I posted recently about our thoughts on moving and it seems after talking, thinking about our finances, our future, our children, being realistic about everything, that it would make sense to stay put for now. Nothing has to be forever, but for the time being the kids are settled, we are pretty happy, so figure we may as well improve what we have already instead of striving for bigger and better.
A big part of our plans and probably the most exciting is our new kitchen plans. At the moment, we have a kitchen, utility and conservatory which is a bit of an odd space, really poorly designed and lacking in decent floor space. We have three small areas which have so much potential and despite being a large part of our house, just don't get used much because they are cramped and awkward. Also, due to the quality of the current extension, the whole kitchen is freezing in winter and baking in summer as it literally has no insulation. Making the area weather proof and a real usable useful space is really important, as well as having a nice new kitchen to play in and more space for our family as the kids get bigger by the second.
We've spoken to the bank and sorted the money side out so now it's time to get planning, talking to companies and seeing what we can do to make the best of the space as well as getting good value for money with a high quality finish.
I thought I'd share my current mood board for our kitchen/conservatory area to show where we are at. If you've had similar work done I'd love to hear any tips or stories, please do leave a comment below! It's hard not to get carried away but at the same time there is SO much work to be done from electrics, installing a new boiler and basically adding new rooms onto our house that the whole thing makes my head go totally fuzzy!
I'm hoping to put some actual visuals together, Photoshop what we want in the space, but for now a mood board to move towards what we want is the way forward. The building work although invasive is pretty straight forward. There's not much excitement with a new boiler either, but planning a new kitchen, with storage, actual drawers and new gadgets is very very exciting!
1. Shaker kitchen units | 2. Upcycled table & modern chairs | 3. Spot lights | 4. Belfast sink | 5. Light wood flooring | 6. Tiled splashback | 7. Wood work tops | 8. Bifold doors | 9. Built in oven
We're pretty close to deciding the kind of things we want now. When it comes to most things we are pretty much in agreement, such as wood or wood effect work tops, light Shaker style units and a light probably wood flooring. We are trying to work within budget, but also not cut back on things we may later regret, so we are going to try our best to get the 'luxury' bits we want, such as built in appliances and bi fold doors. If we are doing it, we want to do it right and make a huge difference.
Creams and blues will always be our favourite and we really need it to be light as we will most probably be opting to make the conservatory more of an extension and less of a green house. Light, bright and splashes of blues here and there. Best of all, lots of extra space and making use of bits of our home we've not used properly before. This isn't just a case of installing a new kitchen though, but a new solid roof, walls removed, supports added, pillars reduced and arches squared. We'll also need to relocate some pipes and have a new boiler - ouch! This is a big project, but will make such a difference to our home.
Have you ever taken on a big project like this?