Sunday, May 5, 2013

Going, going, gone....


See this kitchen, this is my old kitchen featuring in her own glamour expose. Consider this picture the equivalent of a magazine cover shot, all flaws conveniently airbrushed and photoshopped away.    My disaster of a kitchen never actually looked this good in the harsh light of day, actually the harsh lack of light in a south facing position with a view onto the carport gutter. But hats off to Legoman who managed to take a picture that actually made the kitchen look good enough for someone to want her for $850. Woohoo!

This is more the reality. While the cabinetry was all structurally ok, there was no where near enough storage, the glam looking stove barely worked, the dishwasher kept popping its rollers out every time you opened it and the light fittings had all corroded, hence that sexy Bunnings task light clipped onto the one section of usable bench.



The biggest issue was really that this kitchen had been poked into a skinny spot, wedged between two bedrooms in a south facing position and was dark all the time. (See my portable stove on the bench that has been performing the real actual cooking for the last five months while the glamour puss freestanding supermodel just stands around looking fab).



If you opened the windows in an attempt to get more light, you would be greeted with the spectacular view of leaf detritus in the carport gutter.



I knew a coat of white paint would not fix the biggest flaws in this kitchen and also thought the kitchen would be easier to sell as is. While wood kitchens are not at all my cup of tea, they are apparently easy to match and the man who bought the kitchen is going to reconfigure it all completely differently, and add some extra cupboards. I am really pleased that this kitchen is going to a good home and not to  landfill. And I am super excited to see this new space.




And the kitchenette?




Yep, it's gone.





And what about the carport, I hear you murmuring?




Yep, it's gonski too. The two mates who drove 5 hours from Lismore to remove it reminded me of Legoman and I when we attempt to assemble something from Ikea. There was much swearing, abuse and public ridicule. Now you see it,



Now you don't.  I guess even though it took the pair of them about 5 hours to pull it all down, for $530, it was a bargain. Our builder had planned to just demolish and dump it so it's a win win for everyone really. We were both a little surprised that it actually sold but there were several other people interested so it shows that second hand is the way to go.



Meanwhile, we have been dealing with mountains of these.



Can I add that moving house with small children is positively gruelling. I'm firmly remaining in denial over the fact that we will be doing it all again in a matter of months. Choosing instead to focus on all the empty rooms, a hot shower and the coma like sleep I plan to fall into very soon.

10 comments:

  1. Oh Mel! So exciting and how fantastic that were able to sell these bits. Massive win!

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  2. I was thinking that those windows were a really nice feature...except you can't actually fully open them!! Madness. But how great that you were able to sell so much and just think how totally wonderful it will all be when it's complete. x

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  3. Is that a St George oven? I bought one for my first West End reno, and it worked like a charm (but I was only there for a few years before I sold the house.) So - have you decided upon a new oven yet? Smeg are releasing a new model pyrolytic oven this month, so I'm waiting for it to come out to have a look. Good to see you could sell-off your unwanted items for some spare cash - otherwise the builder would have charged you to demolish and remove them. xx

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  4. who doesn't love a little bonus cash!! hope you got a good nights sleep....just keep on putting one foot in front of the other! x

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  5. It seems like it's all happening really fast now, how exciting! And you've moved and everything - you must be exhausted! I find moving sooo tiring and I have to agree with the moving with small kids being a rather tenuous combination but at least when you pack up next time it will be to move back into you new fabulous pad. Love that you took photos of how things were before you packed the house up too - I wish I had done that before we moved because, as you say, I actually didn't put up the same paintings again in the new house....For the sake of marital relations we don't 'build' Ikea things together, it's a one-man job here :-D Look forward to more updates! Mel x

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  6. So very exciting!
    And great that you were able to sell everything on...you never know what people are going to want!
    I cannot wait to see the finished reno...and I bet you can't either!

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  7. Looking forward to seeing what you have planned. Don't envy you living out of boxes for 2 months, we moved when ours were 2 and 3 years old, with Kindy starting (in the former suburb) the very next day xx.

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  8. Love all the timber windows in your home.
    Are you having the subway tiles in your new kitchen? I really like the white subway tile, black grout look at the moment.
    x

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  9. I have an old blue house with casement windows too! Can't wait to see how it all goes! Good luck with the rest of the move!

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  10. oh boy what a project you have going on! x

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