Kitchen Design Signed And Ready To Go

It's official .... I've signed on the dotted line to confirm the kitchen design which means in about 7 weeks time my retro kitchen is going to be a distant memory of chipboard and tiny cupboards. I have butterflys in my tummy whenever I think about the kitchen reno I'm so excited !

 

We got 2 quotes for the kitchen renovation - Design 1 had the L shape bench with lots of storage and Design 2 had the island bench with a more open feel and more bench space near the cooker. We went with Design 2 because we liked the layout, better quality bench top and the price includes installation.

Here are the 2 designs side by side :

Design 1 - Cooker

Cooker layout against back wall with no bench top cooking space

 

 

Design 2 - Cooker

Cooker layout against side wall with bench top cooking space either side

 

 

At the second meeting with the Kitchen Designers this week we tweaked the original design by moving the pantry so we didn't have to brick in the kitchen window I always feel guilty about bricking up windows like you're taking away the effort someone put in to give you natural light! It's great we could work around that and although the pantry is going to be really narrow it will be long so will still fit all the essentials in there.

 

Design 1 - Pantry

Pantry and appliance cupboard built around fridge set up

 

 

Design 2 - Pantry

Pantry in front of window would need to modify window
 

 

 Design 2 - Pantry sketches

Our hand amendments putting pantry to side and against back wall

Design 2 - Pantry final
Pantry against back wall with overhead cupboards and open shelving

 

The debate over the Island Bench vs L Shape Bench had the Island Bench come out the winner mainly because of the open feel it would bring to the kitchen.  

 

Design 1

L Shape Bench with Sink Bench

 

 

 Design 2

Island Bench and Sink Bench

 

We may need to tweak the sink bench to fit in the bank of drawers, dishwasher, sink cupboard and a pull out bin drawer. Our bin is currently in the laundry which just doesn't work it's a real pain to run back and forward when your cooking so it really needs to fit in the kitchen if we can squeeze it in.

As for storage, you'll see in the Design 2 images the kitchen has overhead cabinets over the fridge, pantry and open shelves. There is only 1 low cupboard and that is under the sink.

There are banks of drawers in the Island Bench, along the sink bench, next to the cook top and under the microwave. Drawers are a must for the kitchen they make everything so much easier to see and access ... no more crawling into the cupboard to find the lid that matches the container!

It's not my dream kitchen but it's the best we could come up with in the small space we have to work with :D

Let the renovations begin!


[All images my own]