my favorite jobs beauty and care
Do you know the advertising slogan: “ The kitchen, the heart of the home“. I thought about these words a lot during the renovation of my kitchen and my camping experience in my garage! It's true that a kitchen is the place where we spend a lot of time. And it's when it's inaccessible that we realize how useful it is.
Recently, Chéri and I decided to transform our kitchen. It was a great adventure.
The Renovation Vlog on my YouTube Channel
Why change your kitchen?
We bought our house 17 years ago. The previous owner had just renovated the kitchen which was not really to our taste but was new.
We simply changed the decoration a little by giving it a little industrial look.
Reread the article My artist's studio style kitchen
As we had other work to do, we kept this kitchen which was also of excellent quality. But over the years and especially since Chéri no longer works and devotes himself to his passion The Pastry Shop, the kitchen had become small, impractical and especially not at all functional for those who cook a lot. Which is the case for both of us.
Based on this observation, we set out to find a new kitchen.
The kitchen designer's choice
We were spoiled for choice given the impressive number of kitchen brands.
Armed with our rough plan, we started with traditional kitchen designers with a storefront. You know the ones who give you an overpriced quote and then tell you at the end:For you my boss offers you a 30% discount! “This attitude already annoys me because I hate being taken for a fool!
We looked at 4 classic and well-known kitchen designers, but the prices put us off.
In our circle, many of our friends have an Ikea kitchen, my daughter has one too. And they are all very happy with it.
My choice of Ikea kitchen
Finally our steps took us to this Swedish giant that I love very much. We had concocted our plan on the internet, but we finalized it with a professional directly in store as with a traditional kitchen designer.
The plan was reviewed, the prices agreed (and there was no false bargaining!) and the order placed.
Everything went perfectly from ordering to delivery.
How surprised we were to go from triple to single cost for the same kitchen.
In addition, 25-year warranty for furniture and 5 years for household appliances.
We decided to have it installed because neither my husband nor I wanted to do it.
Preparatory work
I thought I had some work to do but I hadn't imagined the amount of work!
Because first of all it was necessary to break down the old kitchen and redo the entire room in terms of painting, tiling and electrics.
Surround yourself with good craftsmen
If I can give you one piece of advice following this experience, surround yourself with competent craftsmen. This was our case and we really appreciated it.
The company Eric Delville has carried out all the preparatory work. If you are in the Montpellier area, I recommend it to you without any hesitation.. From the tiler to the painters and the electrician, all were eminently competent and efficient. In fact, we have other work to do and we will call on this company again.
The progress of the work on our new kitchen
We spent 3 weeks without a kitchen, camping more or less in our garage. Not that the work took long, but we had to do a retrospective planning to coordinate everything and we were one week late between the end of the work and the installation of the kitchen!
In addition, we had chosen the month of April thinking that the weather would be nice and that we could cook our meals outside but… it was very cold! 3 weeks of work and a terrible mess in the garage! I who like everything to be tidy and organized, I suffered! And I still have hours of work to sort and put everything away!
The end of the work and the installation of the kitchen
As the days went by, I saw the kitchen transform. White paint which replaced the mouse gray, large tile slabs light beige instead of thirty-year-old tiles really changes a room.
Then the installation of the kitchen. And there again we came across a very competent person. A young, friendly and very efficient cabinetmaker who installed the kitchen alone in 3 days with a dexterity that impressed us! Thank you Robin for your professionalism and your good humor!
The only downside is that the splashback for the cooking area is missing. Apparently the package was lost and it will be installed in the coming days. But that doesn't stop us from cooking there!
What has changed
I want to say everything! We removed the American fridge that was taking up too much space and kept it in the garage. We pared down the furniture and chose drawer storage to avoid overloading the walls. We opted for a central islet and for larger worktops. And above all we have chosen soft and light colours in a range of white and beige with a touch of black and gold.
Choosing details in interior design
Whatever the choice of a kitchen, it can be very simple, basic and classic, what will differentiate it is the choice of decoration and details. You can imagine that this is the part that I like the most in the renovation of a room.
I set out to find objects that would give my kitchen a personal style.
The light fixture
I didn't want to overload it, I wanted a clean, clear style with a touch of gold.
Chéri and I set out on a quest to find an important piece in a room: the chandelier. We scoured several decoration shops in the area without finding the Holy Grail!
Finally we found what we were looking for in a shop specializing in lighting. Laurie Luminaire near us.
I was starting to despair of not finding what I wanted but when I entered the store I saw it! And I knew immediately that it was the perfect chandelier for the kitchen.
The chairs
Who says kitchen says table and chair! As we designed a table on a central island, we needed chairs adapted to the dimensions of this island.
And there I realized that it was not easy to find. It is easy to find bar chairs, quite high, normal table chairs, but finding chairs adapted to a central island, that is to say no more than 67 cm was a challenge.
I love to scour the decoration shops either in my city or on the net. I do not hesitate to order online. After much research and hesitation I discovered the site Drawer.
A magical interior design site! We want everything!
I was immediately intrigued by the chairs that matched my chandelier! I couldn't have imagined a better choice. After looking at the measurements about twenty times, I ordered the chairs which arrived in 48 hours.
Little cries of joy punctuated my day when they arrived because they correspond perfectly to what I had imagined!
The little decoration
If furniture is important, small decorations are also part of the charm of a room. I wanted designer and elegant objects for my kitchen and especially for the household products lying around on the sink.
Soap dispensers
Again, it was an online store that caught my attention and I ordered some white and black glass soap dispensers instead of plastic bottles to adorn the corner of the sink. Simply transfer dishwashing liquid and hand soap, add a little water and you have a beautiful object in a room to use every day.
My soap dispensers are made of glass, very solid, with a golden pump system. They exist on the site in different shapes and colors. If you want to put a little original touch in your kitchen or bathroom.
The site Distrib Savon offered me a discount code for my readers. Code that you just have to enter when ordering CORINNEDUCASSE
The cookware set
I don't like having a lot of objects lying around on the worktop, and here again I wanted simplicity. I opted for a set kitchen utensils stainless steel in a gold container and dishwasher safe.
The coffee corner
Based on my wanderings on the internet, particularly on Pinterest and YouTube, I had seen fitted kitchens from a coffee corner. An American YouTuber, who is passionate about decoration, that I follow inspired me and I wanted to create a coffee corner in my kitchen.
Nothing too complicated, you just need a small space and to arrange the essential elements for your coffees of the day. To refine the decoration I went in search of a poster and I found on Amazon letters to put on the wall. More original than a frame in my opinion and in this context.
The final result
I dare say that the final result is beyond our expectations. We are delighted with our kitchen. On the one hand because its features change our lives, more space, more light, more worktops and on the other hand we are delighted with the final decoration and the tone given to this room.
Darling will be able to indulge in his passion the pastry in a clean and spacious kitchen. As for me, I'm going to start cooking again and why not make some video recipes to inspire you!
Similar articles
Learn more about The Blog of a Provincial
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
