Category Archives: renovating

then and now – the kitchen

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While its still fresh in all our memories, here are some then and now photos of the kitchen.
This is what the kitchen looked like when we viewed the house for the first time – with the old owner’s stuff in it:
And here it is now:
This the side with the window/pass/whatever you call it into the living room on the day we moved in:
Here’s the same wall now:
Here’s the basic layout the day we moved in: 2 windows in awkward places due to the upper cabinets, stove in the middle of the front wall, sink to the left.
This is the layout now: big window in the middle of the room, sink under window, stove the left, no upper cabinets. 
I took a set of photos showing walls so I can sketch on and work out where to put my shelves. I’m thinking 3-4 on either side wall, all same length on the left and staggered from shortest to longest on the right. I’m thinking the top shelf will run across over the window as well…
I’m thinking tassie oak shelves, matching the benchtop in colour and finish.
The entrance to the house is through the mudroom, the pantry and the kitchen. (Don’t ask!) The door to the kitchen and another door leading to the rest of the house create a funny corner with two doors. This is how it looked the day we moved in:
This is how it looks now:
Naturally, I made small changes to the kitchen along the way to make it more me… which basically means cramming it full of collectible old bits and pieces… I hated the top heavy upper cabinets so I removed the doors on one set to create open shelves.
Here is the same area with the open shelves:
Here is the same corner now.
The plan is to put some kind of pot rack on the wall next to the door…
We had a large built in pantry in the back corner of the kitchen. Very handy admittedly, but when I moved the pantry to the old entry, I decided I wanted something prettier there… Here it is with the ill-considered and badly executed, huge fail chalkboard pantry doors:
Now my antique kitchen dresser pretties up that corner. With its extra support legs which need staining to match! Its old and was sagging in the middle so it needed some strengthening. 
When designing the new kitchen I looked over all the gadgets I owned and decided I didn’t need half of them. I’m streamlining. I still need to sort where to put some of them, but I’ll get there. I haven’t even started on the pantry yet…
The kitchen bench then – always full of stuff:

The bench now:
I love it being clean and uncluttered. We used to drop everything on the corner as we came in the door. I’ve outlawed that now. We have a phone station for phones, I’m making a key rack, and I’m thinking about how and where to create a drop zone for other stuff. 
For Wayne mainly.
I’m over his constant search for his wallet, glasses, keys, etc.
So, here’s what we did to achieve this transformation:
Removed 2 inconvenient windows.
Put in a new window in the middle of the front wall.
Bought a new stove, rangehood, dishwasher and sink.
Had new cabinets custom made.
Had a solid timber benchtop made (which I finished)
Moved the hot water cylinder to another spot.
Moved the electric power meter to another spot.
Put in new wiring for the new stove and rangehood.
Lifted lino and masonite and I refinished the original timber floor.
Fixed the uneven original timber floor.
Moved the sink/plumbing to another spot.
Lined 3 of the walls with pine.
Painted all the woodwork Dulux Antique White USA.
Painted the whole kitchen a Dulux China White 3/4 strength.
Mounted an old tempered glass door behind the stove as splashback.
Painted the doors a minty greeny aqua colour I made up.
Did I miss anything? The months of mess. The months of having nothing to cook on… waiting for tradesmen… the frustration when things didn’t work out or we discovered unpleasant surprises when doing something we considered a ‘quick job’…
So there you have it.
Then:
Now:
To celebrate, today I’ve spent HOURS cooking up a storm to try out the new fan forced large oven which promises to cook 3 dishes at once evenly. I made lasagne, spanakopita (greek spinach pie) and baclava.
I’ll let you know how they go.
z

then and now – the ugly house

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I’ve been thinking about the amazing before and after photos on the blogs I follow. And the TV shows I like. They’re amazing. Even when I don’t particularly like the style, I see the amazing transformations and feel inspired and more than a little envious.

I mean the after rooms are always perfect, styled to within an inch of their lives, great colours, interesting mix of textures, fantastic furniture, creative vignettes… Magazine quality rooms.

