Career posting/ Ad

Liz, You have beautiful cupboards. I love your integrated dishwasher, and the designed space for the microwave. It should fit your new oven perfectly. But here's the thing: the thing that makes your cupboards beautiful is the timber doors. As wood mellows, it would be hard to match in new "door" elements - you could tell the old/new. If you are basically happy with the layout, then refreshing the benchtops and a new stovetop doesn't need a kitchen company. You need to work out your new stovetop, as you need to know your cutout. Then get some graph paper from the newsagents, and measure up. You can go directly to a local stonemason for a quote, or use a refurbishment company to overlay your existing top (e.g Granite transformations). (A new sink is relatively cheap and works wonders to update the kitchen!) A good handyman (or even better, a builder who just wants a bit of work on the weekend) can rip out the existing cupboards, mount a new range rangehood, and would probably be willing to take a hammer to break your connection to your dining room. Most plumbers (if its gas) or electricians are willing to connect in a new stovetop and sink for a reasonable price. It sounds to me that the only really "new" add -in is your new pantry area. You might need to be a bit clever to make that blend, even if you can't get a 100% match. If it's a full length pantry, one option might be to consider an off the shelf "door door" or even bifold, with a similar profile, so that it's sympathetic . You could then stain, or paint, or varnish to either blend in or make a contrast. Best of luck!

just realised that my suggestion has overlapped with Dr Retro and i agree that you should be able to have (from left to right) a 900 wall cabinet with three equal doors, a 900 wall cabinet with the 900 wide rangehood and three equal doors and a 600 wide wall cabinet with three equal doors ie 8 x 300 wide doors with the left hand side of the range hood wall cabinets lined up with the 900 corner cabinet BUT is there any special reason why the wall cabinet for the rangehood was suggested as 1000 wide?? if so, the same concept applies ie left hand wall cabinet would be 850 wide with three equal doors, 1000 wide range hood cabinet with three equal doors, right hand cabinet 550 wide with two equal doors..ie 5 doors about 270 wide and 3 doors about 330 wide above the rangehood but aim for the 8 x 300 doors.. the cabinet maker should allow for all the necessary clearances and fillers to create a uniform appearance

an easier way to "avoid voids" would be to have a simple L shaped 50cm deep counter on two sides with a small drop in sink and standard wall cabinets with open shelves above and below ...the extra dotted line on the 311 side of my plan shows a tall x 15cm deep x 79cm wide open shelf ideal for numerous cans, bottles and packetsomitting doors would save space (and cost) and give much easier access to the corners and any cabinet maker should be able to produce this arrangement by producing several custom sized base cabinets (similar to this plan) with standard sized wall cabinets and extra adjustable shelves