I’m starting to think about kitchen designs for my new kitchen – which currently looks more like an office kitchenette than a family kitchen and hub for entertaining. I was looking at the last kitchen I renovated in our old house. Here’s a quick before and after:

The original kitchen was a testament to 80’s or perhaps early 90’s design. Wooden tones, accented by terracotta tiles and brass fittings.

This was the before shot of the kitchen, very 80’s/90’s!

This was the finished product – we removed a small wall, opened up the space to create open plan living and the highlight was the 3 metre long kitchen island bench – perfect for sipping cups of tea with girlfriends, helping the little one do her homework or setting up pre-drinks and nibbles for Saturday night dinner parties. I LOVED this kitchen….

The new kitchen, wall removed to make it open plan, 3 meter long Island with stone bench and bench seating for six

We ended up with a very functional, elegant kitchen that cost around $12,000. It took a lot of shopping around to deliver this kitchen for that price. Original quotes to complete this look were in the range of $22,000 – $35,000. However we managed to replicate that look – with great results, including the stone bench for just $12,000 (excluding appliances).

The lighting and flooring were in addition to that too but that’s another blog!

I can’t wait to get started on my new kitchen!! Off to seek some inspiration this afternoon.

Ax