Ever wondered how an interior stylist would renovate their own kitchen? Better Homes and Gardens Online caught up with Lucy Glade-Wright, interior stylist and founder of Hunting for George, for the lowdown on how she gave her kitchen a contemporary makeover.
With a budget of $20,0000, Lucy wanted to not only modernise the space, but improve its practicality and increase available storage. Here, she tells us exactly how she did it.
What inspired your renovation?
Our home is a 1940 Edwardian that we knew was in need of attention when we bought it. It has some strong period design features such as pressed metal ceilings and stained glass windows, we always wanted to keep this character but modernise the interiors to complement but more importantly to create a more comfortable and practical home.
Have you done any renovations before?
We have done quite a few cosmetic renovations so we were quite confident to tackle this, however this was our first renovation of our primary residence and the first time we had to do considerately more structural changes, especially in the kitchen and the laundry.
What kind of look were you after?
To be honest with you we never really discussed ‘a look’ to strive for. However, with the kitchen we both were adamant that we wanted to bring in a monochromatic interior. We have so much colour and texture throughout the rest of the home that we wanted to create a minimal palette for the kitchen, as it’s already such an energetic space. We wanted to go dark, so we chose our appliances (we opted for Electrolux dark stainless steel appliances) and cabinetry first and then everything else was chosen based on these.
What was the biggest challenge?
Our house is quite old, so we were dealing with odd measurements and surfaces. No wall or floor is rarely perfectly straight, which always makes it difficult when it comes to renovating. That was probably the biggest challenge, trying to fit modern elements into an older space.
Take us through the renovation process
- When it came to the kitchen it was a complete clean out.
- Gut the existing cabinetry
- Sprayed the ceiling and painted walls
- Fixed the exposed bricks (there were a lot of holes, exposed glue/concrete etc)
- Sanded and white washed floors
- Installed cabinetry and new appliances
- Built custom pantry shelving
- Minimal styling to maintain a clean and clutter free look
Budget breakdown
$7460 Cabinetry
$6299 Oven
$1999 Dishwasher
$3049 Fridge
$438 Paint
$294 Floors
$513 Plantation Shutters
$110 Tap
$434 Sink
$780 Lights
$250 Pantry Storage
Total = $21,626
Sources
It was important for us to have great appliances so we definitely allocated more budget to these first and then tried to save money elsewhere.
The appliances we chose include the following from Electrolux:
Electrolux 90cm electric freestanding cooker in dark stainless steel (EFEP956DSD)
Electrolux 524L dark stainless steel French door fridge (EHE5267BB)
Electrolux Built-under dishwasher with ComfortLift™ (ESF8735RKX)
You can find the full list of products here.
Favourite part?
Finishing it! Ha. It is not fun renovating a kitchen when you are living in the house, so definitely our favourite moment was when we were able to walk into our kitchen and actually be able to use it properly without stepping over a hole or wiping saw dust off the bench.
You might also like:
Before & After: Tara transforms a kitchen for under $1,500
3 kitchen renovation mistakes to avoid
Before and after: a budget kitchen renovation
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