Suggestions on what to do with my old kitchen

[Di1]

Hi there, I'm now thinking of my kitchen reno, having almost finished my tiny bathroom.  (Will post pics of the bathroom as soon as it is painted.)  Inspired by the makeover kitchen posted recently which now looks fabulous, btw, wondered if anybody could suggest a makeover for my old kitchen.  I am now on a very strict budget and so wanting to save as much money as possible but yet do the very best I can with it.  Here's a couple of pics of it.  The room is quite large.  I have an old wood stove in one corner and the picture of the kitchen sink and window just shows it on the left hand side.  I am wondering whether to have it removed and try and sell it and then take away the mantlepiece but that will cost money on its own!  Help!  Keeping it there means I lose valuable counter top space.  Any suggestions would be helpful, thank you.

  

[Di1]

Hi Rob - this was so helpful.  You people at Workshop are so generous with suggestions.  Your kitchen looks terrific.  I like your colours.  Good to see the older generation renovating, too (smile).  The only thing I've noticed about myself taking on this reno job is that I did plan to do a lot of the painting myself.  I've painted my last two houses before this one completely by myself with no problem but this time around, the rot is setting in, I think, and I can't shimmy up and done the ladder like I used to, darn it!   Re Bunnings, I did start off wanting to buy Bunnings kitchens but I kept driving down to Dubbo, the nearest Bunnings to us, and waiting sometimes hours for the one and only guy who deals with these things.  They are chronically understaffed and must miss so many sales!  I went down there at least four times with all the measurements but never got to see this fellow, whoever he was.  I phoned up first to make appts but each time he was either out or sick or some other thing had come up to prevent him being there (!)  I got fed up of him and then a few people started to contact me thru word of mouth to give me a quote but most of them made bespoke kitchens themselves and they were quite a lot dearer than Bunnings, I estimated, so I've finally found myself a good carpenter who hasn't quoted yet on the job due to me postphoning the kitchen until the bathroom was finished.  He said most tradesmen don't like Bunnings kitchens as they don't fit properly together or something but I think, too, when you are a woman, you get the runaround.  I hate to bring this up but it is a factor.  I think we're too polite (haha). Re cost, Rob, it sounds within my budget but would I need more cupboards than you?  I do have quite a decent sized kitchen.  I must measure the walls so that I can quote accurately.  Thanks, Rob, for being so supportive.

Di

[DIY-Rob]

Hi Di, regarding the Bunnings experience, we live in Dargaville NZ, our nearest Bunnings is in Whangarei 60 kms away and initially had a wait to even talk to someone but once I had and they explained that for kitchen planning I needed to book an appointment as they were very busy. I ended up doing about 4 trips before deciding on the final plan and ordering the kitchen. 

  We also did all the painting and repairs and finishing when we removed the old kitchen. Happy renovating.

Rob.

[Sue66b]

Hi I also have an old 60-70 yr old smelly musty kitchen very narrow cupboard limited space & to make matter worse the Pest man poisoned rats who were living under my house & they must of had a nest under my old wooden kitchen cupboards climb whole in wooden floor & kitchen sink pipe & have died in their nest, the smell is "awful" so off too Bunnings I went the Kaboodle lady was very helpful & showed me the cheap kitchens..

Go & get a Bunnings Kitchen catalogue Kaboodle, go to page-62 prices start from $2,008 if you want to paint your own cupboard doors, the nice melamine gloss white kitchen modern cupboards start  $2,398, there's a picture of the kitchen & what you get or google Bunnings Kitchens, the "Marquee Straight Line Modular Kitchen" is $798 then you have to pay for trades to fit kitchen Bunnings will arange this for you, thats what I'm doing I paid $99 a man is coming Tuesday to help me, then if I say yes I get the $99 off my bill..I've shopped around & Kabodle Kitchens are the cheapest..

Good Luck

[Jason]

Many thanks for joining in the discussion and sharing your experience @Sue66b. We're really pleased you could join us and are sure you'll find our members area always sharing helpful information, advice and inspiration.

We look forward to reading more of your posts soon. Please feel free to post whenever you need a hand with anything or have something to share.

