Wow, where has the time gone? following up to our post 18 months ago, a lot has changed since then... What's New? We relocated our entire factory to 34 Haydock Street Forresdale (30km south of Perth) Installed new Auto load/unload CNC to help with supply Installed new edge bander custom built from Austria We have orders being shipped interstate every 2 - 3 days We have orders sent to N.Z & Christmas Island Launched new showroom for Perth Customers 426 Scarborough Beach Road Osborne Park Prices online have either remained the same or even decreased Online Design software soon to be available online, stay tuned. Products & Service Over 110 cabinets to customize Over 200 different door colours and finishes from only the best brands Flat Packed or Pre-Assembled Custom made laminated benchtops Order Online or In-store Delivery all over Australia We are cabinets makers who have a passion software and website development, our first online ordering platform was launched back in 2006. Our business model is 'community focused' meaning the more people who use our system helps with our buying power and our costs come down, these savings are updated online for everyone to benefit. eKitchens (08) 9456 3108 sales@ekitchens.com.au www.ekitchens.com.au Check out our video

Hi Mike and Emma Hope you are slowly but surely getting there... may I make some comments/suggestions that you may or not take on board, but hopefully it may at least give you some ideas/options... Going through a new build ourselves at the moment, and for what it's worth, here's what I personally think: A. Work with what you've got: - additional plumbing work, gas work etc may not be necessary and (particularly gas) can be costly when you're trying to work around existing walls, floors, etc, and as much as possible utilise the existing connections... after whatever you can save here and there, you can spend on nicer cabinetery, gadgets, finishes, etc :) B. Avoid unnecessry structural work: - removing the kitchen/living wall is a must (more space, light, etc) but removing the laundry wall is an unncessary added cost (may even require costly additional strutural support) - putting up a plastered wall on the other hand is inexpensive, allows you to redefine different zones and relocate doors/openings where required (*note: avoid hinged doors in small spaces as you have to allow for wasted space to open door - suggest cavity sliding doors, easy to incorporate in a new wall) C. Don't sacrifice functionality and natural light for design - love full height floor to ceiling cabinets, very much on trend... but they also tend to bring the walls in, which you want to avoid in an already small space... they will also block out more natural ligtht from the only window to the living and breakfast bench (meals area)... not to mention seated guests would be staring at a cabinet tower and fridge - on the other hand a walk in pantry (not that much of a walk in a small space) is also very much on trend, provides more storage and... as entertaining guests in open plan livings tends to happen more in the kitchen... it provides a good hiding place for unsightly items, including frigges... (an underbench bar fridge in the kitchen can easily keep those beers cold... though do consider that means sacrificing some cabinet space) - constantly wiping off the floors from dripping wet dishes across the kictchen from the sink to the dishwaser on the other side bench would personally drive me mad after a while... the dishwasher can easily be connected to the existing sink water and waste points through the cabinerty... any half decent plumber should be able to do that... ON THAT NOTE... or should I say those notes... I know I got a bit carried away :) ... if it were me, here's an idea of what I would try to achieve ...

sounds like lots of colour going on. What colour are your window treatments? what about timber chairs which pick up the flooring & colour in your bench top (stained IKEA style or bentwood) & then some grey accessories... its about your eye matching the same colour for uniformity. does that assist.

Hi Lil, I believe your original plan works much better than the revised version. While the notion of ideal working widths is great, the larger problem here is the post. I worked on a project very similar to this last year where a post could either be connect to, or separate from the island. What we found was that by separating the island the space between island and post became very awkward. It's not enough of a space to comfortably walk through or be seated at the island in front of. Instead of your room feeling open and generous in proportion, it is going to start to feel cramped and awkward. We have a kitchen in our showroom (Kitchen Studio Tauranga NZ) with a 6ft gap between bench and back wall and it works wonderfully. It allows someone to work at the sink and a second at the island with ease. Stick with the original plan. It will feel a lot more spacious, without compromising work flows.