I may occasionally be able to set up a perfect corner in my house to photograph, cropping out the mess of stuff I’ve had to move out of shot in order to create that corner of perfection. But I can never show you a complete finished and styled room.

Even if I finish a room (the only room here close to being finished is the kitchen!) I won’t have the right furniture. Or I’ll have a stack of things I have no real place for and that just don’t fit in. Or I’ll have clothes airers drying clothes in front of the wood heater (this place is like a chinese laundry all winter,)

So, in the spirit of sharing the progress of our home, from what it was when we first saw it, to how its looking right now, almost 3.5 years later, I decided to do a then and now series.

We’ve come a long way since we bought the farm… at least in some parts of the property. Its good to remember just how much has changed – for the better.

This is how the house looked when we bought it:

And this is what it looks like now:

When we bought it, there was a tiny little porch on the end near the driveway, with an outside toilet (the blue door):

We enclosed the tiny porch, making a mudroom, and bringing the toilet into the house:

Of course, the hot water cylinder (which used to be on a blank wall) was now on the porch:


So this year we moved it to the driveway side of the house:
We also enclosed the end of the porch to give us a dry zone and protect our boots from horizontal rain:
This is what the driveway side of the house looked like before:

Here it is after some painting and planting but before the hot water cylinder was moved and the retaining wall was put in.

What we’ve done:

Enclosed the tiny porch.
Added a big porch which we joined up to the small one on the back of the house.
Replaced the small kitchen window with a bigger one.
Planted flowers.
Painted the house.
Moved the hot water cylinder.
Levelled the driveway and put in a retaining wall along the side.
Replaced the trellis on the small back porch with slats to match the new porch railing.

Its been a long, meandering road.

Again, here is the house when we first bought it:

And here it is now:

Then:

And now:

Then:

Now:

Even with wheelbarrows on the porch and painting waiting to be done, its a lot prettier now, wouldn’t you agree?

z

roadside salvage drawer to phone station

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One of the problems in our kitchen is that the telephone jack and a power point (where we plug in the phone and one phone charger) were kind of ‘in your face’ in that they were to the right of the ‘servery’ into the living room, but not lined up vertically or horizontally. Hard to hide in other words.

Here’s a photo of the ‘pre’ kitchen and you can see how I dealt with it before. An old drawer, with a hole cut out to expose the phone jack, held the phone, a framed print of a rabbit (cause why not?) and some of my 50’s collectibles.

Of course the powerpoint was lower and to the left, so that remained exposed along with the accompanying ugly cords.

When we were doing the kitchen and Handyman was lining walls with pine, I asked him to move the power point and phone jack so that they were closer and neater.

I wanted to create a ‘charging station’. A place to keep and charge our mobile phones and landline. And hide the mess of cords and plugs.

I have a ton of stuff in my workshop and the shed, including a stack of drawers I picked up off the roadside one day. I evaluated them and thought one of the drawers would be perfect. It had an unusual shape – it was long, one section had 4 holes, and a dip in the sides. No idea what a drawer like that would be for.

Here it is after a coat of milk paint.

I took off the handle on top, filled the holes. then did a few coats Lichen milk paint to stop the paint flaking off too much in some spots.

I had to somehow hide the holes in the back… We buy our timber from a local guy who mills his own wood and cuts his own boards. Last time I was at his place I picked up a few of the trimmings he’d cut off the ends of his boards when dressing them. They were the same width but irregular thicknesses so I sorted through and picked the bits which were more of less closest in thickness.

I cut them to size, sanded the weathered layer off and glued them to the back of the drawer.

I really need to go back and get more of them. They’re great!

This was the plan: the top shelf would hold the landline phone station. The bottom section would have a shelf added up the top to hold our mobiles. Below would be a door to hide the power points, cables and chargers.

I made the shelf out of an offcut of pine since I planned to paint it and it didn’t have to match. I put a ‘lip’ on the shelf in tassie oak, matching it to lining and so mobiles won’t fall off. I drilled 3 holes in the bottom shelf (one for the landline cables, one for each of our mobiles) and one hole in the original shelf for the landline cables.

