Ok so DH has said we can get some quotes to do a kitchen reno!!!!!!
We dont have a big space at all (open plan kitchen/dining/lounge) minimal cupboards so lots of crap on bench and no pantry!!!. Plan on leaving stove and oven where they are as only 5 years old so that will save money!
My lasy Kitchen in 2006 cost me $15000. It was a large kitchen and I had to have the walls Gyprocked and floor tiled so that was the cost for a complete makeover (including $700 for the electrician etc) I designed it myself and I loved how the cutlery draw was near the sink as when packing away I didn't half to walk to the other side. I didn't have a dishwasher.
I also loved the deep pots and pans draw. I couldn't live without those if I were building another kitchen.
I had a few midget cupboards which were not really used and had wall cupboards with glass which cost alot more then plain cupboards. I wouldn't have glass again I dont think which would save on costs.
Our new house needs a new kitchen and DH had it quoted for $3000 as we dont plan on staying here he is using a cheaper product (malinite I think its called) it doesn't look as nice and it much much cheaper but we will stiill have a nice kitchen. As we have a galley style kitchen we plan on doing one half 6-12months before the 2nd half so we will only have to come up with $1500-$2000 at a time. It will look abit odd for a while but never mind. I definately want my pot draws but. And if you want more storage wall cupboards are good.
For the cupboards alone in 2006 I paid $7000 and that was cash (it was $8000 if not cash) so I saved abit there. I am impressed with the price for the new kitchen although maliminte isn't a favourite of mine. We plan on selling the house in a few years so it should still look new then.
My new kitchen took a week. The whole thing had to be gutted (walls and all) the walls were done over 2-3days (drying time of plaster) the kitchen which took 8weeks to make went in in a few hours after the walls were done and the floor was tiled last (another 2days allowing drying times) it was about 6days all up and I was away at uni then so I left a scabby kitchen and came home to a grogeous new one and no mess.
Something I think is fabulous if you're a big baker is having a large island bench with all your baking stuff in drawers beneath and powerpoints in the top/end for your mixmaster, etc.
I love my accessories cupboard to hid everything away in like the toaster, etc. I also love my pot drawers.
My brother has one of those slide out pantrys which is fabulous as you can reach the very back without trying!
And I would consider your height - if you are tall, think about getting the benches made higher than normal to save your back.
Last edited by Floweryfields; April 12th, 2010 at 05:53 PM.
Our kitchen was put in 6 years ago, about $10 000 and fully installed by a tradesman in 2 days. Had an Island Bench put in with drawers and I LOVE IT, it is my absolute favourite! Wish I had those pantrys that have the slide out racks to put food in but they were only around after the kitchen went in. Also wish now that we had a corner pantry because they take up little room but have oodles of space.
Im sure what ever you decide you will love, going into a new kitchen always seems so 'extravagant'!
i quiet like my kitchen, i love my dishwasher and all the cupboard space, love the really wide cutlery drawer, but HATE the black granite benchtops! would love caeser stone (in my dreams )
We also have black granite, I quite like it although I wouldn't have as much shine on it next time as we can see every sponge wipe across it.
I love drawers - would do that for as much as possible, ie pots, plates etc. Have a thin cupboard for putting baking trays, muffin tins etc in, much easier to manage than on top of each other. Definitely dividers in the drawer that has all those cooking utensils (big spoon, kitchen scissors, egg slice etc) - we don't and it drives me mental that it is always a disaster in there.
And I love the idea of an appliance cupboard..... We have one power point spot so all our appliances and bunched together which irritates me no end.
My old kitchen has a corner pantry also. It was huge inside was only the size of a door to look at from the outside.
Cally I love your idea about an appliance cupboard also.
When we did our kitchen we put in lots of drawers (for pots and pans but also for plates and glasses). I find them so much better than cupboards as it is easy to see everything that is in there. We also have one deep drawer where we keep the things like sandwich toaster, blender and slow cooker in so that they aren't taking up bench space all the time.
This may be the chance I need to get my kitchen frustrations off my chest! We renovated our kitchen 5 years ago and I loved loved loved it. It was designed to within an inch of its life by me as it was super small so had to work well to get all of my kitchen needs in. Now we have moved and the kitchen we are in now is doing my head in with its 'standard' but bad design.
Some things I loved about my old kitchen:
extra wide oven (700 rather than 600) gave us jsut a bit more room to cook on
cupboard on bench for toaster to hide in - also contained all toast related needs, jam, vegimite etc
crockery and glassware in cupboards above rather than below - for me this made sense as it saves bending all the time for the things you use the most
nook for the microwave - I hate them sitting on the bench taking space. It was so out of the way in its little shelf!
Ceasarstone bench top with undermounted sink... divine. We had channel marks in the stone around the sink to drain the water which worked really well
A super deep sink and a tap with a regular and shower flow. It was so handy at times
An island bench with dishwasher in it
Dish drawer rather than dishwasher - so fantastic! I miss it so much
bin in pull out drawer right near food prep area so that food scraps can simply be swept into it. If we didn't get the ceasarstone, I would have had a hole cut into the bench for the bin so it could just be swept in to there. However, the pull out bin was fantastic
Two skinny little cupboards squeezed into the two ends of the island bench. One housed recyclables and the other all of the appliances such as rice cooker, sandwich press, kitchen wizz etc. We had a power point put in there too so that all I had to do was pull an appliance out and I could use it right there on the bench
deep drawers for pots and a pull out drawer for the pantry. I wrote on top of jars to let me know what was in them. No seaching to the back of a cupboard to find stuff
We avoided the pull out panty in full size as I found them too heavy and cumbersome when I tried them out but we did put in a half size one under the bench and I truely loved it. It was near the stove and housed all my cooking oils, sauces etc. It was so easy to just grab stuff as I cooked. We put tins etc on the bottom shelf and they were always easy to grab
Soft closing draws... mmmm
extra draw in tke kickboard was excellent for hiding stuff like platters and baking trays. We really tried to use every bit of space
That is all I can think of at the moment.
What I hate about this kitchen I have now:
The dishwasher is situated too close to the corner cupboard so I can't open the door when I am unloading the dishwasher. I have to pile everything on the bench then place it in the cupboard after. Two steps!
Having a dishwasher rather than a dishdrawer! So much bending, waiting around for the thing to be full enough to run a load, having it at easy access for the toddler and the dog to get at it when open. Argh!
The kitchen sink is around the wrong way logically with the drainer sitting on usable bench space. If it was around the other way it would be more in the corner where we don't use the bench so much anyway. The way it is reduces the bench space so much.
No overhead kitchen lighting. We had down lights in the overhead cupboards in the last kitchen and they were lovely to use, in this kitchen its a bar with 4 lights pointing around the kitchen, this means you stand at the bench and block the light
I do have issues don't I
I hope some of this helps you though!
I can't remember now how much we paid exactly or how long it took. We were not living in the house at the time so we didn't speed through it. I do remember that it didn't take the company long to put it in. I wasn't very happy with the company we used for a few little reasons, but having said that it lived up to daily use really well and still looks really good.
Think about how much storage space you need and then double it. If I could re-do the kitchen in this place (which I cannot as it is a rental), then I would put in more storage.
Last house, when we re-did the kitchen, it took 2 days for the whole thing to go in, we also ended up putting a two way pantry door in.
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