everything you wanted to know about my 2nd kitchen renovation

OK so the kitchen is in and while all of the details are fresh on my mind here is the post that tells you where everything comes from! This makes a great reference for me when people email me like they do now about the old kitchen and saves a lot of time.

Cabinetry

I will never use anyone else for my kitchens as I’m always so happy with the results from Michael at Kitchenworks in Belrose. Michael did my last kitchen and it’s a very simple and streamlined process. You have your kitchen designed, pay a deposit, he will come out for final measurements and to get it just right, sends through some 3d drawings of the kitchen which gives you a great idea of how it will look and an opportunity to change any little things that aren’t working for you. You can show him a picture of what you’re after and he just does a great job.

We played around with the mantle and he did it perfectly in the end. I wanted something simple and elegant without being over the top and it is just that. There was more cabinetry with this kitchen as it was a bigger space but it’s all come together perfectly. Depending on when you buy during the year you can save 30% on your cabinets and we paid about $20k for all of the cabinetry. And it’s a matte finish and I will find out what kind of cupboard it is. I just said ‘same as last time’.

The island is 3 metres long and has cupboards along the other side where the stools are which are so handy for glassware, party supplies and other little things. Like retro daddy’s stubby holders………….

Benchtops

Benchtops are Caesarstone in Snow. It’s very hardwearing, easy to clean, looks great and I loved it so much in our last kitchen that I had to go with it again. There are lots of colours in the Caesarstone but Snow has a slight grey to it and is lovely and really works well in our kitchen. Michael now uses StoneMasters who were just fabulous and did a really great job. This stuff is heavy to bring into the house but they did a great job and were well priced. Very happy customer here.

Cabinet handles

Well I did something a bit different with the cabinet handles, I did go for knobs and pulls and I am thrilled with the result. The finish on these is polished nickel and they are just lovely. I probably wish I had put 2 pulls on each of the huge pot drawers but I didn’t realise how large they were going to be but overall they look lovely and it’s all come together beautifully. If you had the time you could try to find similar from the US and source them that way to save a bit on the cost. These came from Mother of Pearl Trading & Sons in Alexandria. A really lovely shop by the way.

Tap

The tap is very similar to my last kitchen (again!) and is from Perrin & Rowe. Budget about $950 for a tap like this. I went for a simple finish with the chrome as I didn’t want to get too matchy match with finishes but they complement the cupboard handles and pulls perfectly. So that was lucky. It is a very lovely tap and just finishes the island perfectly. You can also find similar taps by Nicolazzi and also at Restoration Online who often have specials on.

 Sink

The sink is big but not as deep as the last kitchen. This sink is a Blanco ZEROX700U from the Steelart range. It’s quite modern in it’s shape but I like that, I always try to think of resale when I do my kitchens and this is practical, the size I wanted and has a nice look in the island and complements the tap nicely. Look for accessories when you buy your sink.

I use Hardware & General in Brookvale who are fabulous, they recommended a sink drainer for dishes which we are just loving and I also have a colander on back order that sits across the sink too. Definitely think about the dish drainer when you buy a sink like this as it makes drying dishes and things that don’t go in the dishwasher a breeze. Loving this sink and we paid about $800ish for this one but Hardware & General can give you a discount when you buy a few accessories or things together. We bought our last sink from them too.

Floor Tiles

These are a porcelain tile with a rustic look and were going to be an easier to care for option than travertine. I was nervous about staining the tiles (hello we are a family of 7) so these are easy to clean and lovely to walk on too. I also think they lighten up the room and they complemented the caesarstone. These tiles were from Amber Tiles, Seaforth and were about $2000 and it’s quite a large area to cover.  

Installation from an experienced tiler was $2200 and took a few days. Ask for a brick pattern if you like the way that they have been laid. I am loving the tiles, they really lighten up the room and are perfect. Jason the tiler did a fabulous job and I always love chatting to him while he’s here.

Subway Tiles

These are a simple white subway tile from Spain. These are under $100 per square metre and you can pay much less but these are thicker than the cheapest ones on the market but there is a big range of subway tiles so go with what you like. The tiles came in about $400 and then tiling was $500 ish so you’re looking at under $1000 for a splashback this size. Tiles are from Tiles by Kate in Manly Vale, Sydney and again have been laid in a brick pattern.

