Tuesday 23 February 2016

Kitchen Re-Furb (1)




Another even more photo-heavy post! Three years ago we had new kitchen units installed. This was the first time we've ever had a "proper" kitchen, as until then Jim had built all our units - and very good they were too! However, I'd been desperate to have a pantry, despite the kitchen being too small to make room for one, so we decided to push the boat out and buy some units from a well-known DIY store. I've spent many happy hours creating meals here, but lately the Rayburn has not been cutting the mustard for me - when the wind is in the wrong quarter it frequently blew out leaving us not only without a cooker but no heating as well. Also, I was really missing having a gas hob. The Rayburn was 20 years old, time for it to go.


Getting it out of the kitchen after the gas man had disconnected and drained it, was a major undertaking. We are eternally grateful to my niece Dena, her husband Stephen and their son Jack who all worked like Trojans to get the Behemoth out of the kitchen and into the garage.


The living room took on the look of a junk shop! I kept forgetting where I had temporally put things I urgently needed!


    The single induction hob came in very handy for keeping the meals coming!

Jim and I cleared the kitchen- mostly into the living/dining room - and set to work moving units, painting and waxing shelves, painting walls and preparing for the cooker to arrive.





I painted the shelves and plate rack pale blue, as I've got a colour mix going on in the kitchen, greeny/stone units, green and pink and blue bits and pieces… kind of a miss-mash really, but I like it!


We moved the unit (which Jim made years ago) from the left to the right hand side of where the cooker will be and I'm waiting for a trolley to go in its place. While we wait, I've got a work top balanced upon two (washed!) "workmates" which Jim brought up from the garage.


All my spices and dried herbs will be going on a big spice rack which (ahem) I'm designing and Jim will build for me. It will be placed on the little window-sill which looks into the dining room. Until then, this worktop is a trifle cluttered. The jugs containing utensils will be going on a shelf behind the cooker.


So, I have a functioning kitchen - sans cooker - which is amazing compared to how we've managed the last four days! You will have to wait for Part Two, as the cooker is made to order, apparently, and will take 4 weeks. Ah well, good things come to those prepared to wait!  See you next time!


8 comments:

  1. Love the units and the painted items. Guess our ancestors were used to only cooking with one pot, it is obviously still lurking in our genes somewhere:)

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    1. It actually is no problem, I've cooked on all kinds of ovens/ camp fires/ hay boxes in my time. It is a bit limiting though - there won't be any roasts or casseroles or anything which require multiple pans for a while! On the other hand…. there may be a few more meals out!

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  2. Lynne, your holiday looked amazing, so lovely to catch up with you family, I'm not sure how I'd cope if my girls lived that far away! Good luck with the kitchen, I'm sure it will all come together really well...now where's those summer house pictures?! ;) xxx

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    1. Hi Amanda! Yes it was great, but happy to be home now. Apart from the weather of course! The summer house has really one into its own while the heating has been off - we've had some really sunny days and the summer house is really warmed by it - glorious sitting in there, radio 4 on, book or crochet in hand, coffee at my side, Jim poring over gardening mags over his side of the room…. we love it! It will really get a lot of use.

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  3. Love that kitchen sink! It's going to be so nice when you get it all done. You'll be in there all the time!

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    1. Thanks Linda - I love my Butler's sink! I'm in here a fair amount as it is, but when the cooker arrives…. I shall be cooking up a storm! Wait for lots of foodie posts in future! Lx

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  4. Hello Lynne, Your wait will be well rewarded . . . I'm looking forward to part 2 of the installment. In the meantime, your sink and the cupboards and counter-tops around it are so charming. I love that sink and the huge bright window above it. Does it look into your garden? I enjoy doing dishes, and I can't understand people that buy a home that doesn't have a window above the kitchen sink. After all, we spend a lot of time standing there looking out.
    Have a lovely day!
    Connie :)

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    1. HI Connie, yes, getting very excited, and, you know me, waiting is not my forté! But there's lots to do, deciding and re-deciding where rings will go, re-organising this and that, painting this and that… I'm not sleeping too well at the moment as my mind is so active with ideas. Yes, our kitchen looks out over the garden - you can just make out the corner of my sewing room to the left of the window. Lxxx

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