Now is the time to renovate the kitchen

Chaos has officially descended on the house. We have a toddler in recovery after a tonsil and adenoid removal last week, a house full of goods for a number of events we are attending with Up All Hours the website (feel a bit like Del Boy) and to top it all off, we have decided now is the time to renovate the kitchen.

We don’t do things by halves in this house!

I have taken to working on my lap in the living room surrounded by mess, drilling, kitchen cabinets and Peppa Pig on loud so the toddler can hear it over all the noise. I’m spraying the old Rescue Remedy like it’s going out of fashion!

However, it is exciting. We have lived in this house for nearly three years. It’s not our forever house, but it’s in the perfect location for commuting into London whilst still being close to the countryside. We get the best of both worlds, however it is small. We could do with a lot more space but have decided that work commitments and plans for the next couple of years will keep us here so we’re working out ways to make the best of it.

The kitchen has been a big problem for us. It is, for want of a better word, awful. Oh, and tiny. Tiny and awful. We spoke often about ‘doing it up’ but the time was never right and the funds never freely available. We are foodies, my husband particularly, loves to cook and of course I love to eat. It’s a match made in heaven 🙂 We long for the large country cottage with copious work surfaces and ample cupboard space. The dream has always been to live in a house house with an AGA. The kitchen always warm and cosy. A kettle always hot and ready to pour. *snap back to reality. Instead we have this (well we did);

Then one day this year something changed. AGA released their, well, new AGA. The AGA City 60 to be precise. It has everything that you would expect from an AGA, but wrapped up in a smaller, more city-friendly package. At just 60cm wide, the same size as any smaller slot in cooker, it’s perfect for small spaces and perfect for our kitchen.

RoseLemon

My husband nearly collapsed with  excitement when he first saw it and even more so when AGA very kindly asked me to become a brand ambassador. A position which I took no time accepting  and one which I very much intend to embrace.

So, the new traditional AGA City 60 in Duck Egg Blue is ordered and due for delivery in two weeks. It’s given us the push we needed to ‘get the kitchen done’. After all, we can’t expect a beautiful AGA to rough it in a shabby kitchen!

I apologise if home improvements aren’t your thing but I plan on writing about the process. We are being rather creative with turning this small kitchen into something to be proud of. Clever space saving ideas, a mix of modern and traditional with practical functionality. We have a carpenter friend doing it for us which is giving us the flexibility to implement some of our own ideas.

Whenever I see before and after kitchen transformations, I am always blown away by how amazing and different they look, but to be honest compared to our current kitchen I always seem to think the ‘before’s’ are pretty good and how I’d be happy to settle for their old one! 

Our ‘small’ kitchen is probably the norm for the majority of homes, as oppose to the huge beautiful ones seen on T.V. So the hubby and I agreed that it might be worthwhile to blog about our little renovation project. Plus it put extra pressure on us to finish it! Watch this space. 

Oh, and thankfully we have the toddler on hand to help out!

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