Wednesday, May 02, 2018

Home Style || Kitchen Plans (Part 1)


So the proverbial is really getting real now with our conservatory/ kitchen plans. Going from a very old leaky conservatory that's unusable most the year and a very dated 30 odd year old kitchen that's been used to death, we are now embarking on a full overhaul.

Having thought long and hard about our options, whether to move house entirely or stay put to make improvements, we opted to stay and make this house amazing. We may well move when the kids go to high school, but for the next five years or so we want to stay here and make the best of it. For our budget, we can't get anything even as good as what we have now, we're very lucky and although moving out the city is an appealing idea for the future, it doesn't suit us right now as we can't afford a second car and I enjoy the freedom of being able to walk to town, school, the train station and having access to anything I need. I think a village move right now for me could potentially feel really lonely and I'm so not ready to leave the house that my babies came home to just yet. Will I ever be?


Image result for wafflemama lincoln


With the conservatory being made into a more permanent solid structure with a solid tiled roof as opposed to glass, old fashioned arches being opened up to give us more space and slightly less of a seventies vibe and hopefully a shiny new kitchen, it's all getting a bit exciting - and equally terrifying.

We've had some really rubbish luck with tradesmen in the past, from getting ripped off for damp work that cost us thousands to have corrected, to having work done and parts stolen the next day. We've had old plaster poured down our loo and a thousand other disasters over the years, so we are finding it hard to be confident in anyone, but we are feeling pretty happy that we have found the right people to get started with it all, who can hopefully help us see it through to completion.

Having been burned before with house jobs, we've been careful to do our research a little more, we've done a lot of work on the house ourselves so are quite confident with what needs to be done and a lot more wise as to what to look out for, what questions to ask and when to run a mile.

So just last week the first step went ahead. We signed the contract to have the 'big' building bits done and paid our deposit. Since then, we've been measured up for the new kitchen, completely changed our design and realised that everything we like, typically tends to be the most expensive option. Working to budget, rebel cats and having no kitchen for a month should be our biggest hurdles, but after that time we should hopefully have what will essentially be a fully functioning kitchen, with an open plan new family room that we can use all year round. Exciting stuff!

Here's the before and after from when we moved in 9 years ago, having done a very cheap paint job and adding a few new handles. The arches really date the house, so I can't wait to have them widened and squared off.


Image result for wafflemama kitchen makeover


I knocked up a very quick and rough design on Photoshop of what we sort of have in mind this time round, though we will be having far less white and definitely not white work tops. We are going for a much more modern design than we first thought though as we want a huge transformation in the space as well as some decking etc outside to make the most of the longer length windows (we will have the decking going the right way though!). Big change!




This week we are going to meet with plumbers to sort the new boiler and it's relocation out the kitchen as well as some other plumbing issues we face with the new layout. Hopefully though, it'll all work out and not be quite as extortionate as we're worried it may be. 

Work should be starting in a few weeks if all goes to plan, so step one has been planning, finding fitters and agreeing on what we want and where - not an easy task but I've been surprised how well we've done considering we both want slightly different things from it. Luckily, we mostly have the same tastes and agree on all the big stuff - phew. 

Next time with part 2, hopefully the finishing details will all be finalised, we'll be having a big clear out and be almost ready to go. Watch this space!


Do you have any tips for coping with no kitchen for a few weeks?