Putting the kit in kitchen

Without further ado - because at the time of writing we're already more than two weeks in to the project - here we go with the Story of The Kitchen. I can almost sense your excitement.

So here's our starting point.













On the left, the view towards the garden, showing an almost-original, traditional kitchen for this style of house, its old fashioned cupboards and drawers still in place, and the tiled hearth (where the old boiler used to live) pressed into service as a storage area for garden tools, plastic crates full of decorating materials, and other general bits of tat. That boiler has been gone for more than four years, but in the absence of any investment the space is just a space.

On the right, looking towards the front of the house, you can still see the cupboard, but now enjoy the view of the vast expanse of work surface (a couple of feet at most) that we've been preparing meals on for 4+ years, atop a very basic set of units, along with a tiny sink, the now-bricked-up side door, and the 5-burner gas range with cooker hood.

Space on the opposite side of the room occupied by, from left to right, tumble dryer with microwave atop, matching AEG fridge and freezer (the only appliances being retained), a butcher's block table carrying slow cooker, kettle and toaster, and a tile-topped kitchen table and four chairs.

I say "almost" original kitchen because the cooker end was at one time walled in to create the traditional Victorian/Edwardian scullery, with the remainder of the room being a "morning room." Those walls had been removed long before we moved in, leaving us with a rectangular space approximately 3metres by 7.

So here we go. Eyes down for a new kitchen, starting with stripping back the chimney breast to make space for a new hob, tearing out the old cupboards (with not even a nod to the traditionalists who would have kept and refurbished them), rewiring, replumbing, replacing the patio doors, installing a new floor and fitting several yards of new units with new integrated appliances. The builders arrived bright and early on the morning of Saturday 9 July...