previously occupied by the fridge freezer.

The sink has moved, leaving a large run of worktop for food preparation.

Tiles

The tiles came next; we chose a bright mustard/ochre to brighten up the room a bit.

Floor

Lastly the floor, which has been a long time coming. I think in retrospect it might actually be a bit light; is a rug for the kitchen a crazy idea (my husband says yes, yes it is)?

Accessories

The only accessories we’ve bought so far have been a fruit bowl and two white IKEA bar stools, which are great for perching at the worktop, although what was supposed to be my child-free haven has since become their favourite spot!

I’m really pleased with how it’s turned out.

I’m not 100% on the floor, and although I love the tiles I wonder whether I’ll still be in love with them in a few years – but it’s just such a massive improvement on the kitchen we inherited 10 years ago!

Thank you to Gary at CGB Builders and his team for doing such a great job in my hopelessly wonky kitchen. They really went above and beyond, and dealt with all the issues that were thrown at them.

Thanks also to Worktop Express for providing the worktop!

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