Revitalizing our home

[NikonNellie]

I just wanted to share some before and after images that I took of our much needed kitchen renovation and new floating floor.

My hubby and I have been saving for some time to do up the house now that the kids have moved out. Each time we thought we had saved enough, something would crop up, such as visiting our son in England and doing a couple of trips while we were over there. We didn't want to raid the money saved for our retirement. Anyway, we finally had the money so we managed to get the renovations done as soon as I started my holidays (school holidays). Most of it was done in the week prior to Christmas then we had to wait for the tradies to go back after their break to have the glass splash back and the range hood installed. It is all now finished except for a few minor paint jobs. Hubby and I are absolutely thrilled with the result, especially not having the old carpet - my nose is thanking me for the change.

Here are the results. I wish I had taken some before pics of the lounge room with the carpet laid to show you the dramatic change how it opens up the room.

Cupboards arrived.

_DSC4574-Edit by Nellie_56, on Flickr

Before

_DSC4103-Edit by Nellie_56, on Flickr

Afters

_DSC5126-Edit by Nellie_56, on Flickr

_DSC5127-Edit-2 by Nellie_56, on Flickr

_DSC5132-Edit by Nellie_56, on Flickr

_DSC5133-Edit by Nellie_56, on Flickr

_DSC4717-Edit by Nellie_56, on Flickr

[Kym]

Cool - I'll have to visit!

[Debra Faulkner]

That looks great, Narelle. No carpets is one of our 'house philosophies' so even though I haven't seen the 'before look' I can certainly appreciate the new flooring and how it has opened up the whole area. The glass splash back is very chic! Just be very careful though if you are going to use a glass lidded fry pan - my sister-in-law had a lid explode, the shards and other parts fortunately just missing their glass splash back. The new bench tops are going to be fun to use too!

[Mary Anne]

Wonderful Narelle lovely light colours looks like a dream of a kitchen to work in, where have you hidden the dishwasher..
Like your floors, no tiles or carpet in our house either Tassie Oak floorboards right through.

[geoffsta]

Looks a lot more functional Narelle. I love those big draws...

[Greeny]

Now you're cookin' Nellie ... enjoy!!

[NikonNellie]

Thanks for your lovely comments guys.

Dislikes:
*I am still getting use to the cooktop - finally bought a scraper today to get rid of any spills. I struggle at the concept of scraping glass with a razor blade but that's what you do.
* The shine on the benchtops and cupboards shows smears very easily but then on the other hand it is good that you can see where you need to clean.
*Still trying to get use to opening two doors to get to my pantry shelves rather than one.
*Having hubby ask me everyday where kitchen items are located.

Likes:
*I am loving the big drawers and being able to arrange cookware in the drawers in a more functional manner, e.g having the saucepans right near the cooktop, plates in a drawer right underneathe the bench space that I serve food on.
*Love, Love, Love that I don't have the louvred doors anymore - real dust collectors
*Love having a range hood again - it has been so long since I had one that I forgot to actually turn it on tonight when I cooked dinner.
*Love, love, love the new floors - they feel wonderful under your feet and so easy to keep clean. Takes me 15 mins to dry dust the whole house. When I wet dust I am not standing squeezing out the mop all the time. I can wet the mop head thingy, wring it out and then mop. Repeat it a couple of times if need be.

Did I mention that I am really loving the changes!

[Maezyra]

Oooh!! Pretty swish!! I see what Nanna... or was it Aunty Sharon...? were talking about! Oh, how I'll miss those louvered doors (NOT!) - They must have been a bugger to keep clean, especially with two boys! It looks very elegant and dreamy. I wish my kitchen even looked 1/10th as good as this!

[mongo]

very nice abode Nellie. Mongo can see himself parked in your kitchen and lounge (which , for you, he will do without charge).

you will love the ease of the glass splash backs. Mongo used glass splash back when renovating his cave nearly 15 years ago when they were still only commonly used in offices. Has never regretted it.
and you won't either.

[freelancer]

Great looking home.
Jon

[NikonNellie]

Thanks Erin, Mongo and Jon for taking the time to look and comment.

Erin - I certainly won't miss the louvered doors in the kitchen, unfortunately There are still some in the hall way to the bedrooms but they don't get as dirty as the kitchen ones. I did suggest to Uncle Jerry at the time of the renovation that we should replace them but he was thinking $$$$$$ instead of practicality.

Mongo - I am sure we will meet one day but I don't know if it's going to be in my kitchen/lounge even if it's free of charge. I don't think I am going to regret the glass splashbacks - I only have 2 joins where the dirt/grime can accumulate instead of the numerous one I had with the tiles. The only negative thing is that the surface is very reflective which is not a good thing when I want to use the kitchen as a backdrop for photography.

Jon - the house is about 36 yrs old now so I think it scrubbed up very well.

[Maezyra]

LOL, yes, I can imagine him being concerned with that. How exciting for you!!

[Maezyra]

Hang on! 36 years old?! Wow, it's ancient... (Sarah Jane is 36 years old, this is a friendly dig at her!)

[bricat]

Well done. It is always good to get some new "stuff". May I suggest for cleaning ceramic cooktop Cerapol cooktop cleaner and then Ceraseal cooktop protector. Apparently not cheap and available from Bunnings and probably other stores but boy does that cleaner really work well. I was surprised at the amount of crud cleaned off after it had already been wiped. I have no association with any of the above etc etc. It also goes a long way so works out not too expensive. I think for the tip of the week my wife and I should be invited to the first Sunday roast. hehehehe cheers Brian

[NikonNellie]

Thanks for the suggestions Bricat -I had already purchased the Cerapol cleaner but haven't found the Ceraseal yet. I am finding it a little frustrating how smeary it can get with a simple wipe over from a chux superwipe. I have purchased some microfibre cloths which work quite well at getting rid of the smears.

[Glenda]

Looks lovely NN. We replaced our carpet with a floating floor a while ago and never regretted it. Kitchen is next on our to do list and I can remember what horror louvre doors were to clean also. If hubby doesn't want to spend the money tell him to DIY and replace the remaining doors. It can't be too hard, just watch one of those TV reno shows and see what they do in a week

[ricktas]

reno looks great Narelle.

[NikonNellie]

Looks lovely NN. We replaced our carpet with a floating floor a while ago and never regretted it. Kitchen is next on our to do list and I can remember what horror louvre doors were to clean also. If hubby doesn't want to spend the money tell him to DIY and replace the remaining doors. It can't be too hard, just watch one of those TV reno shows and see what they do in a week

Thanks for looking Lplates - I don't think we will ever regret replacing the carpet. We keep asking ourselves " Why didn't we do it years ago". My hubby is NOT a handyman, so replacing the doors by him is not an option.

- - - Updated - - -

reno looks great Narelle.

Thanks Rick - we are very pleased with it. Looks like we won't be going OS for awhile until we can work our butts off and save some more money.

[antony]

Very nice kitchen.
I like the rangehood especially. It looks easy to clean (the top part of it).

[NikonNellie]

Thank you antony - we are very pleased with the neutral colour as we don't think it will age very quickly. The rangehood is very easy to clean - a quick wipe down when you have finished cooking. Tje top metal bit can be cleaned once a month with the same wipes you use on the metallic looking fridges.