Renovating a VERY small 70s kitchen

Here is your laundry.

All comments

Welcome to the Workshop community @FHBNewZealand20. Congratulations on your first home and what an exciting time!

Was there a floorplan of your home which you could supply us with so our helpful members can make some detailed suggestions? Some basic measurements of the space would really aid in the discussion.

Also, what are you wanting to achieve out of the kitchen apart from removing the wall and a kitchen island? Would you like more storage space and cabinetry? More benchtop space? Breakfast bar?

You might be interested in seeing what the @MakeItYours team achieved on a reasonably small budget renovating a kitchen and dining room of a small house.

We look forward to seeing where the discussion leads.

Mitchell

Can I ask for current measurements of the area please. Perhaps a sketch on paper where everything is located and where exactly is that laundry located in, in relation to the kitchen. Thanks!

Red

Jason

Hi @FHBNewZealand20,

Just wanted to extend my own congratulations on your new home purchase. This must be such an exciting time for you!

Welcome to the community. As you can see, we have loads of helpful members here who are always more than willing to share their experience and knowledge, as well as their creativity!

If you could share some dimensions and a floorplan it would really help members to provide specific advice to you.

Looking forward to seeing what you can do to transform your new home (with a little bit of help from the Workshop community).

Welcome,

Jason

Looking at your pictures I suspect that your current kitchen is not using standard cabinets and is not standard depth either. The cabinets and bench tops I've used for your plans are all kaboodle flat pack standard. Please double check the wall sizes as I've only eyeballed it based on the pictures you've attached. You'll notice that I placed shelves near the range hood instead of cabinets. This is to keep the feeling of size in the kitchen area and keeps the cost down. This is a 7 cabinet combo with a timber bench top. I hope you find the plans useful and it gives you inspiration for the possibilities. Simply bring these pictures to any Bunnings store and they will be able to quote you the cabinet price and bench top cost. Good luck on your DIY and stay safe!

Cheers,

Red

Jason

Great stuff as always Red.

Looking forward to seeing what you think of the designs @FHBNewZealand20.

Jason

Wow, this is so helpful!!! Thank-you so much. Yes, you are correct - all our drawers/sink area etc are not standard size so would like to pull them all out an start again.

I really like everything you have designed here. We will get into Bunnings Asap!! Very excited - and very impressed with your work here.

What/where would you suggest we could add a dishwasher? Also, our pantry is awful. It's deep and not functional and can only be accessed from face on.

Here are the specs and a rough drawing.

Thank-you for your help.

https://www.bunnings.co.nz/hanwood-2-64m-6mm-marina-sand-hybrid-rigid-vinyl-plank-with-2mm-eva-foam_p0099290

Hello!

Great questions.

Here is a rough drawing of the kitchen.

I forgot to mention that we want to re do the entire flooring too! We currently have awful chip board flooring and would like to replace the entire kitchen and lounge's flooring with one of these 4 styles from Bunnings.

https://www.bunnings.co.nz/euro-home-8mm-2-69m2-colorado-oak-laminate-flooring_p8902055

https://www.bunnings.co.nz/hanwood-2-64m-6mm-pearl-oak-hybrid-rigid-vinyl-plank-with-2mm-eva-foam_p0099287

Floor plan drawing/measurement

https://www.bunnings.co.nz/hanwood-2-64m-6mm-marina-sand-hybrid-rigid-vinyl-plank-with-2mm-eva-foam_...

@redracer01

Hi Red,

Here is an updated sketch with the laundry position attached - ignore my terrible scale.

Please note we would also like to plan to re do the flooring in the kitchen and in the lounge simultaneously.

As above/below, we currently have awful chip board flooring and would like to replace the entire kitchen and lounge's flooring with one of these styles from Bunnings.

https://www.bunnings.co.nz/euro-home-8mm-2-69m2-colorado-oak-laminate-flooring_p8902055

https://www.bunnings.co.nz/hanwood-2-64m-6mm-pearl-oak-hybrid-rigid-vinyl-plank-with-2mm-eva-foam_p0...

Thank-you.

Below are the revised designs for your kitchen, laundry and pantry. I would probably go with the hybrid vinyl plank ( either color ). It saves on having to buy underlay as it already has it. The number one reason is that it is waterproof! The first drawing I sent you does not use the entire space. This next one does and I only added 2 cabinets to it, just to take up the extra space.

