From the living room. I'm getting a light fitting put in over the dining table. I have a Tord Boontjie garland light fitting I was thinking of putting there but am worried it'll be too small - thoughts?
Slowly, slowly the place is starting to resemble a house again. I spent the weekend putting the doors on and the shelves in place and tidying up the endless supply of sawdust lying around the place (thanks to the rain, the benchtop and sink hole was cut inside. So you can imagine how pleased I was about that). And this is how it looks now.
The view from the hallway.
I had to go back to Ikea today to get the plinths (kickboards to cover the legs) and a few other things they either didn't have before (like LACK wall shelves) or that I totally forgot to buy last time I was there (shelves for the end cabinets that face into the dining/living room). I also was desperate to get the benchtop oil because it hasn't been treated yet. I'm hardly precious about things and quite like the timeworn look of wooden benches and tables. But I'm NOT happy that on the second day of the sink side being completed I discovered this...
Naughty naughty
Luckily, this should easily sand out (hope so anyway!). But people are still banned from my house now because I also discovered yesterday that the electrician had damaged one of the doors while leaning over to fix one of the power points with his tool belt. I'm going to turn it around and swap with the door next to it so problem solved but still highly annoying.
Plates and random glass collection!
Not annoying, however, is the fact I can access my plates and glasses by simply shoving my hand through the top of the cupboard (I haven't put the handles on the doors yet so the less opening and closing of doors, the better!). Obviously this is temporary until the benchtops get put on next week!
The sink, gooseneck tap and dishwasher - my true love! How did I put up with handwashing for sooooo many years?
So this is the sink side. I bought shelves for these base cabinets today and there will be an open shelf the full length of the wall just above the tap and then three horizontal wall cabinets above that. Now, my dilemma. I wasn't going to get a splashback for either side - just one little piece behind the stovetop. But I will, because I think it'll finish off the space and also because I'll need one!! The wall is so uneven there is a rather large gap between the benchtop and the wall. Plus, while being extra careful because of the non-oiled benchtop, I've realised how much water goes everywhere in a kitchen. Never noticed this before! Glass is out of my budget, stainless steel won't go and so I'm starting to lean towards tiles which I was sooooo against just days ago. Any other suggestions? I seriously considered pressed metal (a friend has it in her kitchen and it looks amazing) but I can't imagine that being very practical or easy to clean. So if you have any brilliant ideas/suggestions, I'd love to hear.
Here are the holes the electrician cut in the wrong space. Steve patched them up today, but the eventual splashback will cover them anyway. Phew. But note to oven manufacturers: I'd happily pay an extra dollar or whatever it'd cost to put on vinyl stickers instead of those crap cheap ones that DON'T COME OFF. Gotta get some metho or something. Grr
Still to do....
- Paint the back wall properly (and the little wall with bathroom door in it - plasterer only finished patching it up with this most recent job)
- Paint the ceiling
- Paint the window architraves
- Sand back and re-stain the floor
- Build and attach the wall cabinets and open shelves
- Place the other benchtop
- Hook up the rangehood
- Attach the plinths
- Oil the benchtops
- Get a splashback
- Figure out what to put above the fridge - there will be cover panels on either side of it so you won't see the sides of the fridge. Wall cabinets will be too shallow and base cabinets too high for the space, so maybe shelves? But they'll be too far back too. Might need to custom-make deep shelves for the space.
Hmm, that should keep us busy!!
16 comments:
Use eucalyptus oil, not metho.
Kitchen looks great so far. IKEA can really dick you around sometimes. Sorry you had so much trouble. The drive must have sucked too. You've come so far and still have so much on your to do list. loving seeing the progress.
I have no idea really how this would be done, but could you use wallpaper as your splash back - with some kind of lacquer or sealant that would make it waterproof? That way, you could get really creative with a cool pattern that would complement your beautiful new kitchen, and I'd imagine you wouldn't need a lot.
I'm loving following the kitchen renovation - so inspiring!
Belinda this is coming along great! (despite the mishaps)
Lyndsay, that's the first thing that came to my mind as well (but then again I always have wallpaper on the mind).
I remember asking my kitchen people if I could use paper as a splashback and they had done it before. You would need to cover it with toughened glass that doesn't have the green tinge so the colours look the same when the glass covers it. A far cheaper alternative are tiles though.
You can also buy glue remover from the supermarket.
The kitchen is coming along great. Well done!
Viv xx
Haha, I said 'the kitchen is coming along great' twice. Well, it is! :)
Mirror - isnt cheap, but looks amazing - literally doubles the room space and if you have something nice to reflect (artwork/garden) - even better.
Kitchen looks fabulous - I love how you've got the dining table in the same space. My one regret when renovating was not knocking down the wall between the dining space and kitchen.
your kitchen is coming out faboulus!! i've been reading your blog obsessivly for some time, so just wanted to say hi, and that your blog and style is a true inspiration:)
looks great!
I am not a huge fan of tiles either, but a friend just put in little shiny mosaic tiles as a splashback and they look unreal!!
She chose a really light colour, and they look great.
Its looking so good... can't wait to see the finished product! I bet it can be so stressful though.... hang in there.. you will be so happy!!!
I'm currently loving tiles. I've had glass splashbacks and they are awful to keep clean. Every angle you view them from there's a different smear mark. I'm looking for an image of the tiles I like, but they're a slightly dappled finish, high gloss champagne or light latte (think prestige car colour). By tiling over a sheet of masonite your level issues will be resolved.
But... if you used pressed metal (love it!!) you could spray with car paint and get a great easy clean finish. (lots of light coats)
From experience, do a few extra coats of good washable paint on the wall alongside the dishwasher. You'll get a lot of muck splashing as you load up, coffee is our worst offender.
I haven't been blogging for a few weeks, but will definately follow you to your new home. btw, did you post a photo of the light fitting for above the dining table. Would love to see it!
Lynda
Looks good. It is so worth blogging about a job like this. Some people get round to taking pictures etc but by having this blg at least you'll be able to go back and see how it was all worth it when it's eventually finished.
great tips! thanks a lot.
Wow! you took on quite the project! I'm impressed and I really love your style. Thanks for stopping by MADE and good luck with the rest of the finishing touches.
Great and excellent posting. Really awesome and look so fantastic and perfect. Thanks.
Very informative post, i am really very happy to read your post, this is really what we all need to know, i am going to renovate my home and looking for some tips, i am sure now i can better suggest that which services will be good for keep my house safe and beautiful.
Wow awesome post, kitchen looks really amazing, thanks for sharing us your knowledge, i will definitely try these ideas and will let you know about the results.
Post a Comment