I thought I'd better update you on our kitchen reno. Things are progressing nicely - the builder has done a fantastic job getting the walls nice and straight, which is never an easy job with an old house. With the insulation in and the gib up, the plasterer then did his part. He has put the cornice up in the dining room, and will finish in the kitchen once the cabinets get installed. This weekend my husband, Mark, and his dad, Peter, have been busy painting the walls and ceiling in my favourite Resene Alabaster.
This week the floor boards will be sanded and polished. You can see in the pic below how there was a space between the kitchen and dining room with no floor boards (there used to be a sheet of plain chip board). The kitchen was a later addition, and the boards in the two rooms are different widths. We decided to make a feature of the separation rather than trying to disguise it.
Mark & I selected some recycled rimu boards and our builder, Glynn, lay them perpendicular to the other boards. I took inspiration from Emily Henderson who used brass strips on her kitchen splash back. After a lot of searching I found some bars of solid brass from The Littelmetals Company, and we're going to have them grouted either side of the middle strip of floor boards. I was excited when I saw this image (second below) on LeeAnn Yare's instagram page - this is what we're hoping to achieve, minus the marble.
The lights I've chosen for above our breakfast bar are a gorgeous mix of glass and copper - these are available through Bibby + Brady Interiors. Another touch of metallic will be introduced in the handles. Most of our cabinetry is handleless but these brass handles will be used on the bi-fold doors on the pantry and the European laundry. Although I got loads of suggestions via Facebook on where to get brass handles in NZ, I just couldn't find any I liked as much as the ones from Schoolhouse Electric.
This week the floor will be finished and the architraves will go on around the windows and door. Then next week we are scheduled for the kitchen to be installed - hallelujah!
If you look at these pics (below) it may not look like we've had much progress in our kitchen reno, but in fact we have. You can see the from these earlier posts that all of the old kitchen cabinetry has now gone. I no longer have an oven, a dishwasher, or a washing machine. I'm actually coping OK without an oven, as we have set up a mini kitchen in the living room with a microwave, kettle, toaster, slow cooker, and electric frying pan, and the BBQ is outside. But the loss of the washing machine with our family of five has hit me the hardest. Thank goodness for my Mum and Dad around the corner!
Last week our electrician, Davyd Auckram - Bay Cities Electrical, and our plumber, John - John Riggs Plumbing, were busy doing their part. They're both great guys, and I can highly recommend them - email me if you want their contact details. We also had our hot water cylinder removed and an infinity gas water heater installed, which did mean no hot water for a day - eek! Today the builder, Glynn Pritchard - GCP Construction Ltd, has started, which is exciting because it means we should have walls again soon. Next comes the floor sanding, and all the while our kitchen is being built by the talented guys, Rick Martin and his righthand man Ben, at Sunshine Joinery.
In my last post I was looking into our option for benchtops, and I can report back that we have chosen an engineered stone with a marble look. Now it's the tiles for our splash back that I'm trying to decide on. My first choice was a small marble hexagon tile, and I still love these, but unfortunately they may be outside of our budget.
I really love these cube tiles, but they're from an Australian company, which means shipping complicates matters.
These cube tiles from Tile Space are pretty gorgeous, but they only come in gloss and I was thinking of going matt. They looked great in Alex and Corban's Block kitchen though, so I haven't ruled them out yet.
There is a similar tile found at Tile Space which does come in a matt white, called Rhombus. It featured last week on the TV programme Our First Home, but you can see it's a lot bigger, and possibly too big for our kitchen splash back.
Perhaps this matt white hexagon tile is the one, it is, after all, the same shape as my first choice only a little bigger. If you're wondering why I'm not considering the good old subway tile, our cabinetry features wood panels (vertical lines), so I want to introduce a more contrasting shape in the tiles.
Here's another hexagonal option from Porteous Tiles which looks pretty fab in pink and red. Hmmm... what do you think?
I talk about this as our "kitchen reno", but really we're tackling the kitchen, dining room, and laundry all at once. It's pretty huge and explains why we're living in a mad house at the moment. Spare a thought for me with my dining table in our living room, our console table holding the mini make-shift kitchen, the pantry in the hall, the dishes in the bathroom sink, and now with the arrival of Cyclone Pam, most of our outdoor furniture has also been crammed inside. Good things are a-coming (I keep telling myself!).
Things are progressing in our kitchen demo. My husband Mark is one of those good Kiwi DIY blokes, and quite a handyman, so he is doing as much of the labour as possible. This includes removing the old kitchen cabinets, gib, skirts etc. He has to do this in the weekends as he's a bank manager during the week, but we're trying to keep the bare basics as long as possible - the oven (although I'm looking forward to saying goodbye to this old girl), the sink, the pantry, and one set of cupboards. Soon our builder will come in to insulate and put up nice new gib. We're really happy with the new kitchen plans, but we are still trying to decide on the bench tops, these are our options...
I've always had Laminate bench tops, but not this time. The advantage of Laminate is that it's the most cost effective option, but in our case it would be a bit like wearing jandals with an evening gown! Another reasonably priced bench top is stainless steel. This can look great, especially if you like the industrial look, but it's not quite what I'm after.
Natural stone (below) - marble or granite - is gorgeous, but is likely to be on the more expensive side. It's also quite unforgiving with knocks ending in breakages for your plates and glasses - not great when our kids are doing the dishes.
Engineered stone (below)is what I'm leaning towards. Caesarstone, Silestone, Prime Stone, Quantum Quartz etc are made up of approximately 90% crushed Quartz stone bound together by a polymer resin. They're known to be more resilient than marble or granite, and their non-porous qualities means that they're very hygienic. It comes in a wide range of colours, and I've found one that has a 'marble-like' look.
The other option I have been considering is an acrylic bench top - Corian, Kalon, Hi-Macs... These are made of acrylic resin and can be coloured and shaped as you like. They're generally formed in one piece, so are seamless, even if you continue it into the sink and as a splash back. It's easy to repair if you damage a small area, rather than having to replace, so lots of advantages. The only thing that's holding me back is that it can look quite "plasticy' and shiny, and can scratch more easily than stone.
Concrete is a cool industrial option. It can also be expensive, and can stain if not resealed regularly. I've seen some amazing examples of concrete benches, but it's not on the shortlist for our kitchen.
Last, but not least, I really like the look of wood bench tops. They're a nice way to introduce warmth and texture, and you can also choose a plywood, which is very cost effective. Because we have wooden floorboards, and some smaller wood touches in the kitchen, I'm wanting a lighter coloured bench, so we won't be going with wood either.
I will let you know when we make our decision, but would also love to hear your thoughts and recommendations. Do you have a bench that you love? If so, tell me all about it.
