sponsored by the good guys kitchens
You know how they say you shouldn’t renovate a house
straight away and that you should live in it a good 12 months before lifting even
a hammer? Well, we committed that most cardinal of renovating sins when we
moved into the Sow’s Ear. We started planning a new kitchen before we even
moved in and had it built within three months of moving.
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| Kitchen in a Queenslander house I took all the magnets off the fridge for this shot! |
Do we have any regrets three years on? Hmmm…I’m not sure.
There is nothing in particular I would change in terms of the layout or
finishes. We have a great looking kitchen but I think we probably could have
managed it better which would have meant more efficiencies in the long
run – time and cost savings.
If we ever do it again, I’d most likely allow myself more
time to research and shop around at kitchen showrooms
and I definitely would organise my own tradies, especially now that we’ve got a
great network at our disposal.
You can get a more competitive price and the job
is completed in a more timely fashion… as opposed to relying on someone else’s
network. The number of questionable invoice surprises after our kitchen was
completed would make you shudder…
We pretty much went with the first kitchen place that gave
us a quote which is quite silly in hindsight. Although everything went okay and
the design is good, I can’t help feeling that we should have got another couple
of quotes, downloaded a kitchen design catalogue or two and perhaps not feel so
pressured to rush to get the kitchen “done”. But that is the wisdom you gain
through hindsight.
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| open kitchen shelving |
One of the best things about renovating our kitchen was that
it introduced me to the world of design and renovating blogs. Bloggers are
generally very generous with the information they share about their renovating
experiences and a lot of the inspiration for our kitchen was from blogs.
So are you guilty of renovating before the 12 month mark
too or do you think that 'renovating rule' is just nonsense?
I don't think we did any major renovations in the first twelve months of living in our place, probably more due to lack of funds than anything though. I'm happy with lots of projects we've done, but with things like our kitchen and ensuite, wish I'd done a bit more research first, especially now that I'm a blogger and as you say, there's so much inspiration and advice to be gained from others :)
ReplyDeleteYour kitchen looks great!
ReplyDeleteI had to design mine and choose everything very quickly but I still love it three years on. I don't think I would change anything unless budget wasn't an option......;o)
Tania xx
Totally guilty! The kitchen here had swollen pineboard shelves that I wouldn't have dared put any food on, a large surface of shrimp pink and baby blue and an unusable island stuck right in the middle. It had to go. I've had my new kitchen for eight years now and am still happy. We also ripped up the lino and carpet layers and polished the floorboards before we got the furniture in..then painted the walls etc. We also put in new light fittings and fans, they've been invaluable. We still have to do the bathroom up and finish some painting, put on a new roof and renew some stumps..oh well!
ReplyDeleteWe've never actually lived in our cottage, but after 4 years of planning, 3 extra kids, and now onto our 3rd (and final) architects, I sure hope we've got it right!!! One of the main reasons for using an architect was to make sure that we got the design right and therefore minimising any bad decisions. I guess we'll just have to wait and see after we've moved in to ascertain whether we would have done things differently. xx
ReplyDeleteYour kitchen is looking great, very sleek and functional but the open shelves and that beautiful coloured glass brings it to life. Well done for getting it so right from the outset.
ReplyDeleteWe renovated our kitchen before we moved in! I did not know about this rule? Still love my kitchen too.....and yours :)
ReplyDeletei love your kitchen but secretly have the same fear - i hope i will love my kitchen when it is all said and done... we are holding off on doing other things partly because of lack of money but also for this very fear driven reason - hopefully it all come together :-)
ReplyDeleteI think you did a beautiful job, rule or no rule.
ReplyDeleteGuilty as charged, but only through necessity due to being removal houses with no kitchens (about to embark on house number 2 that arrived on site November 13th). The first one worked great but this time we have a much smaller space to work with so I am looking at cupboards going all the way up to the ceiling (or as close as I can get them) with glass fronted doors (has to be a small L shape to fit into the space). Design is on paper but I am yet to get into the house with the tape measure and chalk to see if it will work.
ReplyDeleteWe renovated after owning the house 4 years, but we only lived in it for 3 months before having to move to Melbourne ... so we sort of did it the right way ;-)
ReplyDeleteWe lived in our last house for 18 months before the reno, this time it will be nearly 2 and a half years. I think if you do not need to change rooms structurally it would be easy to get a kitchen right straight away. If you are moving rooms or walls like we are then I think it is worth living in a house through all the seasons to know what the light is doing and how the house flows from a functional perspective. I love your kitchen, it is very timeless- we are doing something similar- white vj's , white open shelving and grey marble bench tops. Of course all my colourful stuff will be up on display otherwise it wouldn't be me at all! mel x
ReplyDeleteI have lived with Primus stoves on tables, a surprised mouse bursting out of a bag of flour like a showgirl from a cake, walk-out-over-scaffold-boards, climb-the-fence-and-run-up-the-lane-to-the butcher's-loo bathroom visits, visiting friends with towels over our arms, and I STILL would rather do that than rush into a renovation!
ReplyDeleteack of budget means i'm 'getting to live in it and let the house speak to me' before doing big ticket things like kitchens. and i'm pretty sure its saying to me 'i want a new kitchen'!!
ReplyDeleteIf i could have afforded it, i would have rushed straight out and did it first thing!
Guilty! I did it and made a couple of BIG mistakes. I will have to undo them.
ReplyDeleteWe had a very tatty 50's kitchen when we moved in which we had a think about for a while. We thought about it seven years before finally doing it. I had seen friends make good and bad decisions and learnt from that so it was planned down to the last centimetre. We still made one mistake which was giving work to a local guy who sent a dodgy worker over to install but have since found an amazing local cabinet maker that did all our other built ins for half the money and twice the quality. There's always something else!
ReplyDeleteGuilty also. Our old kitchen was just SO dire I couldn't have lived with it.
ReplyDeleteI hope I don't come to regret it, but it won't be long now before I start to find out..
We have just hit 12 months, and have not done much yet. The kitchen won't happen for another couple of years, but it is quite functional, but not pretty. The extra bedroom and Bathroom are probably going to be the next bog job, at last we are over the 12 month hurdle.
ReplyDeleteLoved your kitchen blogposts, esp before and after, such a transformation.Love the open shelves with your collections. We pulled down the back lean-to 8/9 months after moving into our house for our very first DIY.Included was the kitchen that smelled so bad when we bought the house, we found 9 layers of lino and 1 dead rat.Forgot to thankyou for the blog mention last post,cheers.
ReplyDeleteWe have been in our house for over a year and still no new kitchen!! Hopefully one day soon we can afford it!
ReplyDeleteCheck out my giveaway of a month planner, meal planner and shopping list pad and pencil for the fridge. http://takeshapefitness.blogspot.com.au/
Love your kitchen, all those shelves to display your amazing glassware.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a good idea to have the time to nut out design. The best thing that came out of delays with our last home was I had the time to really sharpen the edges of the design and have a good think of what I REALLY wanted. So I think never to early to start planning but probably
only start getting things done after all the 'homework' is done first. (hope that made sense?)
Sarah