Welcome to Part 2 of my Kitchen Renovation series. As you’ll see in Part 1, I decided it was better to break up my kitchen renovation posts into parts for various reasons as outlined within the Part 1 post.
The kitchen renovation involves taking out the original 90’s kitchen (which you can see in Part 1) and replacing with a new kitchen. The footprint of the new kitchen will basically be the same as the old, with a few little tweaks along the way.
Before it all started, the contents of the old kitchen cupboards had to be cleared out and packed up. I decided what we would need access to and moved that to our makeshift kitchen in a corner of the family room. The rest got packed into boxes and stored in a back room. We also took the handles off the original kitchen cupboards as I quite like them and think I might re-purpose them.
Buckle up and get that scrolling finger warmed up and ready. This post looks long but it’s mostly photo’s. There’s a fair bit of scrolling ahead! All photos are phone photos. Please excuse some of the poorer quality ones – grainy and dark – generally taken in a hurry and often on dark, cloudy days in poor light. If I had my good camera and tripod out the tradies would have thought me quite mad, not to mention the clutter and trip hazards that were everywhere. Better quality photos in future posts – promise!
Here’s some snaps of our makeshift kitchen which was set up in the corner of our family room. It actually worked quite well. Washing up was done in the laundry tub. In the third photo below you can see the large clear plastic container where we would put dirty dishes, mugs, glasses etc to be carried to the laundry for washing up twice/day.

Washing up in the laundry tub
So let’s look at how the schedule has been around here lately!
Day 1 (Friday)
- Delivery of cabinetry & appliances.
- Demolition + Disconnect by Electrician and Plumber

Bye bye old kitchen! It’s all happening. Cupboards removed. Plumbing and electrical being disconnected. Demo in full swing!

Loving the look of the raised island bench being gone already!

Bye bye old broken hanging rangehood and ghastly green laminate! Goodbye old crusty oven!

Original kitchen be gone! Notice that some of the wall had to be cut out (to be replaced) as the tiles were glued directly to it and couldn’t be removed.
Day 4 (Monday)
- Install of new cabinetry and bulkheads

New Cabinetry (new piece of Gyproc installed) and bulkheads. Notice hole above windows where powerpoint has been removed. The nearby hook hanging from the ceiling was later also removed. Also note the wider fridge space and the tiling that will need patching. As you can see we’ve chosen WHITE cabinetry in a traditional style to match our house. What you won’t see in this photograph is the slight wood grain to the cabinets. The ugly venetian blinds you see will be going and will be replaced by something much nicer hopefully!
Day 6 (Wednesday)
- Plasterer does the new cornicing

Plasterer doing the new cornicing. He very kindly patched up the holes from the removal of the powerpoint and hook above the window area for us also.
Day 7 (Thursday)
- Tiler tiles the new gap created by widening the fridge space as well as a gap created by slight change of footprint in dishwasher space.

Excellent job done on the tiling in the extended fridge space. Note the skirting board is now too short and will need to be replaced!

Excellent patch up job done on the tiling for the dishwasher space. A slightly different footprint meant a gap which needed patching. Unfortunately I can’t find a before photo to show where it was done.
Day 8 (Friday)
- Templating is done for Caesarstone Benchtops
Day 14 (Thursday)
- Caesarstone benchtops installed

Caesarstone benchtop installed under windows

Caesarstone benchtop being installed in cooktop area

Island bench being installed. It was very heavy!
These are not very good photo’s. They were taken quickly with my phone on a dull and cloudy day. In these photo’s the benchtops are covered in a plastic film and are dusty! I will take some photos with my ‘proper camera’ for future posts and you will see them in their true glory! In the meantime, I can reveal that the benchtops are Caesarstone Oyster. You can see it at the link in the sentence before this one or pictured below (a sample from the Caesarstone website). The colour actually looks different depending on the light. I didn’t want an all white kitchen as I felt it would be too stark for our house which is not a brand new modern home. I wanted to add some warmth. I love the concrete look benchtops that Caesarstone has now but they are expensive and also their low reflective matte surface finish is more susceptible to showing everyday marks and spills meaning more regular cleaning maybe required, SO I felt that this lovely Oyster was a fabulous alternative! I am picking up on the darker flecks in this stone and incorporating black accents in the kitchen which you will see as we progress through the reno posts.
Day 15 (Friday)
- Reconnect and Install of appliances by Electrician and Plumber. Kitchen becomes functional but not complete.

