Life • October 26, 2015

Designing our Dream Kitchen with Wickes- Part One (Our Old House)

Regular readers of my blog will know that I am very proud of our little home. It isn’t our dream home by any means, but we love it dearly. When we moved in we were a young couple working full time and going out alot, but over the six years we have lived here life has changed dramatically. We got married, had our first daughter, then our second, and of course we recently found out that we are pregnant with our third baby. To say our home has grown with our family is an understatement. It holds so many memories- the day we bought our babies home, the happy moments, the harder ones and the blissful early years we spent with our daughters.

When we moved in six years ago, the house was awful. It took us a long while to start creating a home we were proud of, when we first moved in we were saving for our wedding, then saving for two maternity leaves, and we just couldn’t afford to put our stamp on it. But over the last couple of years we have started turning it into a home that is ‘us’- we have redecorated our bedroom, our office, the living room, our girls room and renovated the bathroom. I am really proud of our home now and will often put photos up on social media of various parts of our house. But there is one room that you will rarely see featured on my blog- and that is the kitchen.

I am not proud of our kitchen. It is not our style at all, it is bland, a little dirty and tatty and it is a bit small and an awkward space. There isn’t anything massively wrong with it, but there are lots of little problems and niggles, plus it just isn’t ‘us’. It isn’t somewhere I particularly want to bake with the girls, or sit and chat to Mr E over a glass of wine while he cooks in the evening, it is just really not our dream kitchen by any means.

A while ago I got an email which literally made me scream and jump around in joy. (no joke!) A fair few emails and phone calls later and I signed the most amazing partnership with Wickes. To say that this is probably the most exciting blog opportunity I have ever had (and I have had many amazing ones) is an understatement. Even now I can’t believe it is actually happening.

Wickes are helping us create our dream kitchen.

From start to finish, with literally every single little detail included, Wickes are going to help our little family create a kitchen we can be proud of. Our worktop that is falling apart- gone. Our scabby plastic bag bin that hangs from the door because we have no space for a proper one- gone. Our fridge which is quite literally on its last legs and which only has one shelf- gone. The tiles with their dirty grout from previous owners’ mess- gone.

Wickes are going to help us with every single aspect of our dream kitchen design. We have already been into store, had a look around and seen what amazing kitchen ranges they have on display. But soon it will be all systems go. We will have a dedicated kitchen design consultant who will talk us through our needs and explain what he thinks would be best for our requirements. We will have meetings, see designs, before in a few short weeks our existing kitchen will be ripped out and our dream kitchen will be put in. Every last detail- down to the appliances, the tiles and some amazing ways to help with storage solutions for our growing family.

With Wickes’ help the one room in our house which we just aren’t happy with will be completely transformed. We’ve all seen the glossy brochures and in-store demos; dream kitchens that would not look out of place in the pages of a celebrity magazine- beautiful spaces, gorgeous worktops, shiny appliances. The perfect spaces for a dream kitchen. But what if you don’t have the perfect ‘shell’? Many of us living in tight urban spaces, converted flats, or chaotic family homes that just aren’t the right fit for a dream kitchen.

Wickes have given me utter confidence that they can be the brand that resonates with anyone suffering from an awkward and lack lustre kitchen- and give them the hope of a dream family space. Just perfect for our growing family. We literally cannot wait to get started and create a kitchen we have always dreamed of and I will be documenting every single part of the process on my blog from start to finish.

 

OUR CURRENT KITCHEN-

wickes_kitchen_makeover_before_1

This is our current kitchen how it is now, bar it is super tidy as I didn’t want to show any mess! You can see it is not offensive by any means, it is just not our style at all and is starting to get quite tatty in places. We also don’t maximise the use of space, we have even got ‘fake’ cupboards that don’t open instead of real ones.

wickes_kitchen_makeover_before_4

We are really looking to get as much off the work surfaces as possible. I am one of these people who hates clutter so would like to rid of as much as we can from the top and get more storage space. We don’t have a lot of storage space what with the kitchen being quite small. I would love to get an integrated microwave so as to free up some space on the counter.
wickes_kitchen_makeover_before_2

We currently don’t have space for a bin so for six years our bin has been hanging off the back of the door. Not only is this unhygienic it also means we don’t recycle as much as I think we should do, although we do try. I would love to get a bin in the cupboard somehow.

wickes_kitchen_makeover_before_3

The kitchen is just starting to get a little old now and there are things falling apart. I also can’t stand the tiles, the grout is so dirty and I have tried pressure washing it with a tiny attachment and even scrubbing it with a toothbrush but nothing can get it clean.

wickes_kitchen_makeover_before_5The cupboard which houses our boiler is falling apart and I really don’t think these live wires hanging down are too safe!

wickes_kitchen_makeover_before_7

It is hard to see from this photo but the worktops are chipped  by the sink and falling apart at the bottom. The wood effect laminate is also getting very scratched as well.

wickes_kitchen_makeover_before_6

 We are really looking forward to discussing with our dedicated Wickes Design Consultant just what are current issues are and finding out what he or she thinks would work best to maximise and get the best out of our new family kitchen.

Here is a little video I made of the ‘before’ part of our kitchen makeover…

We can’t wait to get started!

 

NB: We are working in partnership with Wickes. All words and opinions are entirely my own. 

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