From the day we set foot on the farm, I’ve dreamed of a new kitchen.
Well… maybe not a totally new one. A recycled, updated, old kitchen.
I want a farm kitchen, with a
timber table (got that!) and a mix of white and wood and mismatched furniture and timber lining on the walls and shelves and a dishwasher.
I want a built-in oven and a stove top that sits in the benchtop. I’m over the freestanding stove and the gap large enough to drop a semi-trailer down on either side.
I’m sick of the blue benchtops and the ugly laminate cupboards.
Sure, there’s tons of storage space in this kitchen. Would you believe I haven’t actually filled up the cupboards totally? There’s still room for a few more appliances I’ll use once every 2 years whether I need to or not.
For the last 18 months I’ve been drawing sketches of how I can make the kitchen bigger, prettier, more practical.
I’ve been knocking down walls and pulling out cabinets, moving windows and putting in new doors and hardware on a regular basis … in my dreams.
Sigh.
Last week I think I finally clicked on a plan.
Of course, we don’t have the money to re-do the kitchen right now. It was one of those things I put on the ‘To Do when my house in Fentonbury sells’ List.
And the house hasn’t sold yet.
In fact, I don’t know if it will sell in this market. Nothing is selling. And I think I may have found some mature and reliable tenants for it.
After the last lot I’m rather scared to rent it out again. But reality is I can’t keep paying 2 mortgages out of my measley wage.
Anyway, back to the kitchen nightmare dream.
This is what the kitchen looks like now.
Yes, the mess is almost part of the layout of the kitchen.
Yes, I may be insane to even think of re-doing the kitchen while I live with Pigpen Wayne, especially the all white cabinets…
So, here is my kitchen in all its glory.
Its a U shape, when you walk through the door (you come into the house via the mudroom, through a tiny entry-way, then into the kitchen. I call it a rabbit warren…) this is the first thing you see. There is just not enough bench space. There’s no wall space so things like my pretty tins, the spice and coffee cabinets have to sit on the bench and take up precious space.
That corner cabinet has sliding baskets in it, handy but a bit smelly, like its been wet at some stage.
Love the drawers. Especially the deep ones for dishes and baking dishes.
The sink is under the window which now looks into the mud room. And I really hate how they made upper cabinets and then had to angle them back to allow for the windows.
See those gaps next to the stove? I think Barney went in there looking for stuff Wayne had dropped while cooking, and he hasn’t been seen since.
Another cabinet cut at an angle to allow for the window. Those shelves are useless, you can barely see anything on them and reaching them is a challenge.
Oh yeah. There’s a big window into the living room as well.
Under the microwave upper cabinet is a small bench area. Barely enough to butter your toast with the breadbox and fruit bowls.
I hate the corner cupboards.
Yep. My kitchen is a disgrace.
I’ve decided I need to do some major work. I want to remove the window which now looks into the mud room. I want to replace the tall skinny window in the corner near the stove with the bigger one from the other side to allow more light into the kitchen.
I want to knock out half a wall so that when you enter through the mud room you go directly into the kitchen (an L shaped kitchen) and not into a tiny dark space.
I want to make that tiny dark space (where the fridge lives cause it doesn’t fit in the kitchen!) into a pantry by building a large cupboard ‘around’ the fridge. With the wall gone it will be in the kitchen, though around a corner, in the short part of the L.
I want to remove the pantry from where it is in the kitchen now, making more room for the table, and bring in my pretty kitchen hutch from the living room.
I want shelves to display the things I like.
I want to move the stove to the side where the sink is now and put the sink where the stove is with the window above it.
I want thick bamboo benchtops.
I want timber doors and old fashioned hardware.
I want a new floor covering. After seeing the black and white tiles in the mud room after a rainy day, I think I might opt for something less mud-worthy.
Polished floors would be great.
I want timber panelling on the walls. Painted timber panelling. On all the walls. And a glass backsplash behind the stove.
And I want a dishwasher. And a big double sink. (ok, a butler’s sink would be ideal!)
And shelves. Did I mention I want shelves?
That’s not too much to want is it?
Surely I deserve the kitchen of my dreams!
I plan to re-use the cabinet carcasses where I can, only buying what I need (like for the stove and oven). I’ll make my own shelves and brackets from timber. I’ll re-use the old pantry to make the new one.
And it’ll still cost way more than I can afford. A new stove. A new oven. A new rangehood. New doors. And labour.
I ain’t moving windows and knocking out walls by myself.
So, I live with what I have and try not to hate it too much.
Lately I’ve started leaving comments on the blogs I’m following. Kim at The Money Pit is updating her kitchen. I’m so envious. She had a dilema and asked people’s opinion. I gave her mine and, guess what? She is taking my suggestion! I feel good.
Here is her post with her final decision on what her kitchen will look like.
Now will someone help me re-do my kitchen?
I mean, can someone come and help me do it? Its a big job and I don’t know how brave I actually am.
z
junk4joy 