We have been considering a kitchen renewal for a while. It's pretty complex.
A small kitchen that works well as it is, 30 years old in good condition.
The house design is 60 years old, styles in layout have changed.

A new kitchen - about $25K. That will basically replace what is there, we would have the same 'area', same walls.
Sort of, nicer new cabinetry in same area, layout altered.

To remove a wall so dining room, kitchen and living room is one big open space, move kitchen yo where dining room is and make it bigger, put double doors out to deck - ballpark guess of $80K.
It would change the house.

My Son and (now Ex) Daughter in Law bought a “Kaboodle” kitchen from Bunnings.     They took along a floor plan with exits/entry/windows marked up and measurements and bought it all off the shelf with the design that the Bunnings’ Software came up with.  May be something to consider Sprint

Yeah, the flatpack I used:

https://dynasty-importers.com.au/product-category/kitchen-cabinets/

$4000 + sink/plumbing/installation

Better than an online flat pack is to find a cabinetry place that cuts and sprays kitchens, take your design to them and get a handyman to install. Use expansive Blum hardware because cheap stuff doesn't last.

Thanks all, there are some good comments there.

We have gone cool on $80K to spend on one area of our house. It'ld be really nice but we could not retrieve any of that money at a later date if need be.
Not sure if the house would be worth another $100K with an $80K upgrade on the kitchen/dining room.

I am not interested in putting an a kitchen myself.
I like to use experts who have installed 50+ kitchens before and give me a 10 year guarantee.
Their work will be better than mine.

Interestingly a kitchen shop contacted me, said they have a 50% off cabinetry for a limited time. Prob to the financial year.
Cabinetry is the big ticket item for a kitchen, so maybe get a new kitchen from them. Similar in layout to the old one. The existing layout is pretty much ideal ofr the area. Add a few 'new' ideas.
I really like the marble look laminate, very taken with it.

https://www.laminex.com.au/article/seaside-luxury-apartment-design-in-palm-beach

Possible kitchen chains - get the old girl back in and shut the door....

Induction is good but can mean new pans, another cost. Induction can’t simmer—just cycles on/off.

I am getting a eye-level oven and a new cooktop, whatever is efficient without costing the earth. Meantime might move the induction plate once my new workbenches are in place, a place I can make brekky: induction plate for porridge etc, coffee machine, jug, toaster, roasty toasty maker nearby.


This week will empty the built-in cupboard in the kitchen, transfer the contents of the under the counter cabinets and my pantry shelves there, ready to have all ripped out, with the kitchen bare see where mice might come in and block the holes well—an old house, bound to be some holes. In my brewshop I bought a bag of ready-mix cement to plug holes in base of brick walls—ended up stuffing steel wool in half inch gap between two horizontal timbers FOUR METRES off the ground!

Sprintcyclist wrote on Jun 8^th, 2024 at 5:07pm:


Another thing you can do is visit kitchen showrooms,  independent cabinet makers work best, find a kitchen that is similar in size to yours, that you like,  and see if they'll give you a good price on the display model. It's still a new kitchen that's only been a shop display,  and they'll adjust it to fit perfectly into your space when they install it. 
My old man used to do this when he was renovating rentals for his clients and he'd get full kitchens for peanuts. Cabinet makers need to update their displays with the latest and selling you the old display is better then throwing it away.

John Smith wrote on Jun 9^th, 2024 at 11:13am:


What I’ve seen as cost saver… on fb marketplace people advertise selling their whole kitchens for a few hundred dollars and many of these kitchen look good and still modern.
Usually it’s buyer to dismantle. So bring tools and trailer.

We sold our old 80s style kitchen for $600 and buyers dismantled it.
They sent me a photo when they did up their kitchen, with white painted wooden cabinet doors … looked amazing!

Sprintcyclist wrote on Jun 9^th, 2024 at 6:13pm:


Maybe the natural stone, but I doubt Man made stone has any snob appeal. It's just harder wearing and less susceptible to damage from knives and hot pots.

I originally wanted to use stone on my bench tops around the room and butcher block on my island so I'd get the best of both worlds, but my minister of finances overuled me.

