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The project:
When it came to the kitchen renovations, we wanted a look that would flow beautifully throughout our home. A transformation that felt like a calm oasis as soon as you stepped into it and focused on how to expand and existing space working within current perimeters to keep the budget down!!!
We transformed our dated 90s kitchen into a bright, contemporary culinary haven by removing the awkward raised breakfast bar, we opened up the space to build a grand central island finished in deep olive green with custom shaker paneling. High-reaching white cabinetry maximises storage in this space, which was our top priority for a previosuly small kitchen space. We hope this insired the bunnings community.
- Materials:
To create a cohesive feel through all spaces, we created depth and 'flavour' by playing with a mixtyre of different textures including brick, wall panelling, white kit kat tiles by Bunnings. We also used the pop of a very specific green to be the feature to create the 'calm farmhouse' feel! Which paired nicely with a shaker profile on the cabinets.
- Tools:
- Ryobi 18V ONE+ Drill and Impact Driver Kit
- Purpose: Assembling flat-pack cabinetry, installing soft-close hinges, fixing handles, and securing base units into wall studs.
- Ryobi 18V ONE+ Sliding Mitre Saw
- Purpose: Cutting precise 45-degree bevels and straight joints for architraves, skirting boards, and decorative panel moulding on the island.
- Ryobi 18V ONE+ 165mm Circular Saw
- Purpose: Trimming filler panels, kickboards, and cutting timber flooring to size.
- Trojan 1200mm Box Spirit Level
- Purpose: Leveling overhead cabinets, ensuring the kitchen island is plumb, and double-checking benchtop alignment.
- Craftright 600mm Quick-Grip Bar Clamps
- Purpose: Clamping adjacent cabinet carcasses together tightly so they stay flush while being screwed into place.
- QEP Notched Tile Adhesive Trowel
- Purpose: Spreading tile adhesive evenly across the splashback wall before laying the vertical kit-kat/finger tiles.
- Sellers 300mm Heavy Duty Pry Bar
- Purpose: Demolishing the old benchtop, stripping out old cabinetry, and lifting old tiles and architraves safely.
- Monarch Caulking Gun
- Purpose: Applying silicone sealant along the benchtop joins, tile splashback borders, and internal joinery edges.
- Ryobi 18V ONE+ Random Orbital Sander
- Purpose: Smoothing plaster repairs on the walls, sanding timber shelving, and prepping surfaces before painting.
- Monarch 75mm & 50mm Wall Master Paint Brush Set
- Purpose: Cutting in around the ceiling, splashback, architraves, and custom green island panels.
- Step 1:
- Out With the Old: Bye-Bye 90s Kitchen!
We kicked off the project with the most satisfying part—demolition! We stripped out the old dated cabinets that had been there for 20 years, ripped off the wall tiles, and knocked down that awkward raised breakfast bar right down to the studs and subfloor.
2. Calling in the Pros (Plumbing & Sparky Magic)
While we love a good DIY, we happily handed the baton to the licensed trades for this one! They shifted the water lines and drainage for our brand-new island sink and dishwasher, and ran fresh wiring for our dream pendant lights, hidden appliance tower, and island power points.
3. Flooring Fortunes: Laying the Foundation - this one takes patience people!
We prepped the subfloor with sound-reducing underlay and tackled the new click-lock floating timber-look flooring across the whole open-plan space. Safe to say, getting those floorboards perfectly aligned was definitely trickier than it looks on TV, but so worth the effort!
4. Assembling the Skeleton
It was time to channel our inner builders! We assembled row after row base cabinets, overheads, and full-height pantry towers, getting everything perfectly level and clamped tightly together before anchoring it all securely into the wall studs.
5. Custom Olive Island
The island is the heart of our new kitchen! We set the base cabinets and wrapped the sides in stunning shaker-style paneling to give it that high-end architectural finish before we prepped it for paint.
6. Benchtop Magic
Next came measuring, precision-cutting, and placing our bright stone-look benchtops onto both the main cabinet runs and our statement island. Watching the custom cutouts for the undermount sink and sleek drop-in cooktop fall into place was a total "pinch me" moment!
7. Tiling Time: Vertical Kit-Kat Style
Trowel in hand, we combed out tile adhesive along the main splashback wall to lay gorgeous white vertical kit-kat (finger) tiles. A bit of careful spacing, neat edge trimming, grouting, and sealing gave us that textured, modern backdrop we were dreaming of!
8. Adding Color & Character
Paint day! We primed and painted the walls, ceiling, and trims, then brought the island to life with a rich, gorgeous olive green tone. To top it off, we built out warm timber floating shelves in the pantry alcove and added stylish black door handles.
9. The Bunnings Hardware Touch
No DIY transformation is complete without the hardware details! We installed modern black pull knobs (a fantastic Bunnings find that tied the whole color scheme together) across all our white upper cabinets and lower drawers for a crisp, high-contrast pop.
10. The Grand Finale: Fit-Off & First Coffee!
We hooked up our sleek black pull-down tapware, wired up the appliances, hung the feature white dome pendant lights, and neatly silicone-sealed every single benchtop edge. All that was left was to put the coffee machine in its new custom nook and enjoy the space!
