You may remember that earlier this year we had our kitchen and living room refurbished. It was a rather stressful and drawn out process, and even though I was delighted when it was all finished, I never really got around to posting any pictures.
This afternoon our builder paid us a brief visit. He's had a whole bunch of flyers produced for distribution across London and wanted to show them to us. It seems our bathroom, refurbished last year, and our kitchen are on the verge of becoming famous. Yes, he's used photographs of both on the front of his leaflet.
Anyway, without further ado, here's what our tatty old kitchen used to look like. Please note the photos were taken after we'd pretty much cleaned the place out in preparation for the builder's arrival. You'll even note my little experiment in looking for the right paint colour for a feature wall. In the end, I didn't even bother choosing a colour, because once the new kitchen units were in place and the walls were tiled it didn't seem necessary.
And here's what it looks like now. We changed the layout a little, moving the sink and the oven, and maximising the benchtop space.
The benchtop is 40mm black granite, the wall tiles natural travertine, and the units white gloss. All the white appliances -- a slimline dishwasher, washing machine and fridge-freezer -- are all integrated. The oven, ceramic hob and extractor fan are all Smeg. The sink is an extra-deep Franke one that sits below the counter, the perfect size for scrubbing saucepans and roasting trays.
I have to say I love using this kitchen. It took awhile to get used to though. I'd never had a dishwasher before -- and struggled to operate it (salt? it needs salt? rinse aid? it needs rinse aid?). Similarly the ceramic hob, which is operated by touch, was very confusing, and the energy-efficient fan-forced oven, with its myriad functions, almost needed a degree in rocket science to use.
There's plenty of cupboard space too. You can't see it in any of the pictures but we have a large larder along one wall, which gives us almost twice as much room as our old one.
Finally, here's an overhead plan of the room that was drawn up for us by the cabinet supplier.
