It seems ages back (January!) when we started the process on the new kitchen and now installation came upon us in April just as we headed to Italy.
Originally Liz (and Jess) called in at Howden's who were not easy to do business with, they said they only sell to trades people, and despite promising a call back first week after Christmas, we never heard from them. So we went with Wren - they were very accommodating and even came out to see us at home with a mobile showroom in a van! The sales person, Ashleigh, was lovely and so helpful, running through designs patiently, and super knowledgable.
Liz did keep iterating the design before the units went into production and advice from the fitter, David, on his pre-install visit was beneficial - items like the AGA pump needed to be thought through to tidy up the trailing flex and long reach to the plug. David assessed other works required, like moving the water filters and UV treatment device, pipework for washing machine and sink and plug sockets. He was very thorough, and we knew we were in good hands.
A week or so before the install, the kitchen arrived and, thankfully, with a double garage we were able to house it warm and dry. It took up quite a lot of space so John was dancing round the garage in frustration again (it's been full of stuff on and off ever since we moved in.) but, the excitement was building.
By complete coincidence, the install week started the day before we headed off for Italy so we were to miss most of the chaos! Liz's mum and dad came up to hold the fort and ensure the cats didn't get too distressed or trapped....
So on return from Italy, the floor and cabinets were all in place and worktops measured up for an install date mid May. We still had to make decisions on splash-back tiling, but we didn't want to do that until the worktops are in place. However, Liz was itching to get things finished, so she got the plasterer booked in for the day after the worktops were fitted, and the tiler lined up for the about a week later (tile decision pending).
SCROLL THROUGH THE BELOW TO SEE THE PROGRESS!
It was quite good fun putting everything into their new homes, but we quickly realised that Liz had not made provision for enough drawers, or rather had decided to use two of them for pans and other cooking vessels, so we were one drawer short for cutlery. So, a slightly annoying process with Wren to get hold of two more drawer fronts that were half the height of one of the deep drawers, and then having to purchase the drawer trays and runners from Screwfix, but David heped us out to get the right bits. We also have a very narrow cupboard for the spices but neglected to buy a pull out rack to put them all in, so we also bought one of those and David agreed to try and fit it retrospectively. Once we had those things fitted it allowed us to finish allocating homes to everything.
In the meantime it was challenging to prep and cook interesting meals with no work surfaces. The plasterer came and covered up all the holes in the corner where the shelves were going, and the tiler was round a few days later to assess the job. He got on happily with the white tiles, but then applied the bronze hexagons only with lots of encouragement and wry head shaking as the little edge pieces fell off when he cut them. But he didn't give up and we're thrilled with the results!
The paint colour was put to the vote on Instagram and Tranquil Dawn was the winner, and finally some antique brass light fittings to complete the look and the kitchen is finished.
What do you think?
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