We’re in an apartment building from the 1930s. The latest kitchen renovation took place about 25 years ago. The room is about 15 sq m and none of the walls are straight. It’s charming but it is also falling apart. The pipes and old plumbing are left here and there. The kitchen counter is some kind of disintegrated laminate. The tiles are fashionable peach … The wooden floors have twenty years of food crumbs in the cracks. Oh dear. Where to begin?
The first thing we do is to measure up the room and the adjacent space and draw every detail into a CAD-program for architects. When it’s all on paper it is easier to see the potential of the rooms. We want the kitchen to be functional and aesthetic. Based on those two principles we work towards the goal: a beautiful, unique kitchen.
Not everything needs to be new. The floors for instance will need to be sanded and treated. We’ll apply a thin coat of joint compound on the walls, sand and paint. The old pipes will be removed and recycled. The heater is not longer needed and the room can be opened up to the room adjacent. Our drawings are modified accordingly and the kitchen begins to take shape.
Meanwhile we have had long discussions with the owners on how they use the kitchen, what they prefer, what their needs are. Some people want to built-in bookshelves for their collection of cookbooks. Some want a wine cooler or wine racks. Some want an under-the-counter refrigerator. Some even a duck carcass press …
The range hood has apparently not been working very well and by closer examination we discover that it has been poorly installed. The good news is that we are now free to move the stove elsewhere, closer to the outer wall and that greasy smell from the roast will not pester the kitchen anymore.
Instead of laminate we use limestone counter tops with a double bowl inset sink and choose an elegant faucet. We replace the 90’s peach tiles with stainless steel keeping to our promise of a practical and aesthetic kitchen.
The owners have lovely linen that they have inherited from relatives. We suggest a spacious high-cabinet with pull-out drawers where the linen is accessible from both sides. Our carpenter designs special boxes to keep everything clean and organised.
We look at our wood samples; our customers go for ash. We agree. We finish our drawings and present the suggestion. The customers takes time to go through their demands and wishes again, easily visualised now. After a few changes the kitchen drawings can be sent off to our carpenters who may have additional comments.
Now we wait just as impatient as our customers for delivery.