Fridge :

In order to make the plan work we are going to have to move the fridge to the other side near the ranch slider. If the inbuilt pantry door is there we will have to close that off and move the opening to the other side as shown in the drawing. I suggest removing the door in the middle of your kitchen it does nothing but make the space look smaller. As far as the laundry and pantry doors go I suggest turning them into timber louvered sliding doors. This facilitates easier access and allows air to circulate in these small areas. If you ever buy a dryer make sure to put an exhaust fan in the laundry to remove all the excess moisture it will generate. I hope these drawings help and inspire you to think of the possibilities. Good luck with your renovation and stay safe!

Cheers,

Red

FHBNZ1full size1.jpg FHBNZ1full size2.jpg FHBNZ1full size3.jpg FHBNZ1full size4.jpg FHBNZ1full size5.jpg

Here is your laundry.

Hi @redracer01,

Many thanks for your revised designs, I'm sure @FHBNewZealand20 appreciates your expertise and time you've contributed to the project.

I'm looking forward to seeing this kitchen and laundry come together.

Mitchell

Hi Red,

Once again, I love your ideas here. We both agree that you've hit the nail on the head with the flooring, laundry, the pantry and the new position of the fridge.

One final discussion that I would love your input on. What if we were to

- Add the dishwasher where you have currently added the oven and stove top ( we are desperate for a dishwasher!)

- Knock out the wall in the middle of the kitchen (Picture attached - it is not load-bearing) and put a wider island in (60cm out from where the current "island" bench top sits) that serves as an element/oven (or dishwasher and keep element/oven where currently is in your plan) and prep-bench and place for people to sit with bar stools out the other side

- Keep range top where it is and let that be the sole item hanging from ceiling (or move 60cm out, closer to lounge, to accommodate newly positioned island - which would mean we can keep current wiring as is and just make a new hole in ceiling closer to current position) Picture to show extra space - if possible wider bench could extend out under window

Drawing of adjustments below

What are your thoughts?

It can work, however there are a few things in this layout that have few issues.

Dishwasher : It can go to the other side where the oven/cook top use to be. However by moving it to this location you will need to extend the inlet hose or possibly have more plumbing added to accommodate the distance from the source of water. You will need to extend the outlet hose to accommodate for the extra distance. It is now 1 1/2 steps away from the cutlery and dish drawer.

Oven/cook top : Every time you fry something it will splash to the other side of the bench top. No one can sit in front of the cook top while you are cooking as it becomes a safety hazard. Children cannot be allowed to sit close to this appliance while it is active or if the cook top glass is still hot. It is for all intents and purposes not ideal. However, it looks great!

If we were to move the cook top to my original suggestion the electrician would not have such a hard time wiring it up as the fridge power point is already on that wall. It all depends on the type of cook top you get, an induction cook top will need its own dedicated wire and fuse. So moving the power cable is not a great expense. Moving the ducting from where it is now? Not a problem, the floor distance is roughly 3 1/2 meters, by adding 3 meters of ducting you can link up with the original exhaust outlet from the new position. It may be even less depending on the conditions in your ceiling. Because of space limitations we can longer put the center table in the center of the remaining area. Whenever I design a kitchen I like to keep in mind the running cost of moving things around. The dishwasher for example can be hooked up with the default hoses and tap that come with it. There will be no need for any extended fittings.

Your oven/cook top though moved is in a much safer place and has a better working space than the original position. The power point is already there and just needs to be modified by the electrician.

The center table can become mobile, you can add castor wheels to the island and just swing it into place should the need arise ( see last drawing at bottom ) so you still get that island look you were going for. However you decide, please make sure to ask not just Bunnings but friends and family. It's always hand y to have second opinions. But the final decision is yours. Good luck, stay safe!

Cheers,

Red

By adding castor wheels to the island you can move it around.

Help! We have followed through with purchasing a Bunnings Kaboodle kitchen with the plans/help from previous contributors (thanks guys!) and it's arriving in a few weeks. However, the pantry idea that was proposed isn't going to work due to the hot water cupboard flanking the space of our pantry. So the current situation, we are moving our fridge to the space in front of our current pantry door (there is no where else to move it - kitchen very small) so we are now left with needing to take the current pantry door off and essentially move it 90° and reframe it on the other wall (we will take the hallway door off to avoid any "bumping in to each other" nightmares). What I am struggling with, is having to pay quite a bit of money to move the frame and door without noticing any functionality improvement (the pantry is deep, dark and non functional).