Now I needed a powerboard, giving us enough power points for 2 mobiles and a cordless phone.

Since the idea was to hide the mess behind a door, I cut a hole in the drawer… badly. Necessitating the addition of trim to neaten it up. eh. That part will be hidden most of the time. 

The worse problem was that when it was finished, I screwed it to wal, plugged everything in, then discovered that the mobile chargers were too fat for the door to close properly!

Sigh…

I had to cut out the entire bottom back of the drawer to give them a bit more room.

Goodbye trim.

I’m such a professional!

Anyway… next came the exciting part. The door.

A barn door with Zs at the back.

I always wanted to make a door with Zs at the back.

I bought the smallest T hinges I could find and a silver handle I kinda liked. But I didn’t want them looking new, so I painted them. Tons. So they’d look like they’d been used for years on many different cabinets.

I also got a magnetic catch as a closer since I planned to swing the door downwards, like an oven door.

Here’s what it looked like when it was finished.

And here it is in the kitchen, ugly cords hidden, Mickey, Mini, Wilma and Barney back in their spots. Plus a rusty wire flower Wayne made me.

Here are some details…

(Btw, I used bread bag clips to keep the charger cables from falling down behind the door.)

Lastly, inside I decided to try one of the cord organising tips from Pinterest… I got a hand paper towel roll, decorated it and discovered the plug wouldn’t go through the middle. I had to slice it open to slot the cord into it, hence the jute string holding it together.

The only things I had to buy were the hinges and power board. Overall its a success I think!

z

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false alarm – kitchen update

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Ok, I’m curious how the women out there in blogdom can do these great reveals where they show ‘after’ photos featuring perfect rooms all set up with the right curtains, the right cushions, the right furniture, the right artfuly placed ‘random’ items.

Even when my kitchen is finished, it won’t be finished enough for that perfect ‘after’ photo.

For one thing, I plan to put up shelves and I don’t want to put them up till I live in it a while and decide where I want what…

For another, I won’t have the perfect dishes for a while, and I won’t have the kitchen dresser painted for who knows how long…

I guess you won’t so much get a ‘finished’ photo but periodic ‘after’ photos every time I add to or change something… cause I’m nothing if not in a constant state of updating, rearranging and changing things.

Meanwhile, yes, you heard right.

The kitchen isn’t finished yet.

It would have been finished but for the sink…

See, when Handyman was doing the plumbing, moving pipes from the old sink position to the new one (back when we had a hole in the floor), he calculated that the sink would be centered in the window and put the pipe there. But when he put the sink in the bench and showed it to me, the sink looked too far to the left.

Visually, the sink looks centered when its further to the right, cause the eye sees the bowls as the center.

So, Handyman moved the sink to where the boss (me) wanted it and now he has to find a joiner of some sort to connect the offset pipes.

Here are some photos I took this morning.

You can see the rangehood and glass splashback, the stove, the dishwasher with its protective film still on it, the sink with our two taps..

Same wall but you can see the cornice that needs painting and the handprints on the rangehood stainless steel cover.

This is the window into the living room. Note the decorative corner bits. Love them.

Now I have a dilemma. What type of window covering do I put on the window? A roller blind? Curtains? Lace? Doily curtains? Modern? Shabby? I have no idea. Well, I have an idea but I’m not sure. Any thoughts from my silent readers?

The window faces east so summer afternoons are hot hot hot. And on winter evenings I need a window covering that will keep the heat in. The rest of the time I want the window open to the view.

I await your thoughts.

z

only the tail to go – kitchen update

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There’s a saying in Greece which says “You’ve eaten the donkey, only the tail to go”.

My cousin Zefi reminded me of it on FB today and I had to laugh.

Its true. The kitchen is almost done. Sure, there’s still a lot to do, but its really almost finished.

Handyman will be back tomorrow with a few plumbing bits we need and he’ll finish connecting the sink and dishwasher and the kitchen, from his point of view, will be finished!

Of course, as you know, my job is just beginning.

