Kitchen makeover

[tom_builds]

I recently completed a renovation of my in-laws' rental unit. It's a third floor one-bedder and the whole place was starting to look tired, dated and a bit grubby. In particular, the kitchen had very little bench space and a horrible old freestanding gas oven/stove combination. 

To begin the reno the old lino and carpet was ripped out and I installed a water resistant laminate flooring to the kitchen, living and bedroom areas. This was my second-time installing floating laminate floorboards and I love how easy and quickly they come together.

Once the painting and floors were complete, it was time to update the cabinetry. We went for a kaboodle kitchen set up ordered through our local Bunnings. I found that the kaboodle planner tool was pretty easy to use and it allowed us to print a list of all the pieces we needed to order. The cabinets went together reasonably easily, I did have to cut two cabinets down to size with a circular saw as the space I had to work with was slightly smaller than off-the-shelf dimensions would work (I have since realised that kaboodle will make cut to measure cabinets, which I will be trying next time)

Once the cabinets were in I had an electrician and plumber install the oven, stove top and water connections. The final tradie job was to have a tiler retile the splashback with subway-style mosaic tiles and black grout. To match the benchtop I also used a small slotted gum panel to reframe the window sill.

 

(the fridge has been relocated to opposite the end of the island bench) 

As this project was done around my full time work it took 6 weeks of weekends and after work time to complete the whole unit, but it was a really rewarding experience. 

If anyone has any questions about the specific materials I used or more detail about how I went about it I'd be happy to answer them 😃

[EricL]

Hello @Nighty,

There is no greater feeling than realizing that you can do this tiling project. Saving money is a plus but it also becomes a great learning experience for you and those around you. I recommend planning and organize your steps, do practice runs on your benchtop to give you a feel for the task. Arm yourself with information and observe those who have done it before. Sometimes the best way to learn is to get your feet wet. Not only will you gain a skill, but it will also give you the confidence for that next remodeling project.    

Here is a link to one of our most inspirational makeovers Laundry makeover - first-time reno. 

If you need any information about your tiling project please let us know.

Eric

[jaga]

I think it looks great.

I'm interested to know if you kept track of total costs? And if you did a comparison of what it may have cost if you didn't DIY?

jaga

[tom_builds]

Hi @jaga,

Thanks for your feedback 😃

I did keep track of the costs of this reno, however as I was renovating the whole unit I can only estimate the proportion of plumbing, tiling and electrician costs involved in the kitchen. The complete unit was renovated for a little over $16,000 (plus my time spent on the project ~75 hrs). The materials and appliances for the kitchen cost just shy of $6,000 and I estimate about $3,000 of the trades cost would have been allocated to the kitchen totalling around $9,000. 

I haven't considered trying to figure out how much it would have cost if I had paid a builder to complete the works rather than DIYing as much as possible but I would be interested in doing some research about that.

Hope this helps.