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Diary of a kitchen revamp

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By Fiona Reid
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Diary of a kitchen revamp

GETTING a new kitchen is akin to planning a wedding in terms of decisions, stress and expense. At least that’s been my experience these last few months.

Gloss or shaker style?
Floorboards or tiles?
Splashback or upstand?
Quartz or granite?
And as for taps . . .
Back in January I naively decided this was the year I wanted to overhaul my large open plan kitchen diner – the biggest room in the house.
Soon I was having a ball touring showrooms, browsing paint charts and making Pinterest collages – just like a blushing bride.
I wouldn’t say I turned into a ‘kitchenzilla’, but I know all about the latest trends . . . and have to have them.
It’s 15 years since we put in the current kitchen and there’s so many more gadgets on the market nowadays as well as colour options, no wonder it takes a girl forever to decide on the details.
Finally I settled on the units . . . only to do a complete u-turn a week later.
So finally, I really did settle on the units – but it’s not as simple as that: while weddings involve flower, menu and food choices, I have been grappling with handles, appliances, worktops, sinks and flooring options.
Oh and did I mention that we decided to change the layout too – which meant a little job suddenly got a lot bigger requiring a raft of tradesmen.
It has gone from a simple unit change to a full-on revamp, aka DIY SOS.
Oh the dust, the chaos, the boxes . . . getting a new kitchen, liked getting spliced, is not for the fainthearted.
I’ve no idea where my wine glasses are, I can’t get to the blender, the microwave has decamped and dinner time involves a deep clean before I can even start to cook.
Let’s not even mention the last minute additions like the new radiators and wall lights that seemed like a good idea at the time, but mean temporary holes in the wall.
At the moment it feels like it’ll never be finished and I’m wondering what I’ve done.
Maybe the old one wasn’t so bad after all . . .
Kitchen change veterans tell me to hang in there and it’ll be worth it.
However, like a newlywed, I think I’m going to need a holiday soon to get over this!

loc
Worktop and paint choices
Unit choices . . . so many options!
Unit choices . . . so many options!

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