Jason 

[Di1]

Hi @Sue66b  - Hi there!  First of all, love your floor, beautiful timber.  I love your colours, too.  Now, re the Bunnings cupboards, I am going to make a concerted effort to pin this elusive Bunnings 'designer' down who can plan my kitchen for me and give me costs. I will take ropes and handcuffs with me.    I think I moaned on for quite a while about not being able to contact him (although it wasn't through lack of trying) and I more or less washed my hands of Bunnings because of that but you guys are making me think I should go back and try again.  Perhaps the 'big rush' for kitchen design in this area has abated and I can make an appt like a civilised person and get things done!  It's really all about distances around here.  It is over 200ks ea way to Dubbo Bunnings, the nearest one.  Your problem with the rats sounded very interesting ... yuk!  Although having said that, who knows what I might find once I start the job.  I do know that when they did the bathroom for me and took the old cast iron bath out (which they had to cut in two), they found that whoever had done the bathroom originally had removed the floor boards and poured a concrete floor right down to the ground and so removing old leaking pipes out of that was a real problem.  The house is quite high up, too.  I wouldn't mind painting the new kitchen cupboards if I find it too expensive to get stylish ones.  That is something I CAN do myself.  I now have two big jobs to do - one is the external painting of the house which I've been holding off till spring but my trusty painter, Ken, will do that and I have a really reasonable quote for that - $5,900!  I'd like him to do the awnings outside as well which would be extra.  They are really rusty at the moment and need oiling so I can lift them up and down and he doesn't mind doing all those things.  He gives me a lot of good advice but I don't like to take his time up too much.  I have 7 awnings outside.  The other big job is the kitchen.  The guy that did my bathroom for me says he is booked up till November so I will ask him to come and give me a quote once I decide on the cupboards.  Then the other thing which I am worried about is preparing for another hot summer so I need to investigate getting three more awnings on windows that get a lot of early morning sun.  I have three aircons and need to buy one of those portable aircons that you put a pipe outside the window for the small living room.  I will then have done as much as I can to combat the heat.  It was almost 46 degrees for days on end last year here (and the nights were equally as hot).  It is a real killer.  The trouble is that having a fibro house, the fibro heats up until you can hardly hold your hand on the wall by about 11am.  The house next door have ripped theirs off and have had the whole house recovered in Permalum because they said they couldn't stand the heat, either.  I'd love to do this but just couldn't afford it.  Well, I'm getting my light fixture up next week and then will post photos of my liittle bathroom!  Cheers Di

[Jason]

Hi @Di1,

Hope you are well.

Just wondering how your project is going? It would be fantastic to get an update as this is one of the most popular discussions on the site this year.

Feel free to post anytime you need a hand with anything, and we are really looking forward to seeing what you've been up to.

Many thanks,

Jason

[Di1]

Sue, thanks for the suggestions.  I've had to wait months in order to get a proper quote from the carpenter re my kitchen.  I've finally got one last week.  However, he's now off to the UK for Xmas and says he will be back at the end of January - ho hum!  Anyway, I'm going to have to say no to this quote.  It's lovely and would I love to have it as is on the plan but I have other things to do as well so have to rein things in a little.  The quote for the carpenter is reasonable, I thought - $4,800 all up.  However, the kitchen cupboards and extra work around the old fireplace has been quoted at $14,000!  I can't do this and to be honest living in this small country town, I would never get my money back if I sold the house in a year or two.  It looks gorgeous, I have to admit.  Anyway, when Mark comes back from hols, I will tell him the news and ask him to give me a much simpler plan.  It's very difficult as there are so many cupboards on three walls - the plumbers here are very expensive and I would need him to put in a new sink and move it up a little - so one minute I have the perfect plan and the next, I can't think what to do.  Bunnings is more expensive still!  I've checked with them.  I'm still waiting for the painter to paint outside my house - I've phoned him many times and he keeps saying it will be done for Xmas but it's now the 9th December!!!!!  I feel like telling him not to bother but there's hardly any tradesmen around here and they all know it, too!  So I'm having problems and fed up having to deal with men all the time who think they can say what they want.  It's def a man's world out here.  If I become nasty, I'll probably be blacklisted or something.  Renovating in such a backwards place is really difficult.  I wish I'd never attempted it.

[Di1]

Jason, I've just put in a reply from Sue about  my kitchen plan.  I'm all disillusioned at the moment - need a new plan or an adjusted plan.  Will have to gather myself together again.  At the moment, I feel fed up about living in a town that is so lacking in almost everything and also being woman trying to renovate around here is not easy!!!

Di

[Jason]

So sorry that you've become frustrated @Di1. I'm sure the ever helpful and encouraging community that we have here can lend a hand. 

What can we help you with?

Perhaps @redracer01 could have a go at updating his original ideas with a lower budget in mind? 

Jason

[Di1]

Hi Jason, well, in one way, I wish I had my old kitchen back again.  It was small - little horseshoe shape - and it didn't cost much to redo.  This room is pretty big and it's got kitchen cupboards, top and bottom all around the walls - then the fireplace - and in one way that is part of its value.  Most people would think - oh, nice big kitchen - I did, too, but to replace all those old decrepid cupboards - they are past painting - very narrow, made of masonite - this is where the cost starts to explode.  Then, flooring, then painting the walls, then change in plumbing because the sink has been put at one end of the cupboards instead of in the middle.  It's all going to cost.  I'm thinking of painting the cupboards but they in such poor condition.  The other thing is that everything around here is more expensive than in the city.  I will go away and think and think and think!

Di