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Ideas for another 1970's kitchen

Hi Everyone

We would appreciate any ideas you might have for renovating this 1970's kitchen.

Budget is limited so anything significantly structural is not achievable, but are looking at replacing the cupboards, sink and splashback if needed.

House plan is attached and some rough measurements are indicated on the plan.

We have an existing oven that is 1000mm wide that we plan to incorporate into the kitchen and have a fridge freezer width of 910mm that will not currently fit into the 860mm space.

The window in the meals area is 580mm from floor level so we can't utilise the space in here without replacing a window and bricking up the space. The existing fridge space of 860mm and pantry space of 1700mm are bricked in.

Looking for ideas that might re-configure the existing space and fit both the oven and fridge into the area.

Any thoughts are most appreciated.

Thank you🙂

Kitchen/Meals Kitchen KitchenKitchen, Fridge, PantryHouse Plans

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Jason

Welcome to Workshop @Seventies. It's wonderful to have you join us. I trust that you will receive loads of helpful advice, information and inspiration for your projects from our helpful members. There's certainly plenty of people who love a good 70s renovation project, including reno expert @2Belindas, so there will be no shortage of members jumping in to this post.

Feel free to post whenever you need a hand or have something to share. We're really looking forward to seeing how this project takes shape.

Have you also seen these other discussions?

Ideas for kitchen design to renovate old 70s kitchen

What would you do with this kitchen?

Kitchen renovation

What would you do with this 70s kitchen?

Thanks for joining in the discussion,

Jason

MartyH

@Seventies

Do you want to keep the dining room? Do you know if the wall is structural?

There's some advice here from @BIM_Engineer that might help if you're not sure - https://www.workshop.com.au/t5/Whole-of-House/Structural-Wall/m-p/17132

Seventies

Hi @MartyH

I'm not yet sure if the Dinning wall is structural. We do have the same issue with the Dinning window height which like the Meals area is 580mm from floor level.

We are probably budget limited from structural wall and window revamps - but would still appreciate any thoughts you might have.

Thanks!

Seventies

Thanks for the reply @Jason

I had seen some of those posts - some great ideas in them, which will we try and incorporate.

Thanks!

RenoQueen

@Seventies

Are you planning on living in the property? Or renting it out? Or selling it soon? Each scenario will obviously affect the decisions you make and your budget.

If you were planning to live there, I'd do the absolute minimum until you can afford to make the significant changes that you need to make it a wonderful home. The sink, benchtops and cabinetry look fine, you just need a new oven and cooktop (remove the cabinet that's below and replace with a standalone) and paint the tiles. Then it would be perfectly functional.

To install a modern kitchen, you really do need to perform structural work - changing the windows and opening up the dining room by removing that wall, and ideally also the walls between the kitchen and lounge so all the living and kitchen/meals area is open plan.

Seventies

Thanks for your feedback @RenoQueen

We are planning to live in the home. And yes you are right - it might be better to wait until we have the budget to make the structural changes and just make if functional, clean and tidy for now.

Thanks!

MartyH

Let us know what you decide to do @Seventies. I doubt that window alternations would cost too much so that might be a first step...

redracer01

Hello @Seventies

Looking at your kitchen it seems to me based on the size of the cooktop and sink these are non-standard sized benchtops and cabinets. Please note that the drawings I have attached are not to measure and are only to illustrate possible ideas.

1. I suggest removing the whole kitchen and replace with flat pack systems. There are dozens of colours to choose from but as you are on a budget I suggest gloss white. ( easy to clean and maintain )

2. Keep the footprint. Not only does it save you from having to re-tile or go tile hunting. Makes it easier becasue the new kitchen will occupy the same space.

3. Remove the old splashback tiles. They were "groovy" in the 70's, but we need to modernize it. I suggest polycarb splashbacks easy to install and very tough. I leave the colour choices to you.

4. Dishwasher. This is a lifestyle choice. I've drawn it with the dishwasher but you can easily put a cabinet in that space instead of the DW.

5. The appliances stay where they are. It saves you money for having to pay the trades to move plumbing facilites and power points all they have to do is reconect them .

6. I chose a timber bench top as it is warm and inviting. Again the choice is yours. I have seen timber top prices at around an average of $199.00 for 2200x600 in some stores. But if you know a friend of a friend you could get a better deal.

7. Wall cabinets always add more storage space and it finishes off the look. Rangehood is a pullout one and you can set those to recirculation so no need to vent it out.

8. I increased the size of the benchtop ( breakfast bar ) near the dining area this should provide you with more space for breakfast, snacks, meals and 2nd breakfast. Oh and I turned the cabinet around at the end of the corner so that you can access that from the other side. Shame to waste that space.

Okay last suggestions. Colour all your window trims, cabinet trims near the area in white. Paint the louver doors to your pantry in white. Just put a fridge cabinet on top the fridge or some open white shelves to finish it off. Oh and change the light fixture to something else. Something round and big to promote good feng shui. When its all over grab a cold one and don't worry about for another 20 years.Cook top sideFront view DW side DW sideThere's that reveresed cabinet

Jason

Wow @redracer01, fantastic work. I'm sure @Seventies is so appreciative of all the time and effort you have put into your response here.

Looking forward to seeing more of your contributions to Workshop soon. Thanks again for joining in the discussion and sharing your expertise.

Jason

Seventies

Many thanks @redracer01 for the ideas and the huge effort.

The kitchen looks great!

The increased size of the benchtop is a great idea and one we were thinking of incorporating and thanks for the suggestion of the additional cabinet in the corner to access from the other side. We hadn't yet planned that idea in and Storage is always an issue!

Appreciate your thoughts and time.

simone_mears13

Personally. start with the tiles and cook top.If the carcasses are good, utilise them as much as you can , if you wish to add, go to a cabinet maker with your plans and get them made in flat pack. Don't touch kaboodle or chinese board, total garbage.Get quality fittings. If you want push to open or soft close, get Blum only. cabinet maker can pre drill on a CNC machine. Change the checkered grill on the windows for perforated mesh, not hard to change for the diyér. If you have abn, hit the likes of wilson and bradley , nover or titus tekform and see what they have.

Jason

Many thanks for joining in the discussion @simone_mears13 and a very warm welcome to Workshop. We're pleased you could join us and look forward to reading about your own projects and plans. Please post whenever you need assistance or have something to share. And do let me know if you ever need a hand getting the most from the site or have any feedback about how we can improve Workshop for you.

Thanks again,

Jason

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