Revamp Restyle Reveal: My Kitchen Reveal!

When Lisa Dawson, Oliver Thomas and I first started talking about bringing Revamp Restyle Reveal to life, I had a vague idea that I might do my kitchen. But I thought I'd re-paint the cupboards - I was SO over the dark navy, and MAYBE take down the light-sucking matte black tiles too. Maybe. I'm not actually sure if there was a particular moment when it changed from Revamp, to Refit, but at some point that's what it snowballed into, and before I knew it, I was planning a completely new kitchen. Everything was to change except the floor, the bench seat structure, and the table. In four weeks. Uh-oh!

I *think* the main reason for this, was that the one thing that absolutely HAD to go, was the oven and hob. It was vile. A bizarre set-up where the oven was too tall for the units and worktop, so ridiculously, the previous owner had added a plinth on top to house a a hob. Obviously . I put up with it for TEN YEARS. I can't believe that really, but I became pretty adept at not 'seeing' it.

But removing it would mean a gap in the tiles, and I didn't like their light sucking qualities enough to find more tiles to fill the gaps, so I decided that they would have to go too.

The cupboards had a fair few coats of paint on them and several were also water damaged. I decided that I really didn't want to put a huge amount of work into stripping them (which would have been needed), given their poor condition. They weren't a standard size though and the carcasses were also on poor condition as were the old rotten butchers block worktops, so they needed to be replace too. You can see how this happened, right?!

The decorating domino effect was in full, unstoppable swing. And I was EXCITED! And terrified.

There have been times over the last four weeks when I honestly wished I'd never started, and seriously doubted I'd finish in time. It's been pretty stressful, but it's also been massively satisfying. The stressful bits, unsurprisingly, have been the unexpected hold-ups that were totally out of our control, like gas pipes not being wide enough to accommodate the new range on top of the boiler, the power feed not being adequate for the new range, the plumbing all being in exactly the wrong spot and having to be moved at the eleventh hour, and stock issues that were out of everyone's control, throwing my schedule into a tailspin.

We have done all the work ourselves except the gas, electrics and plumbing. SOME things are best left to the experts.

I've felt massively lucky and relieved that I have an excellent electrician who is super reliable - I suspect it all could have gone horribly wrong if it wasn't for that fact.

Anyone that's knows me, has ever read my blog before or follows me on Instagram will know how much I disliked my kitchen, but it really was not on the cards at all to do a re-fit, and if it wasn't for our incredilby generous sponsors it still wouldn't be.

So a massive, sincerely heartfelt thank you to ao.com, Maisons du Monde, Amara, Frenchic Furniture Paint and Earthborn Paints. I've used products from each of these companies in the kitchen and am very happy to share all the details with you below.

Okay, enough already of the drawn-out preamble, I know you just want the pretty pics.

But first, a quick reminder of what it used to look like, and what it looked like just four days ago! If you haven't already, you can read about all the things that were wrong with it here.

And here's what it looks like now...

Once the decision was made to do a full refit, I had to think long and hard about exactly what I wanted it to look like. And what was going to be achievable.

I wanted it to feel open and calm, a bit glam but not over the top. No upper units to make the room feel wider, more storage, and an integrated dishwasher and washing machine. Hiding the ugly boiler, and adding atmospheric wall lights were a must. Things have changed quite a bit along the way, but here's what we did...

Removed all the wall tiles, and made the walls good. No plasterer required.

Ripped out all the old units.

Had the gas and water pipes moved to accommodate the new range and the new units.

Added wall lights on both sides.

Painted. Everything.

Put in new brown/black base units.

Put in three tall white units which I pimped with moulding and then painted to de-swedish super store the whole look.

Added decorative cornicing to the wall above the range.

Added brass handles to all the units.

Stressed a LOT about this being done in time.

Put in a new undermounted sink and tap and new worktops.

Ditched the badly worn and faded palm fabric and replaced it with beautiful green velvet.

Writing it like that makes it seem quite quick and easy, but it definitely hasn't been easy! I'd do it again though, to get the result we have.

Here are the links to all the beautiful products that our lovely sponsors provided me with for this Revamp that turned into a refit...

ao.com

Smeg American Fridge/Freezer

Smeg Range

Dualit Arcitect Toaster

Bosch City Anthracite Kettle

Stoves Integrated Washing Machine

Hotpoint Integrated Dishwasher

Amara

Jonathan Adler 'Muse Noir' candle

Hay Time 30 mins

Hay Time 3 mins

Alessi Milk Pan

Maisons du Monde

Black 'Smith' wall lights

Gold measuring cups

Marble and wood board

Cast iron teapot

Ray Wire Stool

Frenchic Furniture Paint

Tall units 'Wedding Cake' by Frenchic Furniture paint'

Earthborn Paints

Walls 'Woodsmoke' Lifestyle Emulsion by Earthborn

Woodwork 'Woodsmoke' Eggshell by Earthborn

Ceiling & Cornicing 'White' Lifestyle Emulsion by Earthborn

Okay, well I for one am KNACKERED, and I'm giving myself a few days off. Please do let me know what you think of my new kitchen in the comments below. I actually can't believe that this is my kitchen! My co-host, Oliver Thomas is next on the hop, so go and check out his beautiful living room now!