I would love to hear your expert ideas on what other options we have as they were so helpful last time. Thanks in advance.

Hi @FHBNewZealand20,

It's fantastic to hear you have committed to the renovation thanks to the assistance of @redracer01's designs.

If the pantry is currently non-functional and once the door is moved still won't be functional then you'd need to consider if there is any worth in having it at all. If you were to put the cost of having the door moved and the existing hole patched towards removing the whole pantry it would both open up the kitchen and provide better access to the laundry. I would then also suggest removing the bulkhead above the corridor door and having a full ceiling height transition into the kitchen. Obviously, this would be more of a cost than simply moving the door but the benefits could be worth it.

Let me mention @redracer01 so he is alerted to the situation as he might have some other advice.

Mitchell

I am glad you decided to go with Bunnings! If I could ask please, would it be possible for you to post the final plan you went with. I am very curious to see as to what you and your partner have decide to go with. I hope that the designer at Bunnings gave you excellent service. As to your pantry :

1. You could have the whole thing demolished and have that area re-plastered and put a proper 900 mm standard pantry in its place.

2. You could leave that door there and paint it white and just ask the builder to build you a new door on the other side as per my drawing, so you save money by not having that old pantry door removed.

3. Bite the bullet spend money on the transfer of the door. Have proper LED lighting placed in so that its not so dark and deep. Use pull out basket shelves ( the nice ones in stainless steel ) that will really Jazz it up.

4. You and a mate could probably do it yourselves.

Instead of having a hum drum boring pantry it now becomes the spot of best interest. Think of it this way, I know that the expense seems unreasonable, but it only happens once. If you get through this and keep the budget intact you will have the kitchen that you want and not a compromise. It will be a reasonable expense as it will correct the mistake that was made the first time that the kitchen was designed.Once the build is complete and the kitchen looks immaculate you will wonder why you even complained about the exorbitant fee they asked for that pantry renovation. We have to keep the big picture in sight. If it is within the expected cost and does not blow out the budget then continue.

You could always ask the builder for a discount or instead ask for an extra favor that you don't have to pay for. You don't ask, you don't get. Still won't budge? Get a second and third quote from an independent handy man. ( for example : Hire a Hubby, Air tasker, etc.. ) There is no shortage on services currently on offer. ( Please note that I only mention these names as reference and is not an endorsement )

You can have it put off if circumstances dictate until such time that you can afford the door transfer. I haven't steered you wrong this far, I need you to trust me a little bit further. Keep the final goal in mind and that is to have a beautiful new kitchen with everything as you planed it. Good luck and take care!

Cheers!

Red

UPDATE!

Firstly, a big thanks to everyone who contributed here, particularly @redracer01

I'm delighted to share the final result. Many of your ideas and suggestions were used.

After pics attached. We still can't believe this is our house given what we started with.

Jason

Congratulations @FHBNewZealand20, so pleased to read that the Bunnings Workshop community provided helpful assistance with your renovation project. It looks wonderful.

Enjoy,

Jason

What an absolutely fantastic transformation @FHBNewZealand20. You must be thrilled with your efforts and result. Your room's styling is also on point, and I love what you have done with the space.

Well done, and I look forward to your next project.

Mitchell

What a beautiful transformation! I'm just glad I could throw in some suggestions to your renovation. I'm sure your efforts will inspire other readers who are thinking of doing the same thing. Just wondering on the budget side how much did you set aside for this renovation? It will give our readers a better idea of what they might be in for should they wish to do something similar. Thank you so much for posting the updates and I hope you enjoy your newly renovated home for many years to come.

Cheers,

Red

Hi,

Yes, your insight was so helpful! We are beyond thrilled with the final result.

Sure! Our total cost for the kitchen repair and reno was $24,400. Keep in mind we had to repair the damaged floors (from a kitchen leak). This cost includes removal of fireplace, floors in kitchen and living area, unexpected repairs to our sunken ceiling etc. We were able to save in some areas by doing the demo and painting ourselves.

If I could do it again, the only thing we'd try do ourselves is the Kaboodle assembly. That was quite expensive, however we were time poor and are not great with kitsets!

Hello @FHBNewZealand20

Thank you so much for the insight. This was money well spent as the transformation was exceptional and was very comprehensive as it included your floors as well! It is a totally different house from when you started!

Cheers,

Red

thistles

I joined a local woodworking group and one of our newer members has joined because she wants to do a Reno. This way we will learn skills as we go along. Good luck!