You’ll remember that, cause I’ve been tediously itemising my To Do list with monotonous regularity.

Still, I’m kinda excited…

If I don’t sleep for the next three days and get all the painting, cleaning, polyurethaning, organising and moving done by Thursday… I might be able to make Wayne a home cooked meal and surprise him when he gets home from work.

Yeah. Don’t hold your breath.

Still.

Its a nice dream.

Not long now!

z

i made a door – and kitchen update

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I’ve always wanted to make a door…

I finally made one.

Isn’t it beautiful?

Ok… so its only 11in high.

Its still a beautiful door!

Its part of something I’ve been working on for the new kitchen… Hopefully it’ll be ready to share soon.

Meanwhile… the kitchen progresses.

Today the cornices were all finished. Some of the corner trims went up. The hole for the sink was cut. The bench edges were rounded. The bench was glued together.

Tomorrow Handyman says he’ll finish.

I really really really hope so.

Cause even after he finishes the kitchen won’t be ready to use.

I figure it’ll be next weekend before we can actually use the kitchen.

What with getting home late Mon-Wed, I won’t have time to get much done till Thursday. Not that I won’t plan to.

I always have the best intentions. I plan to get my entire To Do list done in 2 days. I plan to.

I never actually do.

Things always take longer than I plan they will and I’m tireder than I plan to be.

What is it about plans, mice and men…?

Well, either way, its getting closer… I can almost taste my own home cooking… I really miss pasta. And home made soup!

Soon!

z

hiccup – kitchen update among other things

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 This is what the kitchen looks like right now.

Its what it looked like yesterday afternoon.

Handyman was sick today.

Today wasn’t a great day for me either. I began to doubt that everything will be finished by the end of the week. I was not happy.

Meanwhile, I spent quite a lot of time in the workshop… I started a few projects and continued work on a few things I started ages ago then left languishing. I’ll have photos soon… unless they’re total failures… in which case I should share them anyway so you can see how badly I can stuff up at times.

I’ve been experimenting with some milk paint I bought recently. I’ve never used it before and I’m still not sure if I like it…

Either that or I’m just doing it all wrong…

Eh. Its all about learning and experiencing new things.

Learning from our stuff ups.

And finding ways to fix them or get rid of them.

z

the benchtop – kitchen update

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Just a quick note to let you know things are progressing in the kitchen. Despite being laid up with my back for 2 days, then another 2 days with some stomach bug, I’ve managed to do all the painting – walls, door and window frames, skirting boards.

Yesterday afternoon Handyman brought over the kitchen bench. Today he’s fitting it.

Easier said than done as there’s that nasty 45 degree angle to contend with. Lucky it was Wayne who insisted it be done that way so I don’t have to feel guilty when I see how had it is to get just right.

The other day he put the rangehood up and we discovered that when they sell these things they don’t give you nearly enough stainless steel cover for the vent… you have to buy more! Seriously, we have a low ceiling in the kitchen and it was about 2 inches short of being safe and steady!

Wayne has made a ‘plinth’ for it to sit on on the ceiling. Looks very art deco. I’m painting that today so the job can be finished.

Besides the benchtop to put in, the sink to be fitted, the plumbing to be joined up, the dishwasher put in place, the edge trims for corners and the cornice, there’s not much else to do…

ha ha ha.

z

ouch – kitchen update

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I woke up with a very stiff neck this morning. I’ve got a heat pack on it but to be honest I don’t hold out much hope for that.

I’ll just have to cowboy up and work through the pain.

Why, you may ask.

I finally got to do some actual work in the kitchen. I had planned to do the painting during the week, in short bursts every afternoon after work. But you know how it is. Daylight savings turns off, its dark at 6pm and my body says “wind down”.

Not to mention that we’ve been home late almost every day this week and small bugs like to dive bomb wet paint at night.

So yesterday, my regular day off, was it. I got up early and got into it straight away.

I undercoated the ceiling and plaster wall in one type of undercoat. I undercoated the pine lined walls in another type. And I undercoated the door and window frames in oil based undercoat.

