Renovating Rookies: How to Renovate a Kitchen

The Kitchen Renovation was definitely the biggest part of our renovation process. We started the process in September and it wasn't finished until January. One of the best piece of advice I could give about the kitchen is to START EARLY!

We thought about a number of options for the kitchen renovation, including buying flat packed cabinetry from Bunnings or Masters. The quality looked good but it was the start of our renovation process and didn't trust that we had enough skills to be able to put it together and for it to look professional. We ended up going through Good Guys Kitchens and had an initial meeting with an interior kitchen designer which was really helpful. She measured up everything and helped us plan the layout and design of the kitchen. Final plans are below.

The original kitchen had a half pantry wall in the middle of it, with black slate floor and beaten up cupboards.
We ripped everything out and drilled up the slate flooring so that we had a blank canvas to work with. The before photos don't show how bad it actually was but you get the idea.

Before

After

1. Allocate your budget, decide how much you have to spend on the kitchen remodel

2. Look at what you absolutely need to replace - eg. benches, flooring, appliances etc.

3. Do your research on how much things will cost and add them up in your costing spreadsheet. See budgeting template on the budgeting post.

4. Decide if you will do the work yourself by buying a flatpack kitchen, or hiring a kitchen renovation company to plan and install.

5. Designing the kitchen is the next stage. If you hire a kitchen renovation company they will usually come to your house to measure and design on the spot. This is useful as they know the standard measurements for how much room you will need between the fridge and the bench so that it opens properly, how much room you will need to leave to be able to fully open drawers etc.

Going with the flat pack option is still a good choice for those who are confident that they are going to measure the kitchen up to the correct exact measurements.

6. Remove the existing structures, cabinetry and appliances that you don't need. Be careful with plumbing and electrical equipment. Turn off both the water and the electricity before you start to get at it with a crow bar.

7. Delivery & Install, it can take several weeks before this stage happens which is why my first piece of advice was to start early. For flat pack install you will need to discuss this with the company that you ordered from, but there are a number of great DIY tutorials on youtube and bunnings website for how-to install flatpacks.

Tips & Advice

One of the biggest questions we had when starting was whether we should lay the floorboards first or install the cabinetry first. There is a lot of differing opinions online, but we went with cabinetry first, as our kitchen installer advised us that we would waste less floorboards by installing around the cabinetry and it ensures that your floorboards have room to expand and contract (which happens in the heat). It also minimises the risk of scratching the new floor when installing.