Sprintcyclist wrote on Jun 9^th, 2024 at 6:13pm:


The two main stone brands are zero maintenance.

wow, got a quote

$33K !!
MUCH more then we had guessed

Baronvonrort wrote on Jun 8^th, 2024 at 6:28pm:



That's pretty sensible.  Open plan kitchens are silly.
The cabinetry is irrelevant if it's functional and clean. Benchtops hardly matter for functionality, only aesthetically, if at all. What matters in a kitchen are the appliances and th ed equipment.
Keep it closed off from the rest of the house.

Sprintcyclist wrote on Jun 11^th, 2024 at 8:31pm:


I've never seen it happen.

Here's my remodel:

Sprintcyclist wrote on Jun 11^th, 2024 at 5:09pm:


We did a kitchen gut and renew on our 32 year old house.

Went with a kitchen reno specialist company near us. About $24K for removal of old kitchen stuff and installation of all new cabinets, plumbing the new sink doing the tiles and electrical work but we purchased all the new appliances ourselves. So it was around $30K all up. A much larger island bench which we had done in laminate rather than stone.

Very happy with the result.

Well, even my kitchen looks more organised than that.

Marla wrote on Jun 12^th, 2024 at 8:52am:


I like that.
Very lived in comfortable look

Sprintcyclist wrote on Jun 12^th, 2024 at 5:14pm:


You don't get the smell....

Frank wrote on Jun 12^th, 2024 at 6:41pm:


Very good point. What we have is ok, works pretty well. Colour is dated, overall condition - good.

Yes, we are retired but not bored or watching reno shows on tv.
I am a pretty good handyman but don't want to tackle this job myself. A few repairs here and there is totally different to a new kitchen.
I/we have better more fun things to do too.

Tell Sore End to get stuffed, Sprint! Your house, your business.

Frank wrote on Jun 12^th, 2024 at 8:24pm:


Thanks Frank, very good question.
We have some money and time, intend to stay here for the foreseeable future. The kitchen is the room we use a lot but has not had a refresh for 30 years.
Most other rooms we have improved in the past 15 years.
The kitchen functions well but is well past a refurb.
The fridge alcove is very small making the purchase of a new fridge when this one dies problematic.  Last fridge I bought for here there was only 1 on the market to suit.
The fridge has to be left hand door, less than 650 mm deep, less that 700 mm wide . There are 0 fridges on the market now that will fit in the alcove now that I like/will work.

Found a layout design that suits our kitchen. The corners are the difficult areas.
A tip from a kitchen expert gave me the key to this difficult lock.
Start the design at the busiest corner, work out from there.
We can get the busiest corner to work well.
Just a blind cupboard and then 700 mm wide drawers for pots and pans right beside the oven. Move the oven to the left 250 mm, gives us a 250 mm wider bench beside the new hob. Greatly improving workspace in a busy area..
Blind cupboards give the most space, cheapest but least accessible. Put stuff we don't use much there.
Drawers are good for under waist height areas, maximises the access for stuff we use a lot.

Corner drawers or pull-out kidney trays/ lazy Susans are expensive, reduce the space but make it more accessible. We have to maximise the space.

Sounds good sprint.  Maybe put two shelves and a door in your dishwasher space so that you can use as another cupboard until you get a dishwasher.

It's still ongoing. Install date of 12th Sept. Huge job.
Have got a list of the improvements in new kitchen over old one.
There are 25 improvements!



Realised all painting and repairs have to be done before new kitchen installed.
All ceiling and all walls.
So started to repair and paint the kitchen ceiling.
Some of it had sagged, some of the cornice had also sagged.
Had to brace the ceiling up up, screw it up with many screws.
Then brace up the cornice in 2 areas, glue up the cornice. Give that 2 + days to dry.
Plaster over holes in walls elsewhere and over the big screws in the ceiling.
Give that a few days to dry. Sand it all with random orbital sander.
Scrape ceiling back where some paint had flaked off, coat that with bondcrete, give that a few days to go off.

Put first coat of strained ceiling paint (was old can so strained it through a stocking) by hand by brush on cornices, plastered areas and areas where paint had been scraped off and bondcrete applied.
Much paint has dripped on old kitchen.
Old paint on cornice had yellowed with age.

Looks 100% better. Really pleased.