I undercoated the skirting boards which are cut and ready to go in. I want those suckers painted before they go in so I don’t have to crawl around on the floor to paint them.

I didn’t even stop for lunch.

Well… I did stop around 11am…

The dogs had been barking persistently for a long time before it registered that it was not normal. So I went out and sure enough, there was a wallaby near the dam.

An obviously sick wallaby.

Last year we had them dropping like flies in the area. Cats spread toxoplasmosis, which native animals have no immunity to. It attacks their nervous system, they go blind and wobbly and basically die of starvation.

I did not want that to happen to this little fellow. I put on my boots, grabbed a blanket and a dog cage and went out to catch it.

It was obviously blind cause it couldn’t see me but it had keen hearing. It ran off towards the stable and trapped itself in a corner where I managed to catch it easily.

I took it to the vet. If there’s a chance it can be cured they’ll pass it on to wild life carers. If not they will put it down. A way better death than weeks of getting sicker and starving to death.

I hate it when I see them suffer. That was my good deed for the day.

Anyway, I grabbed a frappe from McDonald’s cause I’m addicted to them and if there’s something I just can’t resist, its temptation. The vet is right opposite McD’s….

You could say I had a liquid lunch.

I didn’t stop till after 5pm when all undercoats were done.

I also put in a bit of time packing all my fabrics into plastic containers to empty the old kitchen dresser which I’ll be moving to the kitchen.

This morning I have a dog to groom, then its back to work. doing topcoats. I hope to have one topcoat on everything today, another tomorrow.

Handyman will be here tomorrow to get back to work and he promises he’ll work through till the kitchen is finished. He told the other guy he’s been working for that he has to finish my job. Even if he has to sleep here to get it done by the end of the week.

I better get the guest room ready!

z

baby steps – kitchen update

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We seem to be progressing, albeit slowly, in our kitchen makeover.

I’m beginning to breath normally again.

This last week I undercoated and did a topcoat of some timber trims, including the moulding for the new kitchen window. Handyman came on Friday and put it in and it looks great!

Yesterday he was here again and he put in the duct for the rangehood including the roof thingy..

and sanded back the patches on the ceiling (plaster dust everywhere…) and helped me rescue a bird from one of the walls of the casita.

Honestly.

The dogs were going bezerk at something in the wall. Romeo was trying to eat the door! I had no choice. I asked Handyman to help me cut a hole in the wall so we could find what was in there and get it out. Save the dogs doing more remodeling down there like they did last time…

I put on gloves, cringing at the thought I’d be finding a rat nest complete with an angry mother rat and her 93 babies… only to find a bird which had gotten in the wall cavity and couldn’t get out.

And a mummified carcass of a bird long gone which had obviously suffered the same fate.

Bird got out safely. The wall lives another day.

Handyman will be back again today to finish the rangehood on the inside – put the ceiling plate in and the rangehood’s stainless cover. He says we can then cook.

I said I refuse to cook till I can wash up properly…

When I’m not walking around in circles wondering where to start and being overwhelmed by all the options of jobs to do, I do occasionally get a few things done.

I sanded back all the wood filler so that once the plastering is finished I can paint both the ceiling and the walls.

I’ve painted the kitchen door (the one from the entry/pantry area) a colour I got a sample of cause I loved it on the swatch. Its called Caramel Craving… whats not to like about that?

Turns out its not quite as yummy on a full door. I’m afraid Wayne will call it ‘duck sh#@!t yellow’ – one of his favourite colours (not). His opinion is that they must have had a huge sale on that murky mustardy yellow colour a few years ago cause so many houses around here are painted in it.

Well… on paper its the same colour as the stove, only in a much darker tint. We’ll see how it looks once the door is in. Its only paint after all!

Meanwhile I did a few small jobs that needed finishing. Cleaned out the workshop area. Mended a broken drawer in the coffee table. Did a bit of potting. Sorted out some things to be burned or thrown out.

There’s work to do today. The sun is showing through the clouds occasionally… maybe I can finish that fascia today and never have to worry about it again.

Ever.

z