A new kitchen!
Comments (13)
10 years agoRelated Discussions
Feedback wanted for a new kitchen/living family friendly floorplan
Comments (24)Love the choice of kitchen - shaker style! I have that style myself and I love it. An interior designer definitely will be able to help you with design and configuration, colour scheme etc. Just letting you know, we had to put 5 structural beams in our ceiling for support and the cost blew us away, it is a very expensive exercise. You'll need an engineer to draw these up. Your draftsman will know of an engineer. Also, as a rule you have to allow for budget blowout. Everyone who has ever done a renovation will tell you. Once you start on the journey, you're emotionally involved and you want it all to be right, and you always add on more changes as you go along. It might be worth pricing things from your kitchen to floorboards to fixtures and fittings, ovens, fridges, lighting choices etc and then draw up your own costings. Builders generally don't do costings, they allow a budget for certain things, like $5 a handle, but then if you choose a $7 handle, then you get hit with a bill at the end of the job with all the extra costs. Make sure you know what the builder has allowed for when it comes to the kitchen, fixtures and fittings etc. I also agree with the others, the oven is too tight in that spot. I would swap that with the sink and put the sink in the island. Hope this is helpful. Good luck with it all, it's very exciting!...See MoreNew kitchen ideas
Comments (19)Hi Lisa I have recently put in a brand new kitchen and also decided not to move the fridge, sink, or cooktop. Our cabinet maker came up with a fantastic small pantry which he calls a 'blind pantry'. In the photo, it is the cupboard to the right of the sink. This corner was previously a low cupboard and totally useless because you couldn't reach into the corner so wasted space really. My new pantry has a reinforced floor and you take a small step up into it, which means that a shorty like me can reach every shelf. It is by far the making of my new kitchen because I not only have one cupboard for food (which I never had before), but also somewhere to store my large appliances, box of red wine, container of plastic bags to be reused etc. In the other corner (under the toaster), the cabinet maker recommended blocking this corner off rather than having another low, corner cupboard which I wouldn't be able to easily access. So along that side we have all drawers, in three difference depths. Now that I have more space that is easily accessed, I find I keep the space very tidy all the time, simply because I can quickly and easily put things away rather than having them sit on the benches. A few months in, the kitchen is as tidy today as it looks when I took these photos - easy, peasy. Although more expensive I am pleased we decided to rip the old kitchen out and begin again. In my opinion, it's been money well spent. I'm not sure where you're based but if in Brisbane, I would highly recommend the company we went with. Good luck with everything!...See MoreHelp me with my new kitchen
Comments (9)Hi Sue. I think it depends a lot on how big and how light your kitchen is. Are the colours firm, or could you swap them, i.e. the white on the island with the wooden top, and the blue on the rest with white top? Try and picture the jarrah on all the tops, and work out whether you think it will be too much (if there is a lot of surface), or would work better as an accent. Best of luck....See MoreDesign ideas for a new kitchen needed
Comments (30)Hi Judy, I may be a bit late but the first thing I would ask you is how many people in your family and is storage in general a problem for you. Also do you have a rough budget? Kitchens have come along way, you can redo the kitchen using the existing layout but making it a lot more efficient as well as more visually pleasing. As soon as you start moving walls and plumbing it becomes a lot more costly and involved. Not to mention messy. Would you live in there though that sort of reno. Bare in mind moving the wall will mean new flooring as well. I personally don't a butlers pantry unless they are primarily for the storage of things you don't use often. If it will be your actual pantry then you are making yourself walk a lot further each day to get your pantry items. Thus making meal prep take longer. I think the best place for your everyday pantry is next to the fridge so you can easily pack away after shopping and easily access what you need. If storage is a big issue then yes turn your dining room into a butlers pantry / storage area. It is a great place for a second freezer as well as small appliances and general family storage is set up properly. I don't think most people really need a second sink in the if it is mainly for storage. I would be careful putting in an island as ideally you want 120cm all the way around it for easy flow. Also bare in mind the work triangle, if you want an island they make the bay window a bench seat don't