Electrician reconnecting electricity and new appliances go in – oven, cooktop and rangehood. He also installed new powerpoints, kindly removed two downlights and installed two new pendant lights over the island bench for me.

Plumbers reconnecting the plumbing and installing the new tap. Tada – see my new pendant lights! (and the holes from the removed downlights)

Plumbers reconnecting the plumbing and installing the new dishwasher.
Day 18 (Monday)
- Templating for Splashbacks
Day 28 (Thursday)
- Install of Splashbacks

Smoked Mirrored Glass Splashbacks being installed in the kitchen
From Day 16 we started to move back into the kitchen. We were partially back in the kitchen and partially in the makeshift kitchen for quite some time. On Day 30 (Saturday) we moved the fridge back. We are now fully moved back into the kitchen, though still have some boxes to sort through and upack. I am putting a lot of stuff aside for my daughter to go through and what she doesn’t want I will be giving to charity.
Within the next 2 weeks we have:
- A painter coming to paint not only the new bulkheads and cornicing but all of the kitchen and dining room areas, including the ceiling. We will have to move the fridge back out, not to mention all the other furniture that will have to be emptied and moved out of the dining room as well. Chaos again, but hopefully only for 2-3 days this time.
- A tiler coming to fix a floor tile that got broken through the process.
For the next post I’ll run through all the new appliances and reveal what they are, including the gorgeous new kitchen sink, the tap that I adore, the oven, cooktop, rangehood, dishwasher and my new pendant lights!
Right now though, I’m going to enjoy my new kitchen until the painter comes and chaos will reign again!
Ciao for now,
Link up here at WOTM or with another of us in the Lovin’ Life Linky team:
Leanne of Deep Fried Fruit | Kathy of 50 Shades of Age |
Deborah of Debbish | Jo of The Hungry Writer – Joanne Tracey.
It doesn’t matter where you link up as it will magically appear on all five blogs.
26 Comments
Love your food station – almost like camping! And that caesarstone looks great. Looking forward to the after pics & post.
It was like camping – probably a bit more indoor glamping! lol Well we did have the luxury of electricity, a fridge etc.
What a beautiful transformation! I love the White cabinetry you chose and that Caeserstone bench top looks wonderful! Enjoy your new kitchen!
Thanks Ingrid. I love the white cabinetry and Caesarstone bench tops too. You’ll see it better in the coming posts where I can use my DLSR and get some proper photos!
You’re so well organized with the temporary makeshift kitchen. The tradespeople seemed speedy and efficient, too. The cabinetry and bench top look very nice. Look forward to the after post and pics.
The temporary makeshift kitchen worked so well! I had plenty of time to think about how I would do it and I’m pleased with how it worked out. It wasn’t too hard at all really. I look forward to showing off my new kitchen with some nice photographs in upcoming posts! 🙂
Wowza!! I need to show these to my hubby. We are in the process of repainting our kitchen cabinets, and he’s not a happy camper. Could you imagine if we had to have a whole different kitchen for all of this?? No way!!
But your new cabinets look amazing!! It all looks so fresh!!
XOXO
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
We have a lot of painting ahead of us too Jodie. Decided to get a professional to do the kitchen/dining areas but the interiors of the rest of the house need to be done too and that will be done by us (probably mostly me). I’ll be watching the professional like a hawk to pick up some tips!! 🙂 xo
What a difference, Min and I’m sure you would agree the inconvenience is worth it. You will be auditioning for My Kitchen Rules or Master Chef next! xx
The inconvenience has been most definitely worth it Sue. I will NEVER audition for My Kitchen Rules or Master Chef – I couldn’t handle the stress they endure! LOL xo
looks great! Such a difference. We’re contemplating redoing a bathroom, but we keep putting it in the too hard basket. Ughhh.
We have two bathrooms that need doing too Chris. Kitchens and bathrooms are sooooo $$$$$$ unfortunately!! It was all put in the too hard basket for ages here too but finally bit the bullet! 🙂
Oh, I love the splashbacks and benchtops! It would be so exciting to renovate (well, have someone to do it for you). I’m doing it for some work stuff but it’s not the same when you can’t choose stuff to your own taste – plus I need to buy wipe-able sofas etc….
I’ve never built a place from scratch or renovated for myself but I’d love to have control over my ‘final’ house!
