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Lightness of being

rescuerabbit, at 12:13pm Wed 28th June, 2006

Oh boy can I agree with This article!. We embarked on a kitchen reno last year and I was true to my scottish heritage, I wanted it all done for $5,000 or less and it had to include the Laundry. Our kitchen had an old 1980's wooden cabinet and brown laminate benchtop in a 'u' design that had a small kick toward the fridge. It is entirely possible to open cupboard doors on opposite sides of the kitchen hand have them touch! so space is a premium. Firstly my husband ripped out the corner bench that was blocking the natural path of the eye and travel. What a change just this made! We were then committed to finish the job. Shopping at one of the Salvage centres that have opened up we found a beautiful wood & black granite butchers block 1.2 mtrs long and for under $250.00! we even got 20% off as we paid cash. We bought 2 free castors and 2 locakable ones and installed them on the bottom of the block. This now enables us to move the block around, or even puch is down the hallway when entertaining, (The five of us live in a 10sq house!). Next we pulled up all of the layers of lino, tiles and masonite on the floor and set about removing abuot 35,000 nails!. It was murder on our knees but saved us over $1,800.00 on getting someone else to do our floor. A frind works at Bristol so she brought over an external wood restorer and we set abuot experimenting in using it indoors. It was a bit of trial and error in neutralising the acid with borax, and at one stage the floor turned grey (eeek!) but another stripping and we were in business. If only you could have seen us high pressure hosing the floor right out the back door.. we had a ball! Finally when the floor was dry, we sealed it and moved the dining table back into the kitchen from the lounge. My cabinet maker was able to keep our base cabinets, all I needed was new doors and panels. I did get made wall cabinets, which I had never had before , as well as a floor to ceiling deep cabinet in the laundry as my pantry. Next was my bench tops. I decided that as my laminate was "Tuscan Wash" and I wanted my butchers block to blend the wood with ultra modern, I went with Black Granite. The extra expense was well worth it, and I have a fully sealed kitchen surface that cleaning is a breeze. I ordered a 80CM lofra S/Steel gas/gas stove as it was the same internal cooking space as the 90cm, and $$ saving, I bought my range hood at a sale and got a Westinghouse 90cm SS pull out range for $123.00, and then later I got a beautiful Grey cabinet Stainless Steel fringerprint proof Maytag Fridge at less than 1/2 price from a 2nds store. Voila! new kitchen, new laundry, new appliances and all on a budget! Next on the list is the Bathroom, and it will be on a tight budget as well!

Vilia, at 11:35am Fri 14th July, 2006

Wow! What a story! I am looking at replacing my kitchen. I have the old benches that are not the standard depth, a double sink & double drainers, and a stove and oven that sat ontop of my benchtop! hardly any space to prepare food... I have had several qoutes for new cupboards ($4500 to $5500) so I cant match your reno cost of under $5000. I thought about flat-packing, but it looks too hard. My greatest fear is inaccurate measuring of the kitchen so my cupboards dont fit! ANyways, love to read about your bathroom renovation ideas too!

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For more great home ideas, pick up a copy of the July06 issue of Notebook: magazine.
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