Hi @woolfj,
Many thanks for joining us on Workshop. This is a fantastic community full of helpful and experience renovators, so I'm sure you'll get some great advice and inspiration for this project from our members.
It would be helpful though if you told us a little more about what you might like to do with your kitchen renovation and an indication of your budget. Do you want to just do a budget refresh and focus on improving the cosmetics? Or do you want to remove everything and start again?
I immediately noticed that your kitchen is very similar to one in a house that Bunnings purchased and renovated from top-to-bottom.
Here's a before shot:
And an after shot:
There's a handy before and after slider here (as well as links to individual projects for achieving the look) - https://www.bunnings.com.au/diy-advice/kitchen/makeovers/fresh-start-kitchen
And you can find more inspiration here - https://www.bunnings.com.au/diy-advice/kitchen/makeovers
Hope that helps get you started.
Jason
@woolfj
How big is the laundry behind the kitchen? Would you consider removing that wall and incorporating the laundry with the kitchen to give you more floor and wall space to work with? European laundries hidden behind cabinetry are becoming more and more popular.
Most helpful Jason - unfortunately our kitchen is narrower than this one & 2 doorways
Is it a single story home @woolfj? I wonder whether you could remove the window and replace with a skylight? That would mean you could add a lot more cupboard space.
Would you consider removing the window @woolfj? It would be a shame not to be able to look out the window while you're washing the dishes, but it would help with the lack of storage space. Skylights can be a fantastic option.
Perhaps you might like to share a sketch of your house layout. I think you should consider removing a wall or two. Kitchens are such a key room in the house these days and yours does currently look a bit tight. It would be a shame to spend big money on a reno and then still be unhappy with lack of space and/or storage.
house plans attached - garage has been converted to living area so lounge/dining/garage is one big open area now (the plan attached needs to be mirrored if that makes sense!!) Laundry faces north. Yes the kitchen is a tight area thats why I'm looking for ideas. Want to move the kitchen bench as close as possible to the dining room window
Love a good reno challenge!
I would certainly be investigating removing walls as you could really benefit from opening up the space, both for the kitchen/living area and bedroom 3. You have plenty of room for a good sized kitchen and a large island bench. I would put aside the idea of a formal dining room - most families don't use them anymore. Much better to have a flexible open space that includes the kitchen.
Thank you. Will have a good look at this idea - one problem is the dining window is too low for the kitchen bench to go across underneath. WIll have to get advice as to whether the removal of the kitchen/lounge wall is a weight bearing one or not. Please keep the ideas coming.
Changing or replacing the windows would not be a big deal @woolfj.
In fact you could do something like this which would be very effective:
Thanks for sharing the layout. Fantastic that you took that wall down and reclaimed the garage as living space. I do reckon you should go a step further and open it up further so you have more room and options for the kitchen. Even if you don't plan on staying in the house forever it should pay dividends when it comes to selling.
Hi Jason - are you able to give me the dimensions and a plan of the kitchen etc that Bunnings purchased and then renovated please. It looks a little wider than ours and thats my problem.
@woolfj,
I will ask the team what they have and get back to you as soon as possible.
Thanks,
Here's the specs for the replacement kitchen that Bunnings team members installed. It utilised products from Kaboodle.
Hope it helps.
Thankyou Jason - I've tried using that program but I'm not savvy enough or something....... will keep trying
Just checking in to see if you have made any progress on your kitchen project or if you need any assistance with anything? It would be great to get an update from you.
This discussion has been one of the most visited on Workshop this year. There are obviously a lot of 70s kitchens out there in need of renovation!
By the way, we inherited a 70s-era kitchen when we bought our current home. Here's what it looked like:
You can see what we did with it here - https://www.workshop.com.au/t5/Kitchen/What-would-you-do-with-this-kitchen/m-p/411
We've recently kicked off another discussion about renovating a 70s kitchen that you might like to follow - https://www.workshop.com.au/t5/Kitchen/Kitchen-Renovation/td-p/21803
Hope all is well,
Time to make some hard choices. I suggest removing the breakfast bar and the cabinet next to it and putting a pantry where the microwave is currently placed. I suggest the biggest you can fit in. If theres nothing next to the fridge I suggest a breakfast nook where the microwave can live in. This does 2 things, it eases the flow of traffic into your kitchen. No more bumping into each other. You automatically gain more storage space. If you buy a split pantry with drawers its a win win situation. Send me the dimensions of the kitchen and I'll sketch it for yah. Oh and draw the size of that laundry as well and well see if theres anything we can do about that. Cheers! My apologies should have clicked the next page duh!
House plan attached - garage has been converted to living area without any walls into it. The plan actually needs to be mirrored but havn't found a program as yet that will do it and the figures!!
Hello @woolfj,
Here are my suggestions. Please note that the drawings attached are not to measure and are for idea/illustration purposes only.1. I suggest using flat pack kitchen systems, makes it easier and a lot cheaper than custom made kitchens. Remove the small breakfast bar. By doing that you open the kitchen up and it makes it easier for people to come in and out and there is no awkward dance who goes first or people bumping into one another.2. Move fridge to where the microwave currently is. This will provide you with the opportunity to place a large pantry and a mid sized one next to one another. This configuration I've made for maximum storage. Under bench microwave and the breakfast nook is now on the right.3. Remove that orphan wall cabinet and turn it into shelves. Easier on the eyes and does not distract from the over all look. But even this re-arrangement looks so tight and crowded. I suggest looking at configuration 2. Its so much more open and gives your kitchen good flow.
Front with fridge moved to left side from original spotRemoved existing pantry and placed new pantry set and cabinet set as new breakfast areaNo more single cabinet, yes the golden brass gold fish can stay or was it koiThis shows you where the fridge would go. Not the best layout but gives you maximum storageThis is configuration 2. I swapped your fridge and your cooking range positions. added a pullout pantry next to the fridge and an appliance nook to park the kettle and toaster.Cooking range side maximizes cooking and prep space for those big meals. No more pushing for bench top work space.Even more bench top space and you get wall cabinets. This is the new breakfast area.
Wow - thank you so much. I've had numerous kitchen people here to give me ideas and quotes but they have all just redo what we have already even though I've asked for more storage and bench space plus their ideas......WIll ahve a very good look at this now.