I’m so glad you like them Deb. I’m looking forward to sharing some proper photos that show the kitchen in its true glory in coming posts. It is exciting but surprisingly, a bit stressful at times too! This isn’t my forever house but like you, I’d love to have control over the features/details in my final house too! It’s lovely to have things to your own taste! 🙂
It looks as gorgeous as I expected it to Min and you are going to be in kitchen heaven for a long time – it will make you smile every time you look at it. I love those dishwasher drawers. We had one in our last house and it was such a breeze to pack and unpack. Also smiled at all the superheroes installing your stuff – batman and spiderman particularly!
Thanks Leanne. I’m not sure how you can tell with these dark and grainy phone pics but I’m so glad you like it! You’ll see it better in coming posts. I adore the dishwasher drawers. The previous dishwasher was the same and I loved it so chose that style again. I love how you can have one on and the other available to stack. You never have to have dirty dishes out on the bench. Very handy! Yes I was very lucky that those superhero’s were available to come to my aide and help me with my kitchen installation! lol 🙂 xo
So much mess with a renovation Min but so much reward. It looks fabulous and I am sure cooking in your new space is an absolute treat. Stone benchtops and glass splashbacks are both wonderful inventions,
Yes, a lot of mess Jan. There was dust absolutely everywhere. I’ve spent ages cleaning. Only yesterday I noticed that dust has settled on the ridges of the doors of the linen cupboards along the hallway – so it has spread far and wide throughout the house. Slowly but surely I’m restoring some order but chaos will reign again for a while when the painter comes. I’m loving the stone benchtops – they feel so stylish! The smoked mirrored glass splashtops feel classy. Still getting used to seeing myself in the kitchen though! lol
I just read part one…don’t know how I missed it, and now this. Yes, a kitchen reno is HUGE. I have been through two and a new build. All done by my clever husband. The last time was the house we sold. We did it to sell but still added touches that another family would enjoy. I saw some photos taking me back to the many kitchens my husband and his very small team pulled out and then he installed. He also did all of the designs with the owners. He would run into trouble when his bench makers or cabinet makers got measurements wrong (joy, not). It is looking lovely Min. We are living in a rental house that is less than 3 years old so we have caeserstone benches . The only thing we find is that any smudge is easily seen and my fussy husband seems to be forever wiping it down. Still he agrees they are the best. Good luck for the finish! Denyse x
Sounds like you have a very handy hubby indeed Denyse! Yes I know what you mean about measurements not being quite right. Our stone benchtops weren’t quite right at one particular join (the machine didn’t get it exactly right) and they had to grind away at them out the front. I found that a bit nervewracking to be honest! That stone is very expensive! I’m obsessed with wiping down my new stone benchtops and having them looking perfect. Just received a complimentary cleaning pack from Caesarstone with some ‘spray cleaner’ and some ‘cream cleaner’ and some ‘non-scratch foam scrub’ wipes. I haven’t tried those yet! I’m looking forward to getting everything painted and finished that’s for sure! Thanks Denyse. xo
It’s going to look fabulous once it’s finished Min. You will have a revived interest in cooking up a storm in your new snazzy kitchen. I will look forward to seeing the end result, but so far it looks great.
It’s looking fab already Kathy. Can’t wait till the painting is done. I’ve become quite pedantic about everything being in its place and just so! 😉
Looking great Min! Must be so nice to be moved back in and only a few more bits to be finished. Looking forward to the big reveal once all is done!!
It’s fabulous to be in the kitchen and using it. A bit of chaos is about to hit us again though. Tiler coming in the morning to fix a tile that got broken in the process. That’s no biggie … but the painter will be here either late this week or early next week and that means the fridge needs pulling out again and a lot of things need to be unpacked and moved in the dining room. It’ll be worth it in the end … I keep saying that to myself!! 😉 xo
That is looking so good. Given you and I have the EXACT same tiles I am keen to see finished product because my kitchen is sooooooooooooo 1990s.
I don’t think the tiles ruin the look of the new kitchen at all. I was worried they would. I’d have loved gorgeous timber floor boards but not to be (unless I win Lotto!). 🙂