Handyman has been here and has been working but he’s been diverted cause we realized that the power points had to be moved before he could finish pine lining the wall. I mean, he could only work on the 2 walls as it was as we’re waiting on the power company to move the power so he can put in the new window before he can pine line the front wall…

Its all about doing things in order.

Usually I realize I’m getting ahead of myself after I’ve already made plans for something, then I have to stop it to backtrack and get something else done first.

And when I say “I” I mean Handyman. I plan, he has to do.

So for over a week now this is what our kitchen wall looks like.

A bit more rustic than I’d like.

Meanwhile, we’ve kept Handyman busy. He’s put the ceiling and insulation in the mud room (I should take pics huh?) And he’s started enclosing the end of the porch as per Wayne’s instructions.

See, when it rains here the rain comes in at an angle and almost everything on the porch gets wet. If its wet and windy simultaneously everything on the porch gets wet. So having part of it enclosed, especially near the door, will provide a bit of protection from the weather. We won’t have to worry about soggy boots this winter.

The windows removed from the kitchen are going into this new enclosed area.

So far only one side has been done. Eventually I’ll be painting this all the same colour as the house so it won’t look this dark.

This could be the right place for my plastic chandelier… though its too long to hang there unless you’re only as tall as Chipmunk.

I wonder if Chipmunk would like a chandelier in his little stable shed? He’s a special boy, he deserves a special home, right?

z

But I put the kitchen at the top of the dream make-over list cause its the room we spend a lot of time in, its the heart of the home and all that.

Plus, our oven stopped working over 3 months ago and I’m over not being able to chuck quick meals in the oven when its my turn to cook.

Not to mention that Wayne always hated our 54cm rental quality electric stove which seems to have no low heat setting on the hotplates.

So. We’re getting a new kitchen.

This is kind of how it happened:

The oven stopped working. I had a dish to bake. I gave it to the chickens.

I asked ‘Is it worth looking at fixing it?’

Wayne said ‘No.’

He was pretty emphatic. So, we decided to buy a new one.

I started doing research. I wanted a double oven. I love the handiness of having the two ovens. No need to heat up a big oven just to heat up pies for dinner…

We both love cooking with gas. I wanted an electric fan forced oven.

I wanted a bigger stove than the one we have now, 60cm.

I wanted a bigger, better stronger rangehood cause the under-cabinet one we have sucks.

Or doesn’t suck, which is the problem.

It took me months to make a decision and act on it.

Why you ask? Well… I looked at the kitchen and measured it and thought about it. Even if we left things exactly as they are, putting the new stove in the gap left by the old stove (the gap is big enough for a 60cm stove), I’d have to remove all the top cupboards to fit the rangehood. And it still wouldn’t fit cause of the window!

This is what our kitchen looks like now. I removed the cupboard doors on the left to make the kitchen look more open. There’s a window above the sink on the left which looks into the mud room (the small porch we enclosed). The window on the right is hard to look out so there’s no way to easily look out to the gate when you’re in the house and the dogs go bezerk in the yard.

I put small strips of melamine between the stove and the benchtop to stop food falling down into the gap. The corner cabinet hinges have both ‘dropped’ and the handle on one has come off and the I need to pack the holes with matchsticks to put the handle back on. We’ve gotten used to using our toes to open the door so I never bothered.

I hate the laminte tile sheeting on the walls. I hate the lino flooring. I hate the benchtop.

Other than that, its fine.

This is the other side of the kitchen.

Ignore the half chalkboard pantry door. Given that we’re redoing the kitchen I can’t be bothered trying to fix that stuff up.

This is the left hand side.

There’s a tiny entry way behind the first half of that wall – we keep the fridge in there and I’ve put in the cupboard I removed from the living room. Its now an extra pantry. Its a great walk in pantry. Its a dark and dingy room when have to come through to enter the house.

Cause in country houses you always come in through the back door.

The front door is on the opposite side of the house, nowhere near the gate or driveway.

Naturally.

This is the right hand side.

When looking for stoves, I found two I liked – the Belling and the New World. Both of those aren’t the exact models I was looking at, close enough though. I know 3 people who have a Belling and love it so that was what I was leaning towards.

When we went shopping we ended up with this:

Dont you just love it?? I do! We got it half price as its a floor model. Its a cream Euromaid.

White. Painted timber walls. Natural timber benchtop. Wood floors. A mix of old and new. Open shelving.

I saw a man down the road who mills his own wood and has some minor species timber in his lumbar yard. I’m negotiating on some pieces of timber for the benchtop.  I’m considering some 40mm planks of Tasmanian myrtle. Other options are eucalypt or blackwood. He says the myrtle is a better quality timber for benchtops and has an entire kitchen made out of it. Its a pinker/redder type of timber and I’ve always loved it.

So there you have it. I’ll be updating progress as we go along. It should be interesting. Wayne and I have never lived through this type of ‘invasive’ rennnovation before….

Lets see who survives…

z

PS. Feedback needed on my blog layout/look. Do you find the links easy to find/see? Do you think the type should be a bit bigger. Being a graphic designer I tend to go for the look I like. Small type looks neat but may not be so easy on everyone else’s eyes.