Kitchen

This beach-house kitchen got the most stylish makeover for just $13,000

This family beach-house kitchen was in dire need of a modern update, and a Kaboodle kitchen proved to be the perfect solution

Who lives here?
Pat, 58 (architect), Lynette, 56 (office administrator), Joseph, 27 (IT professional), plus Stella the miniature schnauzer.

When did you purchase your home? What did you like about it? Pat: We purchased the house in 2007. We liked the coastal location, and the idea of a weekend beach house as the children were growing up.

How long did you live with the old kitchen before you decided to renovate? What didn’t you like about it? Nine years. The colour was the main thing we didn’t like about it – the old beach house was even called the ‘Bluehouse’ because everything was blue inside and out. The old kitchen had blue, red, green and black laminate, plus an aluminium checker-plate on the island bench. The blue benchtop also had burn marks on the surface.

How did you want your kitchen to look and feel? We wanted the kitchen to be light, bright and have a coastal, beach-house feel.

How did you decide on Kaboodle as the best solution? During the renovations we tried and priced various options for the kitchen, and Kaboodle was the best aesthetic solution for us, as well as the most cost-effective option for our beach house.

How did you go about redesigning your kitchen? What were your priorities? For me as an architect, the look and feel of the kitchen was important. For Lynette, the layout and the rearrangement of the fridge was important.

How did you choose the colours and finishes? We first went through the range online, and then went to our local Bunnings store to take home samples. We made the final decision by a democratic vote with the whole family.

Did you redesign the cupboard configuration at all? If so, what modern updates did you add? We redesigned the dark and light section of the island bench for better articulation, changed the overall size of the island bench to create more space, added LED strip lighting under the overhead cupboards, and to the underside of the island bench we had soft-close drawers.

What other finishing touches did you add? We added a new sink and drainer, taps, new rangehood, dimmable LED strip lighting, new kitchen stools and lighting pendants. The sink taps were suggested to us by Bunnings, and I chose the remaining items myself.

How does your new kitchen work for you and your lifestyle? The new kitchen has a perfect look and feel for our renovated beach house, and the passion to use the house whenever possible has come back by the extended family and our friends.

What do you love most about it? We loved how easy it was to put the kitchen together. When friends came over on the weekends, they wanted to have a go at putting together a section. We even got to a stage where we inscribed messages on the bottom panel, for whoever is going to pull the kitchen apart in 50 years’ time, so they can have a laugh.

Best lesson learned? Always cut the hole for the sink when the benchtop is not in place – mark it, remove the benchtop from the carcase, cut the hole, then place the benchtop in position. And always measure twice and cut once!

Do you have any future renovation plans? Yes, we’re in the process of renovating our laundry in our everyday house and we plan to use Kaboodle for the cupboards.

Finishes by Kaboodle

Honesty box

Best moment during the process? Getting everyone to have a go at putting together the kitchen!

Any nasty surprises or disasters along the way? The water outlet landed between two end panels, so I changed the configuration of cupboards to eliminate the problem. We had to rework the plumbing for the new sink, as we went from a single bowl to a double.

How did you manage your budget? We were already ahead on our budget by choosing the Kaboodle kitchen, and by assembling and installing the kitchen ourselves. This also allowed us to install a new floor in the kitchen and dining area.

What did you save on? Splurge on? We saved on the installation, and also reused some of our existing kitchen appliances. We splurged on LED strip lighting, and a new floating timber floor to complement the new kitchen.

Scroll down to see the before and after pictures 



Budget

Cabinetry (including doors, hinges, runners, handles, legs, panels and kickboards) $9100
Benchtops $2600
Splashback $1500

Total $13,200

kaboodle.co.nz

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