I need to redo our kitchen. Later this year it will be thirty years since we put in our current kitchen (though we’ve had appliance changes), and it needs updating, even though my friends tell me it still looks good. (I’m pretty sure they would tell me if it didn’t!) Fortunately kitchen trends haven’t changed enormously in that time. But the resin benchtop is disintegrating, and some of the cupboard door edges are looking a bit knocked about. Aside from the issue of colour choices (so hard to make), I’m also thinking about how much space we actually need, and how to better utilise the space we have. The largest part of our bench space is unused – we have a large fruit platter on it, and tend to put our recycling there until we throw it away. Whereas the workspace I use most (between the sink and the stovetop) is smaller and often feels a little cramped. And there’s the added complication of symmetry – the sink sits perfectly under the window (it has a beautiful view of our deck, cabbage trees, and camellias), and it would seem wrong to move it!
I hate to throw things away, and the pandemic has accentuated my food hoarding tendencies, introduced them in the Husband, and created shortages of favourite items (so we bulk buy when we can). This means we have way too much packed into two large pantries, but won’t starve if we have to isolate! They’re squeezed into the laundry next door, that now doubles as a laundry/scullery. I’d like to see if I could integrate this room with the kitchen.
I want to have an appliance cupboard to tidy everything away off the bench. I still use the microwave (although we need a new one), and don’t mind that being public, but want to hide away the bread bin, toaster, and electric jug. Though we use these every day. If I could squeeze in the food processor, blender, handheld mixer and cake mixer it would be perfect, but I think that’s stretching the bounds of reality. Oh, for a Tardis kitchen!
I’d love a double wall oven, but I think that’s impossible given my space constraints. However, just writing this has got me thinking about the possibilities. However, it would mean I wouldn’t get to have my much-loved pull-out pantry, that has all my basics – the sauces, oils, flour, sugar/honey, couscous etc. And that’s one of the best things about my current kitchen. I don’t think I’m prepared to give it up. Unless I move the fridge. No, that would be impractical. You see the dilemma?
A few years ago my sister and her husband installed a new kitchen at their house. She – bravely, to my thinking – left it to her working-from-home husband when she was working full-time. Her kitchen looks fantastic, and there are parts of it she loves. But she lost storage space, and she didn’t have a huge amount before that. I could never relinquish kitchen-control like that! I recently looked (cursorily) online at prices for new kitchens, and I was truly horrified. Instantly, I calculate how many overseas trips (or months spent overseas) that would be. As always, I think compromise is going to have to be key. Sigh. Oh, for the lotto win!
What are your favourite kitchen features that you couldn’t possibly give up?
A Separate Life 
Moving sink AND window is VERY expensive. Could you move other items so your main work area shifts to where you now have the fruit platter? If you moved what is which cabinets would that change your habits (a lot cheaper than moving windows.) Ignoring 30 years of habitual patterns isn’t easy but any new kitchen takes adjusting…..Other thought is pullout breadboard increasing work space OR a breadboard that covers 1/2 sink when you are doing kitchen things that do not require a full sink……
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Oh no, I don’t want to move the window! That’s the dilemma of the positioning of the sink. And yes, the breadboard that covers the sink is very handy! But yes, I need to think about other options. I just don’t want to have to pay too much for structural work.
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My kitchen would shock you. I have never had a dishwasher.
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I don’t know how you cope! I bow to your awesomeness.
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Storage space is gold! 😉 The kitchen in our condo had more of it than pretty much any other unit that we looked at. That said, it IS a condo, so the space is limited. One thing I like is my cupboards go all the way up to the ceiling. On the one hand, I need a stepstool to reach items stashed on the top shelves (generally the stuff I don’t use very often), but on the other hand, no grungy cupboard tops to clean off while balanced precariously on a ladder or the countertop…! I also like having a counter overhang — we have a couple of bar chairs there. They don’t often get used, but the extra seating space does come in handy once in a while! And I like that the kitchen opens to the dining area/living room, so I can see everything that’s going on while I’m in the kitchen, and vice-versa.
The kitchen at our old house was the original — we bought the house when it was about 7 years old and lived in it for 26 years. Over the years, we did do a few small things: ceramic tiles on the floors, new light fixtures and new wallpaper/paint, and we replaced some of the appliances. The cupboards were kind of dated and the insides were in pretty rough shape, and I debated doing a complete overhaul… but oh, the mess to deal with!! By then, we were starting to think about moving anyway, and while I knew a reno would add to the value of the house, i didn’t want to spend all that money (and go through all that headache!) and not get to enjoy it myself! So we did a bit of a facelift (which was stressful enough!) — we restained the cupboards and replaced the handles, added a tile backsplash, new light fixtures and paint, and we replaced the ventilating fan over the oven.
I know some people who keep their cupboards but paint them or have new doors/veneers put on. Also, countertops are fairly easy to replace (my parents have done theirs!).
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I’d love cupboards right to the ceiling. At the opposite end, a friend had kick-toe drawers – at the very bottom of her kitchen, for trays etc. Brilliant idea I thought. I think it will be a facelift in the end. But that might take years to get around to, at our current pace!
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