The Long Kitchen Reno

 Our kitchen was getting a bit tired, with marks on the formica benchtops and the laminate peeling off  the draws.

I took these photos in May 2020

Examples of the laminate coming off.

I was worried about the wood underneath getting grease-spots

Fast forward - or rather slow forward to December 14th 2021. The builder was ready, but first it was the job of the painter, Hamish, who was painting the exterior of Young Nick's Head Station - which we all believe was the venue for Jacinda and Clarke's wedding, but a few wet days meant that his team could make a start. Getting out to Young Nicks is over an hours drive, so they were glad of being based closer to town.

All the drawers were removed, and the fronts taken away to be replaced

The stove was taken out. Oh no, quite a bit of debris

Fridge is gone

..but we were able to plug it in, in the lounge

Formica top to breakfast bar gone.

Taking off the fronts

It was all action and chaos, but the painters were very good. And we left for our Christmas Break on the 19th - hoping to come back to a wonderful new kitchen on our return. But there were still some things to be done by the builder.

Duncan does not like the new large square sink at all. I find it good for hiding dirty pans in. Also great for the roasting dish.

The colour scheme is still white, but with black handles this time. Phyl's Barcelona Olympics is on one wall.

My Middle Earth painting - which has a lot of Black in it is on the other wall.

This is the colour of the bench tops now. Theos feet would be a bit bigger than this now! That's his mark on the jug that Jackie made for us.

Got my cross-stitch (done by Jill) hanging above the door. A great gift, Jill.

The new rubbish bin and extra space for all the cleaners has been great

Apparently Waste disposal units aren't part of the kitchen scene now.

They put the handle on the wrong side - and then thought they could just turn the door upside down - NOT going to work!

So we had to wait a bit longer to get the pantry door done.

The carpenter wasn't nearly as good as the painter at cleaning up, so I still have some drawers to get the wood shavings out.

Just the bill to pay.