Oven

Oh the oven, that big heavy oven. The oven is an ESSE EC2i. It’s an electric induction oven. I started out wanting a 900mm stainless steel oven but wasn’t loving the electric cooktop on them. I didn’t want to connect gas from the street and fell for more rustic looking black ovens. Thought about the Belling, looked at the AGA and then discovered ESSE. Looked at bringing it into australia myself to save on some money but ended up buying from Pivot to get the Australian warranty and local service.

I love it. It is so much better than I expected. It was worth the issues – think weight, installation, delivery hiccups and the like but it is a dream to look at and really makes the room special

I’m going to do a more detailed post on the oven but it cooks so fast and everything is coming out beautifully. Definitely no regrets with this one. It even has a heated towel rail which is great for when I’m cooking up a storm and have teatowels everywhere. Thank you to Pivot for the lovely extras like the kettle and cookware when delivery got a bit hairy. Pivot know their stuff and have a fabulous range of cookers and this truly is a dream oven.

It has 3 ovens – 1 is a fan forced electric oven with a grill element on the top. This is one hot and fast oven and everything is cooking so much better than the old electric oven I was using. Underneath it is another electric oven, not as high, not fan forced but great for if you’re doing something while your roast is in the big oven above or you’re wanting to bake some cookies. And the 3rd oven which doesn’t have controls to hear it is your plate warming oven. The oven retains a lot of heat when it is being used and afterwards so you could also do some slow cooking in there, keep something warm and warm those plates.

Appliances

Fridge is a french 3 door fridge by Samsung. They have a great reputation and when we went into the store the guy on the floor said they were also the most popular at the moment. Technology is a feature of Samsung  so we went with it. Water and ice wasn’t the plan but heh it has it and just be prepared to add to the budget for plumbing as a tap is needed for the water/ice function. What model you choose will depend on the space you are working with. I wanted the larger model which had a separate drawer in the middle but that would be too deep for your kitchen as we had a certain distance between the walls and windows and couldn’t go too deep. So this is the 639L and is a great size and perfect for us. Love that crumb on the floor…………..just keeping it real for you all at home.

Dishwasher is also a Samsung. I started out at the cheapest dishwasher but they didn’t have great reviews so went middle of the road, not too cheap, not too expensive and this one had great reviews. You’re looking at about $900ish for one of these depending on where you buy it. I love there is a cutlery tray at the top of the dishwasher, it plays a little song when you turn it on and honestly when the dishwasher finishes the cycle it plays a 30 second little song. The kids love that. It cleans very well, is very easy to operate and is fabulous so far.

There are so many rangehoods to choose from these days and they all start to look the same. I went with good reviews and middle of the road in price for a hidden rangehood. This is a Bosch with a few lights and looks and works well. Time will tell of course. This was about $600.

All of the appliances were purchased from Appliances Online who were fabulous. My readers told me how fabulous they were after Harvey Norman last kitchen and they were great. Such fabulous delivery guys and they took so much care, advised me when was best to deliver the fridge and actually came back to redeliver the fridge when the kitchen was finished. Recommend them so much and loved that I could order the appliances and only need to pay on delivery day. So great for the cashflow and budgeting so well worth looking into.

Lights

The glass pendants were actually bought to go into the living areas of the house. I saw them on Anne-Marie’s website, Cape Cod Designs and thought I’ll get 3 for the house and they were sitting in the garage while we were waiting to get more lights for the house and have an electrician out. I was having major indecision over what lighting to put in that would go with the kitchen and then thought why not use the glass pendants as I’ve seen it done before. And voila, they are just perfect. I couldn’t imagine anything else. You can find pendants now that are hamptons style much easier than when we did our last kitchen. If you’re on a tight budget check out Ikea and other options are restoration online, beacon lighting, light in style (Belrose) and in Melbourne there is Schots which I looked into when we did our last kitchen but I was going to have to organise delivery. Anyway there are a few options out there but of course I love dealing with Anne Marie and her gorgeous online store here.

Plenty of photobombers in this house, by the way.

Paint colour

Retro daddy did the painting but we still have a bit of patching up and painting of the ceiling and cornices. Wall colour is Dulux Vanilla Quake (half strength ) with a Vivid White trim. Same as last time. If it’s good why change it.

I think that’s it. Have I missed anything? I do have to find out exact details of the cabinetry as a few people have asked and I’m not sure what they are but am guessing vinyl wrap but let me clarify for you all. Let me know if you have any questions and I’ll get back to you. I hope that helps you with your own kitchen renovations/plans/dreams. It’s always fun for me doing a kitchen, it adds so much value to the house and I always try to balance what I want and what will sell the house whenever we go to sell.

And the before and after?