My new kitchen

Well it has been 9 months in the making, and I’m overjoyed to report that my new kitchen is now finished!

The installers put my mirrored splashbacks in this afternoon, so I spent the kids’ nap time photographing. Let me assure you that taking pictures of a room with prominant mirrors is mighty difficult!

I should probably provide a ‘before’ shot, shouldn’t I? Well here’s one from approximately the same angle. You can see some others here.

So onto some features.

The benchtops are 60mm Caeserstone in ‘Organic White’. The polyurethane is gloss in ‘Vivid White’.

The oven is a double by Electrolux, so I can cook a cake and a roast at the same time. Those mockers who said I wouldn’t use both at once when we bought the last one for our apartment were dead wrong – two ovens is fantastic!

I was convinced by the architect go for induction cooking over gas. I haven’t regretted it for  moment – the control and power of gas without the hassle of cleaning fiddly hobs.

I gave a lot of thought to my solution for spice storage. I keep a lot of spices, and they always seem to multiply.

I ended up going for this semi-custom solution, made up of an off- the-rack drawer insert (by Hafele maybe?), cut to size, bookended by some Blum Orgaline cutlery/utensil drawer inserts. I’m really happy with it.

For the waste drawer I have a Blum Servo-Drive motorised push catch. This helps when you have your hands full of potato peelings and you can just tap it with your knee and the bin drawer opens. Inside the drawer there is a large bucket for recycling and two smaller ones for garbage and bokashi compost.

On the sink I have a Billi instant boiling/chilled water tap. I’m seriously in love with this thing, but it’s bad for my caffeine consumption.

I should really have cleaned the sink a bit better before photographing it!

The pantry is what I have wanted for a long time. It’s huge, and it has drawers. There is even enough room to stockpile a bit because it is so deep.

It’s is going to take me a little while to experiment with where to put everything, but I’m super happy.

For those in Sydney looking for a custom-built kitchen, I’d be happy to recommend my cabinet maker – his attention to detail was excellent and his price was competitive.

Thank you to all the friends who have had us around for dinner while we were kitchen-less. It’s time for me to repay the favour now – absolutely no excuses 🙂

And anyone who has any design flair at all might be able to recommend me some bar stools for the island bench. I’m stumped.