Tuesday 2 December 2008

my kitchen: update


I wish I could say this is it, but nope, mine is still how it was a month ago only with less cupboard doors and more ants (does anyone else have this problem? What is going on with the ant invasion?) This, however, is a rather lovely looking kitchen from our October issue. Image by Dan Magree/Real Living magazine

Before I start, you just might think this week's lot of posts is sponsored by Ikea, but for the record, they're not! There just happens to be a whole lot of Ikea-related things to write about, so I thought I'd cram them all into one week.

On Friday I convinced my parents to come all the way up from Canberra to meet me at Ikea and help me get my head around the whole kitchen design thing. Well, they were coming up to Sydney anyway, but I used the babies as bait so they'd make a detour to Ikea. So mum babysat Zak and Layla and I put my blinkers on again and bypassed all the cool stuff and headed straight to the kitchen department (I did spot one thing - tomorrow - but that's because it was right in front of me. I swear I didn't look to the side once.)

It was rather helpful having Dad along - I can't imagine doing this with someone who hasn't done it before. He had clever inside knowledge such as how the wall microwave cabinets they have aren't deep enough for a lot of microwaves so I should just get a normal base cabinet and smaller door. And how the Gripp handles will avoid a repetition of my wardrobe handle debacle because unlike most handles you just screw them into the side of the door instead of drilling through it. And how I can use any size wall cabinet for the fan cause he'll adapt it. And that yes, I can use two small wall cabinet frames (because they're not as deep as the base ones) on the end of one bench side as open shelves into the dining room. Excellent.

I also - finally - put to good use a commenter's suggestion from way back and took a stick of wood in my wall paint colour to match the colour. On my last Ikea trip I was horrified to discover that the Applad white is actually not that white at all, rather a cream. However, it seems my Whisper White paint is also not that white and so the two together should come up a rather good match after all. So it's back to Applad! With Gripp handles. And birch wood benchtops. And a stainless steel sink with mixer tap. And if Domayne can't beat a price on the appliances, it'll be their ceramic cooktop, silver oven and rangehood too.



This almost made me want to reverse my materials, but I have a feeling - as lovely as it is - the wood bottoms will date quicker than white. Image by Dan Magree/Real Living magazine

So, if my estimations are correct (oh please let them be!) I'll be forking out around $2350 for cabinets, $2018 for benchtops, plinths, legs, handles, sink, cover panels, taps, and $1310 for the appliances. A total of $5678. My carpenter quoted me $3650 for all the other stuff (ripping it out, putting in a new window, resheeting the walls, the plasterer, the plumber and electrician) so that brings it all to a grand total of: $9328 which is UNDER the $10,000 budget we set out to do. Oh, hang on I forgot to add the dishwasher, but still, close enough. We can afford more, but why go crazy when I'm happy with this? Plus, we won't be here forever, so I can design and do my dream kitchen in the next place if it doesn't have it already.

My only drama was that when I checked the stock availability at Ikea I noticed some base cupboards and oven cabinet weren't in stock. I was all ready to call them to ask when they can expect more in when I discovered this nifty little tool: Ikea Webchat. It's like instant messenger - you ask a question, they answer rather quickly, and I found out the actual frames are in, it's the doors that aren't in stock, but they'll be in in a week and a half. Everything now rests on when I can get my electricty box upgraded because it's not going to be able to handle anything else and I'm not keen on finding out what will happen if it gets overloaded.

Soo, it finally looks to be happening. In fact in needs to be happening because my little '50s kitchen is literally falling apart: the cold water tap came off a while back and we didn't bother fixing it because "we were doing the kitchen soon". And then the other day the door under the sink fell off. We discovered that one tiny nail (not even a screw!) had been holding it on for the past five years. I think it was tired of holding up the fort and just gave up. Damn good job though. So, yes, it's time!

In celebration of my near kitchen renovation, I thought I'd share these pictures of two pretty kitchens from recent issues of Real Living I'm adding to our website's brand spakin' new image gallery (from next month, fingers crossed!) Aren't they lovely?

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Belinda
Love your blog. That white moroccan side table that you are coveting from my island home is in my shop for $130...and it is from the same supplier! We are Plank Design, Mona Vale, Sydney.

belinda graham said...

ooooooooooooh i'm very excited to hear that!!! do you deliver too?

Anonymous said...

Hi Belinda
Didn't mean to be anonymous...oops!
In regards to the delivery question, where are you approx and i will check.
Kind Regards,
Toni

Anonymous said...

I just thought I would chime in with some help with ants (as I noticed you had young children).. ants ARE taking over the world btw.... but until we surrender...it is wrth trying some cinnamon. They HATE it. It doesn't kill them but it is child friendly and ants will avoid it like mad. Try sprinkling it where they are coming in and putting some in the corners of cabinets and drawers etc. Vac it up after a while, and reapply if necessary. Hope that helps

Anonymous said...

Oh excitement on the kitchen coming in under budget!
In regards to microwaves in cabinets, we have ours in a base cabinet - the 3 drawer option, and only have the top and bottom drawers in. The microwave fits in the middle section. S a big deep drawer at the bottom, and a shallow cutlery one at the top.

Anonymous said...

Oh, and Tini, I am VERY interested in those cabinets too! Love them, and they suit the strange height of our bed!

Do you ship to Melbourne at all?

 Viv said...

Very exciting Belinda!

When I was renovating my kitchen I couldn't get my head around all the different "bits" that made up a kitchen in Ikea and I was admittedly too lazy to measure correctly so I envy you were able to do it and under budget too!

By the way, I've tagged both your blogs today with an 'I love your blog' award :)

http://ishandchi.blogspot.com/2008/12/woohoo-tagged.html

Jayne said...

This is a great post, from an Ikea devotee myself. We have pretty much renovated our 1940's home with Ikea partly due to it being affordable with a young family and partly due to it inspiring me to rethink our small space to fit a family of 2 boys in. I am in the process of updating my blog with our reno pictures if you are interested, although I warn you, I am attempting a minimalist yet stylish and family-friendly renovation, if that is possible. Our next project is the kitchen, so your tips are invaluable. I am off to measure our microwave! And I agree with your dad re the grip handles, that is all we have used.

Sarah said...

Belinda,

I love your blog, it is one of my very favorites. I wish I could justify forking the money over for a Real Living subscription but I don't think my hubby would be too happy.
The kitchen included in this post with the yellow stools is a dream. Please keep it up. And if you have a spare moment come over and visit us at our blog, http://theestateofthings.com, we'd love to have you.

xoxo TEOT

Unknown said...

My parents recently renovated their kitchen from a horrid 70's style (note the faux plastic brick) to a lovely cottage-look, which suits their old home by a lake. I remember my mom being overwhelmed by all the little decisions that needed to be made! Her advice coming out of it: get cabinets that don't need finishing! Painting and sanding was a pain.

Anonymous said...

First kitchen is very beautiful

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