It is a biggish room but dark, with a huge concrete beam across the ceiling which makes it look much smaller. The window is fairly small, and the counters were built in front of it, as having them at window sill height would make them too low. When we moved in, there was only a hob, no oven, and a "hole" where our fridge wouldn't fit. The cupboards go all around the room, with a dark brown post-formed counter, except in the corner where there is a huge corner grocery cupboard that, despite its size, holds practically nothing it is so badly designed. The cupboards were a dark, ugly beige, which we have painted a couple of times and are now a reasonable cream. In the kitchen there is no piped hot water, only a small stainless steel prep bowl. The plugs are something else, too - the stove plug is inside a cupboard in a very awkward place. A plug near the door has a whole lot of extensions and multiplugs. the fridge plug is almost un-get-atable behind the fridge and a cupboard. There is a step down into a scullery where the sinks are, as well as two spaces for washing machine and dishwasher.
I think that is what I hate the most - having to go down two stairs to wash a dish, bring a dish up to use or put into the cupboard. Plus the grubby black step that used to be an outside step before the poorly built scullery was added on (it leaks whenever there is heavy rain, and the plaster has fallen off in big chunks at various times. As have the tiles. And over the years, the kitchen has got even worse! 2 generations of puppies took their toll on the melamine doors, which had begun to peel. The pups ripped bits of the covering off, and eventually the doors were piebald. They also chewed handles and even the floor covering where it was torn by moving of apliances. Doors that weren't ripped got wet, split and spread. Our latest pup chewed a corner off the veggie cupboard - whether to get at the dog food kept inside or just for fun, we don't know. Then the bathroom above developed a leak, and paint came off in huge sheets, leaving bare concrete.
For 15 years we have been saying we want to renovate - and there has always been something more pressing to spend our money on. And now we are retired, and after the success of our bathroom renovation, we have decided to DO IT!
sarah suggested we go for a "furnished" rather than a "fitted" kitchen - it took a bit of thinking, but now we are sold on the idea - pieces of furniture that don't butt up against each other, are not all the same height, are similar, but not the same. I've been trawling the net and collecting pictures to pin to my "Pinterest" board". I even tore a page out of a magazine at a Band B - very carefully - and got great ideas. But today we saw the kitchen of our dreams - the actual kitchen is still in my mindseye, but I have seen the furniture and I want it!
Look at this! Milestone Kitchens is just outside Pmb on the Wartburg Road and we went out to meet Silvia - designer and businesswoman extrodinaire. She knew straight away what it was I wanted, even before I did. She invited us into her house to look at some of the furniture in situ, and better than ever, she has designed a graph paper kitchen planner with her furniture pieces able to be dragged to wherever you want it.
I am in love - I have a deadline on my book, but all I want to do is start sorting and throwing away so I can tear out the old cupboards, order the new ones and get started.
This is the website - go and have a look - and I'll keep you updated on my kitchen upgrade!
http://www.milestonekitchens.co.za/1.Home.htm
