Renovating Kitchens - 1

Right now, M and I are staying in Queensland, Australia, enjoying the almost perfect weather on the Gold Coast.  We are staying on a canal which reaches up almost to the foundations of the house in which we are living and which provides a wonderful back-drop to the chores of daily life.  At present, these consist mainly of cooking, eating, and washing up. Life is tough!

Our  hostess is an extremely accomplished cook and loves entertaining her many friends.  She and her husband have just completed renovating their beautiful home, so that they can take full advantage of the water that laps their property.  

The 'Nook', looking out over the canal

The previously rather small entertaining rooms, kitchen, lounge and dining have been expanded and, with an extensive deck, now extend almost to the water's edge.  Internal walls have disappeared and the three rooms are now one with a huge dining table in the centre, the main kitchen open-plan and with two seating areas, one with a nook-like atmosphere and one for more formal visiting.  Adjacent to the kitchen area is a butler's pantry with sink, benches, cupboards and shelves for dry goods and tools for the kitchen.

Along the way, they have also  acquired a magnificent bedroom, en-suite and dressing-room, a media room and a new office and 2 guest bedrooms and bathrooms.  It is a very sympathetic renovation and I can tell you, it is a dream to live in.

It took around two years to complete this project and involved the employment of two architects, the first of which had to be relieved of his duty as his plan put the budget  well over the top. Five different builders were involved at different times and each day, our hostess and her husband laboured on-site as builder's mates in order to keep costs under control. In fact, most of the demolition of the old house was carried out by them. They were without a roof and lived with friends for six months out of the twenty-four and their two gorgeous retrievers were also on extended holiday.

Was it all worth it?  Well, yes, but we would never do it again, was the general consensus.  Now we just need to start to enjoy living in it!