leave the sink there as you will increase the amount of steps you take. If I were you I would download the IKEA kitchen planning software and have a play around. You can input your measurements and put cabinets in and see different layouts and style combinations and it will give you a indication of price. I would put in as many drawers as possible and do all tall cabinets on the wall that currently has the fridge. I would put the fridge, the pantry and a tall a cabinet for your oven and microwave together. The only tricky thing is the angles if you go with standard size cabinets. You may have to have a small voids at your angles. You could probably redo the kitchen using the existing layout with updated more efficient cabinets with stone bench tops and installation for close to $10,000 if you install it yourself then you can save more. I think you need to take a step back think about what you want and what you need. Not just for the kitchen but for your home in general. Once you identify the problems or issues the you can start to fix them. A kitchen or far that matter any space in your home has to be not only beautiful but practical and efficient. At the end of the day it doesn't matter how pretty your kitchen if it is not practical. But a practical kitchen that is not your style can also be a downer, you have to both if you don't want a kitchen that annoys you. It has to be a space you want to be in and work in. Good luck...See More
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10 years agolast modified: 10 years ago- 10 years ago
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If your house needs a fan for ventilation then look at the range of styles available to pick what suits your kitchen & dining room. They do work if placed correctly to circulate the rising hot air out of the room & in reverse mode in winter to force the warm air which rises down again. You will need to spend time researching Houzz and lighting stores but we have installed fans in a high ceiling though not a Queenslander like yours but raked timber. Just for fun I found this one on Houzz which is totally not like a traditional looking fan. Good luck!
Whirl Ceiling Fan in Oil-Rubbed Bronze · More Info 
10 years ago- 10 years agolast modified: 10 years ago
The simplest will be to plan a country style kitchen.
The little push out for the stove could be used as a pantry, or just pulled out depending on whats on the other side! That area would have housed a large aga or similar and I believe they used those push outs so if there was a fire or accident you could push the whole thing out of the house, or maybe it was just to keep it cooler idk. I like that idea though.
I would favour a country kitchen with an island bench.
However, being a first home buyer also and not that handy, we stuck to a simpler country kitchen style. I made a little doily valance for the window, and we added a large farmhouse table in the middle of the room.
Silver Bow Residence · More InfoNot sure what your island looks like, but perhaps you could replace the corrugated iron with white pressed metal and restore some cuteness. Our kitchen is pretty gross, but it has nice light and with a lovely antique kitchen dresser housing the pretty cups etc and a nice kitchen table it looks quite pleasant and its nice to use.
Wendi Young Design · More InfoThis is a simple fresh upgrade I quite like
Bondi Apartment · More Info - 10 years ago
- 10 years agolast modified: 10 years ago
Another idea i have seen in a few old timber houses, and that works really well is to move the kitchen from this large room entirely and create a more modern galley kitchen in a sleepout. You could consider fitting in a kitchen with a long bench where the archway is on that little annex room in your second picture. Or some other space entirely. Don't feel bound to use the rooms as they are currently being used. Old houses were often not originally designed with things like a kitchen and a bathroom and so yes they were often tacked on hodge podge and don't often work.
Also we like more open plan so find the area of the house that will be easier to open up and is on the right side of the house to catch the light to create the lounge area. Even if that is opening up 2 bedrooms. I really don't think that matters if what you are working with is just barebones timber spaces. I think your colour scheme is a great choice. Its classic and will show off the bones of the home nicely.
The trouble with these larger kitchen rooms is that they just aren't as functional, even though there is more floor space a lot of it is wasted. Sometimes you can end up with more functional storage and space by using a smaller room like a sleepout or enclosed verandah. You can use an awkward sleepout space more productively and gain an extra room when you remove the kitchen, and the added advantage is you can slowly build you new kitchen and still have somewhere to cook in the meantime. With the new kitchen built you remove the old!
Country Victoria · More Info
Vicki Jenkins