Back in the Kitchen!

I'm back!

It's been a fairly gruelling 10 months of moving to our new home but we're finally in! These past couple of months have been spent reluctantly putting down the knives and spatulas, picking up hammers and saws and getting the place ready to live in. A lot of work was needed, especially on the kitchen, but that did mean that we had the opportunity to build a kitchen for cooking and entertaining that we would really enjoy spending time in. All that time spent seems worth at least a brief blog post so here it is, a summary of our kitchen makeover.

On our first look around we were impressed with the space, but not a lot else. Lots of storage for gadgets, plenty of work tops, a utility room, natural light and all the basics we needed to build a great kitchen. What we didn't like was the horrible wallpaper, the cold tiled floor, the plastic work tops, the ugly brown wall tiles, the old appliances and the style of the doors and fittings.

So, off came the wall paper and on went the white kitchen paint...

up came the tiles and down went laminate slate effect flooring. It's warmer and softer underfoot and far more aesthetically pleasing.

Off came the plastic surfaces and on went solid black granite...

down came the ugly tiles and up went black brick effect ones to match the granite surfaces...

out with the old appliances and in with new shiny and better ones...

and off came the old doors and up went new solid oak ones.

Then we changed a couple of light fittings, put up some blinds rather than net curtains and probably most importantly swapped the stainless steel sink for a deep Belfast sink (once you've had one of these you'll never go back).

Now we're all set to start cooking again and I'm itching to get back to experimenting and blogging. I've been collecting a few gadgets and ideas and have various projects lined up ready to make a start at. Another thing we're fortunate enough to have is a nice big (and overgrown) garden. I'm sure in the coming months and years this is going to feature a fair bit on the blog as I try and hijack as much of it as possible for growing food.

It should be... interesting. As a city boy my experience of gardening doesn't extend much further than watering the basil plants on my window sill.