It's on. The kitchen facelift began on Thursday, with the demolition of the dreadful booth. This morning the stove and sink have been disconnected, and some new cabinetry has arrived. We're keeping most of the old cupboards, except the most damaged. But that dreadful tile benchtop is to be covered up with shiny new manufactured stone.Tip for any kitchen renovators: tile benchtops are a really, really bad idea. No matter how cute and funky they look. The surface is uneven. The grout becomes very dirty. They tend to lift in wet areas. Wiping it down is a chore that takes much more attention than a simple flat surface. OK, so some of those problems are from the crappy installation that characterised a lot of this house when we bought it. But the grout cleaning problem is not going to go away even with the best tiling job.
There will be a lapse in cooking for some unspecified time. We do have a toaster, kettle, coffee grinder and microwave set up in the bar, so we won't have to eat out for every meal. We also have fridge or freezer leftovers: pasta and potatoes, sauerkraut, pesto and shredded Carolina turkey. Possibly we could eat out of the microwave for a week. But the washing up would get to be a problem: the bar sink is tiny.
2 comments:
We have plans afoot for house extensions, which include changes to our kitchen (which is perfectly nice, if somewhat beige, but lacks storage space and a decent stove). It may also include some renovations to our bathroom. I have one major brief - "GET RID OF THE TILES!!".
I am OVER tiles. Or, rather, grout. Who thought grout was a good idea?? It holds grot for long after the tile itself has shed it, and creates mould. The tile stays white - the grout goes pink/grey/black/green/basically, nasty. Why on earth is grout so damn textured??
I've discovered resin and glass. Looooong sheets of smooth, flexible, colour-able, untextured material which makes excellent shower recesses, stove splashbacks, and probably benchtops.
Not cheap, of course. Ohhhh no.
But SMOOTH. And cleanable. EASILY cleanable. No need for scrubbing on one's creaking knees with one's painful wrists. Spray'n'wipe would do it. WINDEX would do it. Heck, soap'n'water would do it ...
OK, so stainless steel is probably more in my price range. Now I comprehend moulded plastic shower recesses and stainless steel kitchens ... if they'd just invent another colour for it apart from grey!!
GOod luck with the renos!! If you need to run away for a weekend, we've got LOTS of space and fresh eggs and warrigal greens and cabbages and kaffir limes ...
We've still got tiles in the bathrooms, though...
The stone look is good - and many colours are available. We have white in the kitchen and are looking at black for the bar. You must come and look!
The manufactured stone comes in very thin sheets, and it can be used for splashbacks as well as benchtops.
It's this lot: http://www.granitetransformations.com.au/trend.html
Post a Comment